OSU vs. Texas Postgame Quotes

Oklahoma State vs. Texas Postgame Quotes

Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy

Opening statement:
"Nice win for our guys. I told them in the locker room that when we came back to work last Sunday night that their attitude was tremendous. They had a great practice. A lot of guys were in our hallway watching tape on Monday and it carried throughout the week. Their attitude and chemistry throughout the week was very good. Our Thursday night meeting when I went in with the travel team was very good. They were on the board enjoying themselves. I'm not surprised that they played as well as they did today.

"There were a lot of things that happened in the game. There were a few things in the open week that (Texas) was able to add. The little rugby thing the punter did, we made an adjustment late, but we let them get a first down on that. Other than that, our special teams were great. Our punter (Zach Sinor) was awesome. Our kicks, I think we might have had one low one on the block, but our PAT and field goal blocks were a huge part of this game. Defensively, with Joe Bob Clements, he's a field goal block guy, so what he was able to bring to the table was tremendous in this game. With (Vincent Taylor) lateraling the ball, that's something we practice and you only hope that when you get in that situation, we can execute it.

"We were able to rush the ball for four yards per carry. If we can run the ball for four yards a snap, then it gives us the opportunity to be a balanced offense and we can be a decent team. Obviously, we threw it well. We were able to mix it up in the throwing game a little bit with James getting knocked out of the game. He's fine. He'll practice tomorrow. Our medical staff didn't feel comfortable putting him back in because of the hit he took.

"The defense made a great adjustment at halftime on the counter and the power play. We were a half guy short in the running game trying to defend the throw. When that happens against linemen that can block and running backs that are big and strong and can bounce off the tackles, you kind of take the good with the bad. We did make an adjustment on their down blocking scheme at halftime. It worked. They're going to score and they're going to move the ball some with the style of offense they're in and the type of players they have. They're going to have the ability to move and score, so you've got to do the same. You've got to match them blow for blow.

"We were very proud of our team. I'd like to eliminate a couple of the penalties. I saw we had 70 yards of penalties. I'd like to keep it under 40. To rally back, practice great, play a good game, we couldn't be any more proud of them. They showed toughness. I also talked to them. A lot of young guys play on our team; lots of freshmen and first-year players. They got their taste of what big-time conference football is in this league; guys taking blows at each other, big play after big play, stop after stop and big hit after big hit. That's what it's like in this league, and it's a lot of fun. We want to enjoy this evening, get back to work and get ready for Iowa State."

On Vincent Taylor's extra point block and lateral:
"It's funny, he flipped it just like those guys that played at OU in the 70's and 80's. He just tossed it right out there, thumb down, just like they taught us at Midwest City High School. He looked really good at it. We practiced it and we looked at it, but it's not something that you do so much that you know it's going to be perfect, but it's talked about. You know (Lenzy Pipkins) should have done the same thing when he was down on the 30-yard-line. He should've just thrown it over his shoulder because you don't have anything to lose, but he thought he could outrun them."

On having zero turnovers:
"Last week, Mason (Rudolph) was in the tackle box and took two hands off the ball. That's a mistake the quarterback can't make and got the ball knocked away. (Justice Hill), the first fumble, the guy really yanked the ball out. The truth of the matter is that the guys he was playing last year in high school don't pull at the ball like that. Then, on the goal line, as he was fighting for yards, they came up from behind him and hammered the ball. It's a tough way to learn that at this level, that's going to be every play. We talked about it, we corrected it and as a coach, you teach it and correct it and hope it doesn't happen. Our goal this week was to minimize the big plays, which we probably gave up five or six in this one, but we didn't turn the ball over. We got half of what we wanted to accomplish with our big plays, and to play in a game like this with as many plays as we had, to not turn the ball over it a pretty good accomplishment."

On the defensive halftime adjustments:
"We made a couple of adjustments inside on the one power play they pulled, and then they had a counter where they were pulling two guys. We made a small adjustment. We got out of our gap. We needed to push all the way on the one long run, but other than that we were in pretty good shape. What I liked about what we did in the secondary is that we were in good position to make plays. They played catch, they went up, they tackled, they got them down. When you play a team like this that has as much skill as they have and the young kid they've got that's throwing it…you've got to be in position at all times or you take a chance on them making a quick move just like they did early in the game and just like what James Washington did against Pitt. It's just tough with these skilled athletes out there in space."

