Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU vs. Baylor Postgame Quotes
October 14, 2017 | Cowboy Football
Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening statement
"I thought we played really well today, with the exception of turning the ball over. Defensively, we forced some turnovers. We got a fumble, a couple of interceptions when it mattered. I thought we defended better on third downs...Baylor wanted to run the ball a little more than what we thought. We thought they would try to through it a little more. Defensive coaches did a nice job of adjusting after the first drive. They ate up seven minutes of the clock and we didn't play very well on the first series and missed a pass. We finally got going in the second and third quarters.
"Obviously, we were very explosive and ran the ball well. We made a lot of big plays. Our offensive line held up pretty well. Zach Crabtree held up okay, I thought, without watching the tape. (Johnny Wilson and Teven Jenkins) played pretty well for being first-time guys. (J.D. King) came in and pounded the ball late. L.D (Brown) was the same way. Kicking was good, for the most part. Our kickoffs, other than one, were better than two weeks ago. Then (Matt) Ammendola hit the field goal and his PATs, so that was encouraging for us.
"We've got to take care of the football. When we've been really good around here, we don't turn the ball over much and that's going to be something we're going to continue to stress. When two teams are even, it really comes down to special teams play, penalties and turnovers, for the most part. We had one penalty I wasn't really fired up about. We had a late hit on the quarterback. When I saw the replay I really wasn't sure where it came from, but regardless they made the call. I'm a little tentative about giving them too much because we're telling them to do whatever they can to get to the quarterback then telling them to slow down at the last second. I'm not sure that always works well together. We'll see it on tape and we'll coach it. Other than (Kenneth Edison-McGruder) having an injury, we don't know what it is right now, it looks like we got out of it pretty healthy. We'll let them enjoy it tonight then get back to work tomorrow."
On the wind's effect on the game
"Yeah, it was windy. In this stadium, it swirls. At one time, we didn't have the wind so I said that when the quarter changes we'll have the wind. Then, the kicker said we don't have the wind. It was a little bit of an issue, but it was for both sides. The punt that McCleskey bobbled, it was coming straight down into the wind, but we've got to make those plays. We have to be secure in at least possessing the ball, but the wind was a little bit of a factor."
On what he thought was behind OSU being able to slow down Baylor's passing game
"They really didn't (throw a lot). They might have thrown more in the fourth quarter when the game was over than they did in the first three. You would have to ask Matt (Rhule). The only thing that is maybe it is they were trying to keep the clock running. They looked at the time of possession against TCU and said to keep the ball on the ground and keep the clock running. I was a little surprised at that and I was a little surprised they were crowding the box. We just have to make adjustments during the game."
On how important it was to see a clean performance by the offense after TCU and Tech
"It was. When you fumble, it's a downer, but when you take a total number of plays, 71, I'm going to say that 63 of them were pretty clean. Turnovers are huge. We stress it and we missed a couple of throws, but Mason made a bunch of throws. It's interesting when you look at his numbers, 19-of-31, the difference with him and other quarterbacks is that he's going to have six or seven incompletions because we throw the ball down the field so much, but for the most part, it was fairly clean. If McCleskey fields the punt in the first quarter you don't feel very bad about it at all, but when you do that and you start the second half with a 60-yard completion and turn it over, that's not very fun. We did play better in areas we need to make improvement, but we have to improve in decision-making and fielding the ball in special teams. We have to eliminate penalties when we play these teams in the future in order to have a chance to win."
Oklahoma State Coordinators
Mike Yurcich
On the run game
"Number is a big concern in the box early going. Then he was able to make the safety miss and go for a long one and that kind of loosened them up a little bit. We got smarter as the game went along, adjusting our calls based on what they were giving us, front wise. It's just a matter of playing with tempo and being able to balance yourself with run to pass. That helps each player, not just the run game. The run game helps the pass game. I've said it a million times. That's really important for any offense to have success."
