UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 10, 2026

Alex Sanford Jr.

Press Conference

North Carolina 21, Pittsburgh 17

Q. You limited their efforts in the run game. What did you guys do well to keep them limited on the ground and force them to go to the air?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: I feel like we played as violent as we can. We came down here to stop the run, and I think that's just forced them to throw the ball.

Q. What did you see from their passing attack that kind of hit you guys with two explosives? Other than that it's something you guys had to contain with those two big plays kind of allowed them to get some life?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Yeah, them two big pass plays, it really costed us, but I don't know, man. They have some aggressive catchers. They're pretty good at that they do, and you see they came out with the W today, so...

Q. What do you see from your group of guys that you can respond to this loss and kind of put it behind you?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Well, all of our guys, we are what I like to say is, like, relentless, you know? Our guys don't like to stop for nothing. We don't care if the clock hit zero. We don't care if the clock says 15. We don't like to stop. We're going to keep on going as hard as we can for as long as we can.

You seen the outcome today, but next week we're going to come back harder, so...

Q. What was the message in the locker room after that game? Obviously it was pretty frustrating, but there's still a lot of season left.

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Basically the message was, for one, keep your head up because we got another week. We got another team to focus on right now after this game is over. That was pretty much the message.

Other than that, you know, we just got to focus on next week.

Q. You guys got the ball -- the other team got the ball three straight times, and you guys got three straight stops. What was the attitude from you guys as a defense knowing that your backs are up against the wall, and you need to keep giving your offense chances there?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Our attitude was basically, quote, unquote, Let's go, you know, 100%. It don't matter -- me as a defensive player, it don't really matter when it comes to the offense, because either way it go, I'm a defensive player, so I'm focused on doing my job at 100% every rep, every play. Everybody on defense is, and offense is focused on what they got to do on their side of the ball, so...

Q. We appreciate your guys' pass rush today. It seemed like you did get a lot of pressure, had a few sacks that kind of set some tones early.

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Like I said earlier, we came downhill. I'm pretty sure if you come downhill on a lot of people, everybody going to want to miss this, miss that.

Q. Alex, they had the 75-yard touchdown across the middle. Kind of the backbreaker for you and went for the game-winning touchdown. What was the view on that play and what happened there?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Can you give me more detail about that?

Q. Just UNC, they have that long 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter after you had retaken the lead. Did you have a view of that play and what happened on that play?

ALEX SANFORD JR.: Not necessarily, but we're going to go back and watch the film and correct whatever need to be corrected.