Oklahoma State Defensive Coordinator Glenn Spencer:
On halftime adjustments:
"You know, some of it was adjustments, but a lot of it was cleaning up. We tackled too high a couple of times, they didn't come back on a pipe route once and I had a bust from a safety on that. We had to shore up some things. Good job on them for their game plan. I had to get an extra hat over there. Besides that, the kids didn't get knocked off the ball quite as much in the second half. We asked them to fill spots. Their big backs are going to break a lot of tackles this year."

On being up in the box this game:
"It's a lot more calm. There are advantages and disadvantages to both and an argument for either. Last week with so much going with personnel, Coach said let's get you up there and see if you can see better and you can. You can see things better. I have to have confidence in my guys on the sideline thought, for the emotional part. They have to keep the juice up."

On if being upstairs is a permanent move:
"If I had to guess, we're 1-0 right now so yes. Coach is right, it was his idea because a couple times last week I was bumping into people and it was chaotic. But, you give up something for more advantages."

Offensive Coordinator Mike Yurcich
On Justice Hill/Offense:
"If you look at numbers, it is what it is. But, a guy like Barry Sanders and what his experience brings to that room, how he can lead and the effect he has on other players is huge. I don't think he's gotten that acknowledgement because of statistics. The importance of his leadership and his position coach to the offensive line improving every day is helping us play with an edge. We are able to come back after a tough week and responding with physicality was great to see. It's not about one guy, and our guys understand that. If you get the opportunity you have to make the most of it. That's how you win."

On Mason Rudolph:
"When everyone is chasing the ball, you have to keep them honest. He had to hold onto the ball today and made some plays. He made some tough runs. He took care of the football. Sometimes its not crystal clear, it might be getting back to the line of scrimmage or it might be getting gains. He's got a lot of strength and he's able to do well when he does scramble."

Oklahoma State Players
Blake Jarwin
On recording a career-high catch total in the game:
"I was just in the right spots at the right time. Our offensive line did a great job. Our receivers did such a good job of getting open on time. We had a lot of space underneath all that stuff. The other 10 guys did their job and I was the one that ended up with the ball and I'm thankful for those guys."

On the first Big 12 win of the season:
"It's a big momentum boost for sure. Texas is a great team. They attack you. They bring a lot of blitzes and stuff like that. It's good to get a win like this and move on to Iowa State. Keep on trucking."

Jalen McCleskey
On his career day:
"We knew going into the game they were probably going to roll their coverage to James. So it would be up to all the other receivers to make plays and they were in a cover 2 and they were rolling over to James and the middle of the field was wide open. So when my number was called I just came up and made a play."

On his second touchdown catch:
"Well, when I caught it, I saw the safety and he came up and I bounced off of him. And then the other DB that came, he over pursued, so I just gave him a jump step and then it was just off to the races after that."

On the first Big 12 win of the season:
"It's big. Last week, we felt like we kind of gave it to Baylor. This week we came out and executed. We had no turnovers, we ran the ball well, and we threw when we had our chance. I feel like this is going to give us a lot of momentum."

Jordan Sterns:
On the first Big 12 win:
"Yeah, man, it was great. Offense did a great job of getting down there and scoring. Then we blocked like three or four kicks, which was huge. Guys giving effort. It was all around collective effort. Team win. That's the best we have played by far. I think that's the best the defense played. I'm just proud to be on the team with my brothers."

On defense improving in the second half:
"We just came in here and made some adjustments. We just missed a lot of tackles. I missed a few myself. It was just stopping those guys. We had to wrap their legs up. We just had to play our responsibilities. When we did that, they couldn't get much on us."

On his interception:
"He really just threw it right to me. I just starting expanding. McGruder got a great pass rush and he probably felt him and got the ball out faster than he wanted to, but really he just threw it right to me."

Vincent Taylor
On the first Big 12 win:
"It felt pretty good to get our first Big 12 win. I think it started on practice Sunday and just led through the week. Everyone came in with a positive mindset and it showed today."

On the blocked kicks:
"That's one of my goals I have written on my mirror is to get five blocked kicks. I'm at three right now in the fifth game. If I can just keep getting them, that's something we practice everyday and it showed today."

On the defensive improvement in the second half:
"Well, we won so it doesn't matter what they did in the run game. But coming in at half time we made adjustments and we were able to stop some of their runs."