On Ateman's block on Justice Hill's touchdown run
"Ateman's block on the run was tremendous. Seeing him finish down the field was awesome. It was fun to see our guys blocking down the field. Perimeter blocking is so, so important because you never see big-time run touchdowns without great, exceptional perimeter blocking. You'll never see bad perimeter blocking and a run go for explosive yards. To have those receivers do what they do through the air and also understand the important and effort it takes to be good in perimeter blocking is awesome."
On if it's fun to be a play caller on a game like todays
"It is. You've got to make sure you're taking what the defense gives you. There's a lot of communication. It's a lot of communication. It's a staff that understands the schemes. It's a staff that communicates well. It's a head coach that sees things real well as well. It's just great communication. It helps you as a play caller when you have a great staff around you."
Glenn Spencer
On Justin Phillips' performance
"I haven't seen the film yet, but I do know he was active. He caused a fumble. He was just an add-on. He really wasn't designing the blitz. Great job of raking the arm opposed to just going for the tackle. I think he's just starting to hit that next step in his maturity."
On the defense's performance
"I thought they did good. Scoring is what matters. I don't know how many possessions, 16 points, that's pretty stout. That's really the one that matters. We scored more points than them, so we need to be happy. I've got about four hours to be happy tonight before the grind starts again."
Oklahoma State Players
Quarterback Mason Rudolph
On his final Homecoming game at OSU
"It was great. The atmosphere was great from the start and it was packed. The offense was moving the ball and the defense was getting turnovers and stops. It's just an awesome feeling. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else for Homecoming. It's fun and I'm excited to go see my parents and enjoy the rest of the evening:
On the offense's success against Baylor
"We just wanted to come out and Coach Gundy kind of set the tone early. He told us that for whatever reason we'll sometimes come out with not as much energy as we do on the roads, so he wanted us to come out with that energy and mindset and it paid off."
On moving forward in Big 12 play
"It's a one-game season every week and that's all that you can focus on. We're excited about going down to Texas. They're a great team and they have a good defense, so we'll start gameplanning for them tomorrow."
Wide Receiver James Washington
On his final Homecoming game at OSU
"It was a lot of fun, especially for being my last one. I cherished every moment out there and each of the fans that came out to support us."
On moving forward in Big 12 play
"Today gives us a little bit more confidence in my eyes, but at the same time, we have to keep guys healthy and out of trouble and just keep moving forward."
On the offensive success against Baylor
"We stayed balanced between running and passing the ball. Justice Hill and all the other running backs did a tremendous job running the ball and Mason Rudolph did a great job getting the ball to us receivers. It couldn't have worked out better."
Running Back Justice Hill
On Homecoming
"There's a lot of people cheering us on throughout the whole week. That's something that really made the difference for us, just like it does in every game."
On getting the win against Baylor
"It's always a good feeling to get a win. We were able to go out, have a good time and get the win. Tomorrow, we'll come back in and get ready for Texas."
On the offense's success against Baylor
"Everybody executed and did their part. When everybody executes and takes care of what they need to, that's what can happen."
Linebacker Gyasi Akem
On the environment of Homecoming
"It's fun. I've been around here for a while and it's probably the best environment I've been around in college football. The fans love us and we love them and want to come out here to perform and see the reactions. Every game is exciting here, but Homecoming has something a little bit extra special about it. You get to see your family and friends and so it's always a good time."
On his interception
"We had worked on that a few times during practice throughout the week. It's just stuff we practice all week and I think we performed well as a defense throughout. We started off a little shaky letting them score on the first drive, but I thought we kept them out of the end zone after that and forced field goals so it was a good day for us."
On the takeaways from today heading into next week's matchup against Texas
"We can get better in a lot of areas - tackling and some of our technique stuff - but it'll be fun to see Texas again. It's a lot of fans in that stadium - over 100,000 people - so it's always an awesome place to play."
Cornerback Darius Curry
On Homecoming
"It is a great experience for my first Homecoming to actually have played. The atmosphere is live. I think this is the best atmosphere that I've played in since I've been playing at Oklahoma State. It's pretty much the same as a regular game, but it was much louder this time. We got the fans involved and the defense had a nice tempo to get everyone involved in the game."
