Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: Bruce Waterfield
Postgame Quotes - OSU vs. Texas Tech
October 01, 2017 | Cowboy Football
Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
"It was a good win for our team. Anytime you're traveling on the road, especially if you don't play as well as you wanted to the week before -- so I was really proud of our team. There's a lot of ups and downs in this game. It's always that way when we play Tech, I don't know why. But what I thought going in the game held to be true. They're playing better on defense. Obviously we had a big day on offense. But we weren't able to get as many big plays and create as many big plays through missed tackles against them. Defensively we played terrific. They hit us on a few drives in the end of the third quarter and the fourth quarter, and then we made a couple of adjustments and got a couple of key stops. So we have to improve in the kicking game. We need to be able to locate our kickoffs better. We had too many kickoffs that landed in the middle of the field at the 9, 10, 11, 12-yard line. So we really need to improve on where we're kicking the ball and how we're doing it so we don't stress our coverage units. Ammendola had a tough day of PAT/field goals, but he'll be fine. Sometimes that happens. We got confidence in him. We'll put him back out there to kick another one. Overall, I thought we tackled better. We still missed three or four tackles. But Tech has really good skill guys. Sometimes you're going to miss some tackles. We prefer that to be less than three. In the first half I thought we were really good tackling. Latter part of the third quarter we got our head down a couple of times. I thought the coaches, the assistant coaches did a really good job. The game plans were really sound. Offensively, in the first half, it was just a matter of not shooting ourselves in the foot. Mason let one go there, overthrew the guy. The depth and the width of that route, anytime you overthrow a guy, you're going to hit a corner right in the chest. You can just bank on it. That's what happened. But then he rallied back and played terrific, made key throws. Wideouts continue to make great catches in crucial situations, like James did on the third and long and then Ateman did on the third and long on the last drive. So I'm just really proud of our guys. I thought our backs ran hard. The open week comes at a good time for us. We've got some guys that are beat up a little bit, need a little bit of a break. See if we can get guys back and let our guys get off our feet for a while.
On the offense's ability to run the ball against Texas Tech:
"They started traveling from behind, running us down from behind. And that happens to our offense because we don't have a running quarterback. And, so, coaches make that adjustment, and then Mason was willing to run the ball effectively. And really the end of the game is what changed the game -- nobody to block the last man on the line. So he did a good job making the adjustment. I thought Justice ran really hard. A lot of carries now, 30 carries. Mason had 11 carries for 55 yards. So good day for him. Good day for all of us. I thought 72 did a nice job filling in for Lundblade, had to bump him down and put 73 at guard, which he's never practiced guard. Overall they held up pretty good and kind of patching the O line together and keeping it going."
On the defense's performance:
"I thought our defense played really well. You take away the pick-six. So you keep them, you're holding them at 26 points or 25, whatever it is, out here, pretty good. We got room for improvement. But what we did is they were 5-of-12 on third down. So for us that's a significant improvement. And so that's a nice job. 0-for-1 on fourth and five-of-12 on third downs. And that's a big jump for us."
On if it's gratifying to win close games:
"It is. And I was talking to Kliff before the game, and this league, there's going to be a lot of exciting games with the way everything is. And we've got to have some resiliency. Chad Whitener was terrific as a leader. McGruder was terrific as a leader. Mason obviously. And that's what you have to have. When you get in those games you've got to have guys that can settle down and make a play on the road. And that's the value of having veteran players that have won a lot and been on the road and get it. Because when you're a young team, guys get big eyes and don't react very well."
On late defensive adjustments:
"I thought that Kliff had got a bead on us. And good offensive coaches, they're going to do that. So the longer the game goes on, they're going to start to get a feel for it because essentially defenses run out of stuff. There's so many plays in the game. We had 82. They had 72. So you just kind of run out of stuff and coaches can make really good adjustments. The same thing we do. And then we made a couple other adjustments on defense. And there's some risk. When you're in attack mode and you're seeing them manning up freshman corners, you're in a little bit of a risk. But we felt like we had to do something because they got on a roll there pretty good and we need to change it up."
Running Back Justice Hill
On playing in Lubbock:
"The environment, the fans, everybody out there, it was fun. Actually motivated us a lot. So they were loud. Probably the loudest game I've been in this year. It was a fun game."
On if he gave quarterback Mason Rudolph any advice on running the football:
"No. He actually needed to give me some advice. I think he got more (indiscernible). That's a good one."
On how he feels about his individual performance:
"I mean, doesn't feel like the best game ever, but it's a good game. We won."
Wide Receiver Marcell Ateman
On his highlight-reel catch during the Cowboys' final drive:
"It was man. We were expected to get man. And Mason told me if you get man on this certain play, if you get press coverage I'm going to come your way. So we knew it was going to come. Once the play was called, we got what we wanted. And I just had to make a play. It was a great ball by Mason, great blocking by the front, and we just had to make a play. That's what Coach Yurcich and Coach Gun and everybody tell me there, that's my ability. I'm 6'5", I've got to go over guys smaller than me and make plays."
On missed opportunities in the red zone:
"It's frustrating. But we always stay poised. Coach is always keeping us level-headed. It's not always ideal. So defense made great plays out there. So just give a shout out to them for making those plays. Just going to work on it and turn it up."
On dominating the early portion of the game, but not having the scoreboard reflect that:
"Yeah, that's why we weren't really tripping out there because we knew we could go down, we knew we could march down the field, and we just had find a way to get him in the end zone. We just stayed poised. We just knew next time we were just going to have to get in there."
