UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 12, 2026

Raion Strader

Press Conference

Pitt - 12, UCF - 7

Q. They went after you twice on fourth down, you had the deep coverage one time, caught up on the breakup the second time. What were you going through on those two plays as far as how you adjusted to the ball and won those big, big plays?

RAION STRADER: It's just man coverage, just trusting in my technique, knowing we're in those bend-and-don't-break moments. Just trusting my technique and winning my one-on-one.

Q. Trail technique on that second one. Seemed like he kind of had a step on you but you were able to kind of jump in and get it at that last second.

RAION STRADER: Yeah, it was a little knock-off. I ran into the linebacker. I should have just jump jammed him and shut the whole play down. I was just able to make an effort play, look up, the ball was there, and I made a play on it.

Q. (Inaudible) structured, and whenever you find out you have an hour delay how do you guys kind of maintain your energy level and kind of focus in that scenario?

RAION STRADER: We don't blink. You know it's always if we have to face adversity it's all good. That's all we say in the room -- it's all good. There isn't no bad anything. We always had to face the next opponent, the next play, anything. Just a different mindset. So when that happened, we didn't blink.

Q. What's it like playing in those conditions?

RAION STRADER: It was fun, honestly. But it was kind of irritating because we know sometimes they weren't going to pass the ball. But it was fun. Just running around with the guys, making plays, it was a good time out there.

Q. Is it tough for a defensive back because the receiver knows where they're going, your footing and footwork, that type of thing?

RAION STRADER: You just gotta keep your footwork tight because the last thing you want to do is slip and fall.

Q. You guys go out there and on that last drive, last offensive drive needing that stop. What are you guys thinking?

RAION STRADER: Let's be great and win the game. That was it -- let's be great and win the game. You know, defense wins championships. At the end of the day we wanted to be on that situation.

Q. (Inaudible) love the style of defense that they play. This was a true Pitt defensive game. What was it like for you to go out there and live it after watching it?

RAION STRADER: It was amazing. There's a lot of things out there that we practice, certain situations that we did, that we just lived up to the moment.

Q. What was the key to the defensive success? Really a strong performance last week and backing it up this week.

RAION STRADER: The amount of preparation we do throughout the week. I feel like we stay fast, physical and violent throughout the week, and it all shows up on Saturday.

Q. Your thoughts on the defense's ability just to force several turnovers on downs?

RAION STRADER: The D line did amazing today. The linebackers was filling gaps. I felt the DBs were on body. I feel it was a great team win. And the defense came and stepped up today.

Q. What can you say about the linebackers with Demarco and Jeremiah getting the final sack and then Braylan obviously having the sack for a safety?

RAION STRADER: Man, it's great. Them boys running 100 miles per hour. They're always super fast, super physical. They make our jobs easy. They're gonna shut down the run and we're just waiting for them to pass the ball.

Q. How do you feel like you guys as a defense did against a quarterback who's slippery and can escape the pocket and extend plays?

RAION STRADER: Yeah, I felt like we did really good. I felt like we had -- our goal was to corral them, make him make those fast reads, make them uncomfortable. I felt like we did that today.