On the defense's success
"We just tried to keep everything in front of us. We heard that they were a big-play team, so we just wanted to hold everything in front of us and make them play a game that they didn't want to play."
On the takeaways heading to Austin next week
"I would say that we have to be solid on the back end again. We just have to keep doing that moving forward."
Baylor Head Coach Matt Rhule
Opening Statement
"First off, a lot of credit to Oklahoma State. I thought Mason Rudolph was fantastic. The receivers made a lot of plays down the field. I thought the back was special. I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due. I thought they played an outstanding game. As I told our players, I thought our players fought. I thought our players hung in there. I thought they got off to a great start. At the end of the first quarter, it was 7-7. With nine minutes to go in the second quarter, it was 14-10, and then the game sort of got away from us. I was proud of their effort in the second half. At the end of the day, Oklahoma State was just better than us. We have to be honest with ourselves. In a lot of games, we we're able to hang in there. Today we weren't able to hang in there. We have to get better and we recognize that. I thought our kids sat there and composed themselves with class. They played hard, and we just have to get better and that's what we'll work on doing. I don't want to minimize anything Oklahoma State was doing. You can see why they're the No. 2 offense in the country. They were clicking on all cylinders."
On stopping big plays
"They were able to do it in a multitude of ways. We played zone. We played man. We played quarters. We did everything we could do. We blitzed. They just made great plays in the passing game. In the first half, they had about 119 yards, and 70 of them came on one play. We were doing pretty good hanging in there against the run, which has been our nemesis. That long run really hurt. We were in position to make some tackles, and we didn't make those tackles. They made some great personal efforts to make plays at the crucial time. You can tell they're a put-together group. The quarterback was in control. We just weren't able to make plays on the ball – I think one or two. Grayland (Arnold) made the nice play coming out of the half. (We) got the one turnover early on and tried to take a shot to (Denzel) Mims, and Mims was wide open. They did a nice job of hitting the quarterback."
On the running game
"We average about 40 or 50 yards. We got up to about 200 yards. Today was a function of not being able to throw the football. You could throw that up to a multitude of things, but we weren't able to get the ball thrown. We did a nice job of running the football, but the score got out of control to where we couldn't run the ball. In addition, we got the ball into the red zone three times and had to kick three field goals. We have to score in the red zone."
On passing game
"They were playing five DBs and playing off and saying, 'Hey, we're not going to let you throw the football.' We had a lot of miscues and a lot of balls thrown outside (when they need to be) inside. Guys dropped balls. Three or four times, we had guys running the wrong routes in a crucial situations. I always like to blame the coaching first, but a lot of things we needed to execute. They were out there throwing and catching and executing, and we weren't. We're really the same plays, we're all really running the same plays. I give credit to them. We (have to) go back and work. George (DeLeone) and Jeff (Nixon) did a great job of putting together a run plan this week to take advantage of Terence (Williams) and John (Lovett)'s ability to run the ball. We just weren't able to make the plays throwing the ball off it."
Senior tight end Jordan Feuerbacher
On starting out strong then getting away from them
"One thing we thought we could do was run the ball on their defense and I thought that we showed that we could through that first drive. We hit a couple of bombs after that but we just have to get consistent."
On the running game
"We really focused on it. We basically made our whole game plan on running the ball. I feel like we dedicated more time to it in the bye week and I think a couple of those things made a big difference."
Sophomore Quarterback Zach Smith
On the Oklahoma State defense
"They were bringing a lot of pressure and for the most part we blocked them. We had a couple of guys running open and I couldn't get it to them but that's on me, I need to buy some more time and get the ball to them. But they are a pretty good team and they outplayed us today."
On the game-opening drive
"We were pretty sharp and executed all of our assignments on that drive and we got in there and scored. That was our only touchdown. We just have to get better and execute the red zone better."
On the Baylor morale
"I mean its awful losing this many games in a row but we are going to come back and we are going to get better. I think that has been noticeable that every week we have come back and we have fought so we are going to keep doing that. We are going to continue to fight and have each others backs."
