STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 18, 2025

Frank Reich

Postgame Media Conference

Stanford 20, Florida State 13

Q. You've had some bumps on the road. Undefeated here. How do you feel about that? The way this game ended, anything you've seen like that before?

FRANK REICH: This is crazy. Really proud of the guys. Great win. I just love the fact that we're 3-0 at home. We've taken some punches and had some down moments. We've been money at home. We find ways to win. Guys play with a lot of heart. We get it done in all three phases. That was the case tonight.

So hats off to the players, man. They played hard. They played with a lot of emotion and passion, made plays when we had to make the plays.

Q. Talk about the defense that you got tonight.

FRANK REICH: Yeah, I mean, a really talented offense at quarterback. He's really super talented. They have No. 19, he's a speed burner. No. 0, a massive player, big target. Our defense did a great job of containing him all night. Didn't hurt us that bad.

Credit to Coach Thompson and the defensive staff for the plan that they had to kind of minimize the big plays. Of course, most of all credit to the players for executing and making the plays we needed to win the game.

Q. Do you have any update on Ben on Micah?

FRANK REICH: No update.

Q. Talk about the play of Cole and Elijah.

FRANK REICH: Cole had a massive game, a hundred-some yards. Every time I looked up, the pylon kept moving and moving. He has the speed to get outside. Great vision, great balance. Really a great player. Very happy for him. A monster game. Made the tough yards. Made explosive plays. Just a trustworthy guy on your team. He had such a big game, such a big game.

Q. Elijah?

FRANK REICH: Elijah, too. He led that drive, the drive of the game. Backed up on the six yard line. 15 plays, 94 yards. Great job by Elijah in that drive making the plays we needed to make. Hand on the run game, checks that we had, getting us down the field.

Q. You mentioned the way Florida State played. What did you say to the guys that they're winless in this conference but still may be a very formidable opponent?

FRANK REICH: I mean, we know this is a good football team, a well-coached football team, a team that came out, started out 3-0, beating worthy opponents. Very talented in all three phases. Sure, they've had a little rough patch right here, but we got a lot of respect for them.

At the end of the day what we say on our side, it's about us. We respect every opponent we play. We prepare for them and give them the respect that they're due. This is about what we do. We're trying to establish our own identity, how we're going to play. Tonight was a big step towards that.

Q. The special teams tonight...

FRANK REICH: Liam had a clutch return, handled it well. Of course, Emmet made all his kicks. Flint had a couple massive punts. We had the one miscue, got to find out what happened there. Looked like the whole thing was a miscue. He's punting great. Like I said, had a couple massive punts.

Happy with all three phases.

Q. What are the emotions like on the final drive?

FRANK REICH: A lot of emotion. It was crazy. Fourth and 19. We're going to make a play on this, game over. Give them credit, they made the play, good throw, good catch. We're able to continue to get it down there.

Comes down to the last play. Just a credit to our defense. I didn't see who was in on the tackle, I think it was John, Matt, just to keep him short of the goal line. It was close. That last-ditch effort to get him on the ground. Big play.

Q. Looking ahead, heading to Miami. Early thoughts on that matchup?

FRANK REICH: Yeah, no, we're excited. Another good football team. We've talked about one step that we've got to prove to ourselves is that we can go on the road and play good football. Better than we have.

We'll go to work tomorrow, just like we always do, get ready for another good opponent. They're all tough going down the stretch. I love that. It makes us a better team.

I know this, we're good to prepare hard. I know how I'm going to feel at the end of the week. We're going to have a good week of practice, go in there a confident football team, building as we have all year. We get to test ourselves against a national power team. Can't wait.

Q. What was it like for this homecoming week?

FRANK REICH: So exciting. You could feel the energy on the campus. A lot of the players back. I got to meet a lot of players over the last couple days. It's really exciting.

It's really exciting to see what Andrew Luck is doing, how he's leading this program, how he's connecting with all the past players. The community of past football players, it's a very strong group. So excited they get to come back on campus and see this exciting game and us get a win for them. Not only for them, but really the whole campus, the whole student body. We're doing everything we can do to fight, scratch and claw, put this program back where we want it to be.

Thank you.