Texas Head Coach Charlie Strong
Opening Statement:
"You can't play the way we played in the first half and expect to win a football game, especially in a tough environment like this. Right before halftime, we got a sack, then we gave up a big first down and they got the score to put them up by 12. The reason I called the timeout was because I hoped we'd get the stop on third down and let our offense get back out there because our offense was hot and making plays. Being able to run the ball the way we did was very effective. We lost two of our running backs in the second half. Chris Warren III got a hit right around the knee area, we don't know how serious that is right now, and D'Onta Freeman was a strain right before he scored a long touchdown. We still have a lot of work to do, we still have a long way to go. We told our guys this isn't enough. We had three field goals and extra points blocked and it was just right up the pipe. Our center is small and they set it up where they were pinning the guard and running right over him. We've got some work to do and we just have to get it done."

On whether he made defensive calls today:
"I made a few out there today. We just have to execute the calls. We have to make sure we get improvement."

On his views on the game coming out of a bye week
"When you lose a game, it's bad. When you have two weeks to prepare for it and you give up the throws they had - the one early when we had two man and James Washington was able to get away from us, but still we had guys there to make the tackles. We had guys in position, but we didn't finish."

On what he tried to change during the bye week:
"It was just total execution. The thing that hurt us were the third downs. A third and 10, third and 15, third and 12, those were the back-breakers. You stop them on first and second down, then on the third down play you feel like you can execute and get off the field, but we just didn't get it done today."

On the offensive line for extra points:
"They were overloading the guards and they were pressing over. What we needed to do is get all the way to the second guy instead of blocking the first. The first guy would pin the guard and the second guy would run through and he would step over the center. He's kind of small guy, he's not a big enough guy to where he can stand up after snapping the ball because he's going to get knocked back, but that can be corrected. Even when we missed the field goal, it was a little more penetration, but it was just a miss, so we can get that corrected."

Defensive Coordinator Vance Bedford
On having zero takeaways:
"You don't get takeaways you have a difficult time of winning a ball game. We need to find ways, whether it's fumbles. A couple times we sacked the quarterback. We should have been trying to get the ball back for the offense. We need to think about making plays. We missed five or six sacks in the first half."

On starting younger guys:
"We are going to rotate guys anyhow. We started with a lot of young guys, they have great potential to make plays. We had a few hiccups there, so we want to settle guys down. You put your two veterans back in there. They calm guys down."

On preparing for today's game:
"They didn't do anything we didn't expect. A couple times, we had some quarterback sacks that didn't turn into quarterback sacks. We had guys on perimeter with great position to make a play, and they missed a tackle. We spent two straight days of going through our tackling station for that reason."

On big plays:
"We need to cut down on giving up big plays. If we do that, then we are gonna be just fine. Offense will score points and we gotta keep it in a position so they can come back and win a football game."

Going into October with two straight losses:
"We need to get the right combination of guys in there. Giving them the confidence to believe in who they are, number. Believing in the guy that's next to him No. 2. Believing in the group, that's No. 3. You get those things done, it's hard to stop it.

Offensive Coordinator Sterlin Gilbert
On injuries:
"It affects you. You lose those two guys [Warren and Foreman] and obviously what they're able to do just skill wise. And you lose their execution. You just have to change and adapt and adjust."

On Buechele:
"It's something about growth with him. Every rep is a learning experience. Some of those [passes] were tight for him, what they were doing on the back end."

On second half struggles:
"We really emphasize on being a second half football team. And that's something we gotta continue to grow and do."

Tyrone Swoopes
On bouncing back:
"We have to fix our mistakes and get ready for a big one."

On the two-point conversion:
"It was just miscommunication. We weren't all on the same page. Only had one second left, and I should have called a timeout, but I snapped it. That was my fault."

Shane Buechele
On pressure in the pocket:
"I have to see things better. I have to trust my O-line, they were doing their job upfront and I have to be more patient."

On the difference between first half and second half:
"We executed the first half really well. Nothing changed, we just have to execute."

On injuries to Warren and Foreman
"Losing those guys is rough, but Kyle Porter can do just as well those guys. He's a great running back. And we have trust in him."

On his interception:
"It was just a bad read. A bad throw. You have to be better than that."

On attitude of the team:
"We know what we can do. We've shown what we can do. We just have to continue to get better every week and execute on both sides of the ball."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Justice Hill

Blake Jarwin

Jalen McCleskey

Lenzy Pipkins

Mason Rudolph

Zach Sinor

Jordan Sterns

Vincent Taylor

James Washington

Related Videos