UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 17, 2026

Alex Sanford Jr.

Press Conference

Pitt 27, Syracuse 13

Q. Alex, pretty aggressive stuff early on, what went into the strong start you guys had?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: I personally feel like what went into the strong start is what helped stop the run was Coach Narduzzi all week, he's just been emphasizing keys to victory, stop the run. I feel like as a defense, if you don't stop the run, you can't do anything, so.

Q. Alex, as the game went on and they started to find some holes on the ground in the second half. How did you guys buckle down to stop the bleeding?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Our coaches brought us down to the sideline and coached us up. We went on the iPad, we tried to correct the things that we could correct, and we just had something in our mind that said we just had to blow up, you know? As I man, I felt like that's what we needed to do.

Q. Is there an emphasis on the rushing pass getting pressure on him?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Me personally I like to go get sacks. I personally made that a goal of mine to just go at least hit him.

Q. Tackles today, and Braylen says he feels like the game is slowing down for you and you're really settling in, is that a fair assessment for where you're at?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Yeah, I would say that. I agree.

Q. No Mike.

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Yeah, Braylan, I see a lot of leadership from bray. You see a lot of leadership from him, a lot of aggression, a lot of passion. There are a loft things you see from Braylan that you see on the field with him coming to make plays and stuff like that and that's what we love about Braylan, so.

Q. What allowed them for that stretch there to make some big plays?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: I'm sorry, repeat that again.

Q. You mentioned you had to strengthen on defense defense after they gassed you a little bit in the run game. What allowed them to do that and the adjustments you made, too, can you just take me through it?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: I mean, the offense found something, they hit them, they made the plays, they got theirs. We came to the sideline, we had a conversation and we got ours, so, I mean, to answer your question.

Q. Alex, what's changed to allow you to settle in?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Can you elaborate?

Q. Yeah, is it just more time with the guys? What's allowed you to settle in, sitting down and make these type of plays?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Everybody on the team. I personally feel like everybody on the team allowed me to settle in because like Braylan, for example. I call Braylan and ask Braylan, man, I'm a little nervous about this play. Braylan will pick me up, you know? That's what we all do, not just on the defense but on the team. We all pick each other up. We all be one. We all are brothers and that's how we look at each other.

Q. That's just a phone call you have, like you might just call him out of the blue and say hey, there's something?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: I'll call that man any time of the day if I got a question, you know what I'm saying? If I got anything I need to know.

Q. James and Sean FitzSimmons both had sacks tonight. Do you feel like those guys have been impacting a lot over the last three games? How much impact have they had for you guys up front?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: They big, fast, strong, aggressive, everything you want in a D-lineman so to play behind those boys, I'm mostly honored. I'll just say that.

Q. Was it a big difference with the quarterback change as far as your approach?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: No, there's no difference. We look at every quarterback the same way. We come to hunt you. There will be room. We call ourselves sharks for a reason. We come to hunt.

Q. Any difference in the way you guys prepare for a week and did you feel any different playing on a short week like this?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: I don't think nothing was different compared to this week and last week. We had the same objective. That was to win. That was to hit the quarterback. That was to stop the run. Everything you need out of a defense, that's our objective every week.