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Opening Statement:
"It was a good win for our team. Anytime you're traveling on the road, especially if you don't play as well as you wanted to the week before -- so I was really proud of our team. There's a lot of ups and downs in this game. It's always that way when we play Tech, I don't know why. But what I thought going in the game held to be true. They're playing better on defense. Obviously we had a big day on offense. But we weren't able to get as many big plays and create as many big plays through missed tackles against them. Defensively we played terrific. They hit us on a few drives in the end of the third quarter and the fourth quarter, and then we made a couple of adjustments and got a couple of key stops. So we have to improve in the kicking game. We need to be able to locate our kickoffs better. We had too many kickoffs that landed in the middle of the field at the 9, 10, 11, 12-yard line. So we really need to improve on where we're kicking the ball and how we're doing it so we don't stress our coverage units. Ammendola had a tough day of PAT/field goals, but he'll be fine. Sometimes that happens. We got confidence in him. We'll put him back out there to kick another one. Overall, I thought we tackled better. We still missed three or four tackles. But Tech has really good skill guys. Sometimes you're going to miss some tackles. We prefer that to be less than three. In the first half I thought we were really good tackling. Latter part of the third quarter we got our head down a couple of times. I thought the coaches, the assistant coaches did a really good job. The game plans were really sound. Offensively, in the first half, it was just a matter of not shooting ourselves in the foot. Mason let one go there, overthrew the guy. The depth and the width of that route, anytime you overthrow a guy, you're going to hit a corner right in the chest. You can just bank on it. That's what happened. But then he rallied back and played terrific, made key throws. Wideouts continue to make great catches in crucial situations, like James did on the third and long and then Ateman did on the third and long on the last drive. So I'm just really proud of our guys. I thought our backs ran hard. The open week comes at a good time for us. We've got some guys that are beat up a little bit, need a little bit of a break. See if we can get guys back and let our guys get off our feet for a while.
On the offense's ability to run the ball against Texas Tech:
"They started traveling from behind, running us down from behind. And that happens to our offense because we don't have a running quarterback. And, so, coaches make that adjustment, and then Mason was willing to run the ball effectively. And really the end of the game is what changed the game -- nobody to block the last man on the line. So he did a good job making the adjustment. I thought Justice ran really hard. A lot of carries now, 30 carries. Mason had 11 carries for 55 yards. So good day for him. Good day for all of us. I thought 72 did a nice job filling in for Lundblade, had to bump him down and put 73 at guard, which he's never practiced guard. Overall they held up pretty good and kind of patching the O line together and keeping it going."
On the defense's performance:
"I thought our defense played really well. You take away the pick-six. So you keep them, you're holding them at 26 points or 25, whatever it is, out here, pretty good. We got room for improvement. But what we did is they were 5-of-12 on third down. So for us that's a significant improvement. And so that's a nice job. 0-for-1 on fourth and five-of-12 on third downs. And that's a big jump for us."
On if it's gratifying to win close games:
"It is. And I was talking to Kliff before the game, and this league, there's going to be a lot of exciting games with the way everything is. And we've got to have some resiliency. Chad Whitener was terrific as a leader. McGruder was terrific as a leader. Mason obviously. And that's what you have to have. When you get in those games you've got to have guys that can settle down and make a play on the road. And that's the value of having veteran players that have won a lot and been on the road and get it. Because when you're a young team, guys get big eyes and don't react very well."
On late defensive adjustments:
"I thought that Kliff had got a bead on us. And good offensive coaches, they're going to do that. So the longer the game goes on, they're going to start to get a feel for it because essentially defenses run out of stuff. There's so many plays in the game. We had 82. They had 72. So you just kind of run out of stuff and coaches can make really good adjustments. The same thing we do. And then we made a couple other adjustments on defense. And there's some risk. When you're in attack mode and you're seeing them manning up freshman corners, you're in a little bit of a risk. But we felt like we had to do something because they got on a roll there pretty good and we need to change it up."
Running Back Justice Hill
On playing in Lubbock:
"The environment, the fans, everybody out there, it was fun. Actually motivated us a lot. So they were loud. Probably the loudest game I've been in this year. It was a fun game."
On if he gave quarterback Mason Rudolph any advice on running the football:
"No. He actually needed to give me some advice. I think he got more (indiscernible). That's a good one."
On how he feels about his individual performance:
"I mean, doesn't feel like the best game ever, but it's a good game. We won."
Wide Receiver Marcell Ateman
On his highlight-reel catch during the Cowboys' final drive:
"It was man. We were expected to get man. And Mason told me if you get man on this certain play, if you get press coverage I'm going to come your way. So we knew it was going to come. Once the play was called, we got what we wanted. And I just had to make a play. It was a great ball by Mason, great blocking by the front, and we just had to make a play. That's what Coach Yurcich and Coach Gun and everybody tell me there, that's my ability. I'm 6'5", I've got to go over guys smaller than me and make plays."
On missed opportunities in the red zone:
"It's frustrating. But we always stay poised. Coach is always keeping us level-headed. It's not always ideal. So defense made great plays out there. So just give a shout out to them for making those plays. Just going to work on it and turn it up."
On dominating the early portion of the game, but not having the scoreboard reflect that:
"Yeah, that's why we weren't really tripping out there because we knew we could go down, we knew we could march down the field, and we just had find a way to get him in the end zone. We just stayed poised. We just knew next time we were just going to have to get in there."
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Players Mentioned
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