Opening statement
"I thought we played really well today, with the exception of turning the ball over. Defensively, we forced some turnovers. We got a fumble, a couple of interceptions when it mattered. I thought we defended better on third downs...Baylor wanted to run the ball a little more than what we thought. We thought they would try to through it a little more. Defensive coaches did a nice job of adjusting after the first drive. They ate up seven minutes of the clock and we didn't play very well on the first series and missed a pass. We finally got going in the second and third quarters.
"Obviously, we were very explosive and ran the ball well. We made a lot of big plays. Our offensive line held up pretty well. Zach Crabtree held up okay, I thought, without watching the tape. (Johnny Wilson and Teven Jenkins) played pretty well for being first-time guys. (J.D. King) came in and pounded the ball late. L.D (Brown) was the same way. Kicking was good, for the most part. Our kickoffs, other than one, were better than two weeks ago. Then (Matt) Ammendola hit the field goal and his PATs, so that was encouraging for us.
"We've got to take care of the football. When we've been really good around here, we don't turn the ball over much and that's going to be something we're going to continue to stress. When two teams are even, it really comes down to special teams play, penalties and turnovers, for the most part. We had one penalty I wasn't really fired up about. We had a late hit on the quarterback. When I saw the replay I really wasn't sure where it came from, but regardless they made the call. I'm a little tentative about giving them too much because we're telling them to do whatever they can to get to the quarterback then telling them to slow down at the last second. I'm not sure that always works well together. We'll see it on tape and we'll coach it. Other than (Kenneth Edison-McGruder) having an injury, we don't know what it is right now, it looks like we got out of it pretty healthy. We'll let them enjoy it tonight then get back to work tomorrow."
On the wind's effect on the game
"Yeah, it was windy. In this stadium, it swirls. At one time, we didn't have the wind so I said that when the quarter changes we'll have the wind. Then, the kicker said we don't have the wind. It was a little bit of an issue, but it was for both sides. The punt that McCleskey bobbled, it was coming straight down into the wind, but we've got to make those plays. We have to be secure in at least possessing the ball, but the wind was a little bit of a factor."
On what he thought was behind OSU being able to slow down Baylor's passing game
"They really didn't (throw a lot). They might have thrown more in the fourth quarter when the game was over than they did in the first three. You would have to ask Matt (Rhule). The only thing that is maybe it is they were trying to keep the clock running. They looked at the time of possession against TCU and said to keep the ball on the ground and keep the clock running. I was a little surprised at that and I was a little surprised they were crowding the box. We just have to make adjustments during the game."
On how important it was to see a clean performance by the offense after TCU and Tech
"It was. When you fumble, it's a downer, but when you take a total number of plays, 71, I'm going to say that 63 of them were pretty clean. Turnovers are huge. We stress it and we missed a couple of throws, but Mason made a bunch of throws. It's interesting when you look at his numbers, 19-of-31, the difference with him and other quarterbacks is that he's going to have six or seven incompletions because we throw the ball down the field so much, but for the most part, it was fairly clean. If McCleskey fields the punt in the first quarter you don't feel very bad about it at all, but when you do that and you start the second half with a 60-yard completion and turn it over, that's not very fun. We did play better in areas we need to make improvement, but we have to improve in decision-making and fielding the ball in special teams. We have to eliminate penalties when we play these teams in the future in order to have a chance to win."
Oklahoma State Coordinators
Mike Yurcich
On the run game
"Number is a big concern in the box early going. Then he was able to make the safety miss and go for a long one and that kind of loosened them up a little bit. We got smarter as the game went along, adjusting our calls based on what they were giving us, front wise. It's just a matter of playing with tempo and being able to balance yourself with run to pass. That helps each player, not just the run game. The run game helps the pass game. I've said it a million times. That's really important for any offense to have success."
