BIG 12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: BYU VS TEXAS TECH

December 6, 2025

Tanner Wall

Parker Kingston

AT&T Stadium

BYU Cougars

Postgame Press Conference

Texas Tech - 34, BYU - 7

Q. What was different this time around compared to the first time you guys faced Texas Tech, if anything?

TANNER WALL: Honestly, when you look at it, the way the game went, pretty similar, right, in a lot of stat categories. We lost the turnover margin 4-0. Last time 3-0.

I thought, defensively, we fought and battled in some of those short fields to try to force them into field goals or no points. But, honestly, just looking at the way the game went, it felt like they made more plays than us, right? Their playmakers made plays that changed the momentum of the game, and we really weren't able to do that on our end.

Q. Parker, the offense started really well and kind of unraveled after that, what were the reasons for that?

PARKER KINGSTON: I mean, like it was last time we played them, we just weren't executing. We weren't playing our brand of football, and we let that game get out of hand because we weren't making plays.

Q. Parker, what did their defense do to maybe take away more down-field shots? It felt like a lot of the passing game was shorter, underneath stuff.

PARKER KINGSTON: They were barrelling. They didn't want to get beat over the top. They made us beat them in front of them. We weren't playing clean football. We weren't executing.

Q. Tanner, you talked about, you felt like the game went the same the way it did in Lubbock. But Kalani came in, said you were more competitive, more physical in this match-up. Would you agree with his assessment of it?

TANNER WALL: If our head ball coach saw it that way, then absolutely, I trust him and would agree. I thought we played physical. I thought we played with great effort. I just mentioned they made way more plays than we did.

Q. Parker and Tanner, Coach basically said that's the best team in the country. So as an offensive player, is that the best team you faced in your career at BYU? And, Tanner, same question on defense.

PARKER KINGSTON: 100 percent, that's the best defense I've gone against. To be able to play them twice is, honestly, it's an honor to play those guys because it makes every other team not -- every other team is good, but that is the best defense in the country.

And to beat those guys, you've got to play clean football, and they're going to make a run in the playoffs, for sure.

TANNER WALL: No, that's -- if not the best, the top three team in the country. And we had to play them twice. We didn't play our best either time that we played them, but I think offensively they capitalized very well on the way that they get big plays and momentum from their defense. They had seven-ish short fields today.

So when you're in that position as a defense, you've got to just fight and claw and try to keep points off the board, which we tried to do. But that's an exceptional team. They have great players across the board and they're coached extremely well, and the way that they play complements each other. They play great complementary football. I thought they did that well today.

Q. Parker, BYU is now 11-2. Your only two losses are to Texas Tech and they're a top 5 team. Do you still feel like you belong in the College Football Playoff?

PARKER KINGSTON: 100 percent. To be 11-1 in a Power 4 conference is something that's really hard to do, and the fact that we aren't getting the respect we deserve or the Big 12, even, we're not getting respected is, I mean, it pisses you off, right? It makes you mad.

And to have the conference championship as the reason why we can't go or get in, I think, is not right. I mean, what's the point of even getting in the conference championship if it's going to hurt your odds in getting into the playoff or not?

Q. Tanner, if the playoffs don't come calling for you guys, how do you expect this locker room to respond to anything less than the playoff?

TANNER WALL: Just finishing the season the right way. I mean, sucks to lose the way we did today. So coming back from that, knowing -- we don't want to end our season losing back-to-back games. I think we're going to channel a lot of the hurt that we feel right now for whatever game we get and go out there and play for each other and end the season on an exclamation point.

Q. Tanner, as a senior who has seen this program grow, where do you think you need to grow the most, though, to eventually close the gap with the best top 5 team in the country so next time you're here it's a different result for BYU?

TANNER WALL: I think we're headed in the right direction. I think Kalani laid down an amazing culture and that's deeply rooted into our program and that's going to continue to bring forth great fruit.

We're capitalizing on a lot of momentum from our success in recruiting, bringing in amazing players. We've got great players in our locker room now, but the players who are coming in, we're going to continue to wear the Y and carry that legacy. I know we'll do an amazing job doing that.

So I think that as we really understand our identity of who we are and what BYU football will be in this conference, I think we're going to have a lot of confidence and continue to have a lot of success in the way that we play.

I envision future match-ups with Texas Tech being just like this. Those games will mean a lot because they're a great program and they're going to continue to have great players and great coaches.

So going forward, this will be an amazing match-up for years to come, but just really excited for the future and knowing that Kalani is the guy at the top leading the boys.