On Ateman's block on Justice Hill's touchdown run
"Ateman's block on the run was tremendous. Seeing him finish down the field was awesome. It was fun to see our guys blocking down the field. Perimeter blocking is so, so important because you never see big-time run touchdowns without great, exceptional perimeter blocking. You'll never see bad perimeter blocking and a run go for explosive yards. To have those receivers do what they do through the air and also understand the important and effort it takes to be good in perimeter blocking is awesome."
On if it's fun to be a play caller on a game like todays
"It is. You've got to make sure you're taking what the defense gives you. There's a lot of communication. It's a lot of communication. It's a staff that understands the schemes. It's a staff that communicates well. It's a head coach that sees things real well as well. It's just great communication. It helps you as a play caller when you have a great staff around you."
Glenn Spencer
On Justin Phillips' performance
"I haven't seen the film yet, but I do know he was active. He caused a fumble. He was just an add-on. He really wasn't designing the blitz. Great job of raking the arm opposed to just going for the tackle. I think he's just starting to hit that next step in his maturity."
On the defense's performance
"I thought they did good. Scoring is what matters. I don't know how many possessions, 16 points, that's pretty stout. That's really the one that matters. We scored more points than them, so we need to be happy. I've got about four hours to be happy tonight before the grind starts again."
Oklahoma State Players
Quarterback Mason Rudolph
On his final Homecoming game at OSU
"It was great. The atmosphere was great from the start and it was packed. The offense was moving the ball and the defense was getting turnovers and stops. It's just an awesome feeling. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else for Homecoming. It's fun and I'm excited to go see my parents and enjoy the rest of the evening:
On the offense's success against Baylor
"We just wanted to come out and Coach Gundy kind of set the tone early. He told us that for whatever reason we'll sometimes come out with not as much energy as we do on the roads, so he wanted us to come out with that energy and mindset and it paid off."
On moving forward in Big 12 play
"It's a one-game season every week and that's all that you can focus on. We're excited about going down to Texas. They're a great team and they have a good defense, so we'll start gameplanning for them tomorrow."
Wide Receiver James Washington
On his final Homecoming game at OSU
"It was a lot of fun, especially for being my last one. I cherished every moment out there and each of the fans that came out to support us."
On moving forward in Big 12 play
"Today gives us a little bit more confidence in my eyes, but at the same time, we have to keep guys healthy and out of trouble and just keep moving forward."
On the offensive success against Baylor
"We stayed balanced between running and passing the ball. Justice Hill and all the other running backs did a tremendous job running the ball and Mason Rudolph did a great job getting the ball to us receivers. It couldn't have worked out better."
Running Back Justice Hill
On Homecoming
"There's a lot of people cheering us on throughout the whole week. That's something that really made the difference for us, just like it does in every game."
On getting the win against Baylor
"It's always a good feeling to get a win. We were able to go out, have a good time and get the win. Tomorrow, we'll come back in and get ready for Texas."
On the offense's success against Baylor
"Everybody executed and did their part. When everybody executes and takes care of what they need to, that's what can happen."
Linebacker Gyasi Akem
On the environment of Homecoming
"It's fun. I've been around here for a while and it's probably the best environment I've been around in college football. The fans love us and we love them and want to come out here to perform and see the reactions. Every game is exciting here, but Homecoming has something a little bit extra special about it. You get to see your family and friends and so it's always a good time."
On his interception
"We had worked on that a few times during practice throughout the week. It's just stuff we practice all week and I think we performed well as a defense throughout. We started off a little shaky letting them score on the first drive, but I thought we kept them out of the end zone after that and forced field goals so it was a good day for us."
On the takeaways from today heading into next week's matchup against Texas
"We can get better in a lot of areas - tackling and some of our technique stuff - but it'll be fun to see Texas again. It's a lot of fans in that stadium - over 100,000 people - so it's always an awesome place to play."
Cornerback Darius Curry
On Homecoming
"It is a great experience for my first Homecoming to actually have played. The atmosphere is live. I think this is the best atmosphere that I've played in since I've been playing at Oklahoma State. It's pretty much the same as a regular game, but it was much louder this time. We got the fans involved and the defense had a nice tempo to get everyone involved in the game."
On the defense's success
"We just tried to keep everything in front of us. We heard that they were a big-play team, so we just wanted to hold everything in front of us and make them play a game that they didn't want to play."
On the takeaways heading to Austin next week
"I would say that we have to be solid on the back end again. We just have to keep doing that moving forward."
Baylor Head Coach Matt Rhule
Opening Statement
"First off, a lot of credit to Oklahoma State. I thought Mason Rudolph was fantastic. The receivers made a lot of plays down the field. I thought the back was special. I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due. I thought they played an outstanding game. As I told our players, I thought our players fought. I thought our players hung in there. I thought they got off to a great start. At the end of the first quarter, it was 7-7. With nine minutes to go in the second quarter, it was 14-10, and then the game sort of got away from us. I was proud of their effort in the second half. At the end of the day, Oklahoma State was just better than us. We have to be honest with ourselves. In a lot of games, we we're able to hang in there. Today we weren't able to hang in there. We have to get better and we recognize that. I thought our kids sat there and composed themselves with class. They played hard, and we just have to get better and that's what we'll work on doing. I don't want to minimize anything Oklahoma State was doing. You can see why they're the No. 2 offense in the country. They were clicking on all cylinders."
On stopping big plays
"They were able to do it in a multitude of ways. We played zone. We played man. We played quarters. We did everything we could do. We blitzed. They just made great plays in the passing game. In the first half, they had about 119 yards, and 70 of them came on one play. We were doing pretty good hanging in there against the run, which has been our nemesis. That long run really hurt. We were in position to make some tackles, and we didn't make those tackles. They made some great personal efforts to make plays at the crucial time. You can tell they're a put-together group. The quarterback was in control. We just weren't able to make plays on the ball – I think one or two. Grayland (Arnold) made the nice play coming out of the half. (We) got the one turnover early on and tried to take a shot to (Denzel) Mims, and Mims was wide open. They did a nice job of hitting the quarterback."
On the running game
"We average about 40 or 50 yards. We got up to about 200 yards. Today was a function of not being able to throw the football. You could throw that up to a multitude of things, but we weren't able to get the ball thrown. We did a nice job of running the football, but the score got out of control to where we couldn't run the ball. In addition, we got the ball into the red zone three times and had to kick three field goals. We have to score in the red zone."
On passing game
"They were playing five DBs and playing off and saying, 'Hey, we're not going to let you throw the football.' We had a lot of miscues and a lot of balls thrown outside (when they need to be) inside. Guys dropped balls. Three or four times, we had guys running the wrong routes in a crucial situations. I always like to blame the coaching first, but a lot of things we needed to execute. They were out there throwing and catching and executing, and we weren't. We're really the same plays, we're all really running the same plays. I give credit to them. We (have to) go back and work. George (DeLeone) and Jeff (Nixon) did a great job of putting together a run plan this week to take advantage of Terence (Williams) and John (Lovett)'s ability to run the ball. We just weren't able to make the plays throwing the ball off it."
Senior tight end Jordan Feuerbacher
On starting out strong then getting away from them
"One thing we thought we could do was run the ball on their defense and I thought that we showed that we could through that first drive. We hit a couple of bombs after that but we just have to get consistent."
On the running game
"We really focused on it. We basically made our whole game plan on running the ball. I feel like we dedicated more time to it in the bye week and I think a couple of those things made a big difference."
Sophomore Quarterback Zach Smith
On the Oklahoma State defense
"They were bringing a lot of pressure and for the most part we blocked them. We had a couple of guys running open and I couldn't get it to them but that's on me, I need to buy some more time and get the ball to them. But they are a pretty good team and they outplayed us today."
On the game-opening drive
"We were pretty sharp and executed all of our assignments on that drive and we got in there and scored. That was our only touchdown. We just have to get better and execute the red zone better."
On the Baylor morale
"I mean its awful losing this many games in a row but we are going to come back and we are going to get better. I think that has been noticeable that every week we have come back and we have fought so we are going to keep doing that. We are going to continue to fight and have each others backs."
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