Oklahoma State University Athletics
R.C. Slocum Press Conference Quotes
October 26, 1999 | Cowboy Football
Oct. 26, 1999
On the Defense's Performance vs. Oklahoma:
"The nature of that offense spreads your defense out quite a bit and
you're left with two choices. You can either have a zone concept and
spread out and try to get some pressure, or you can try to play a lot
of man coverage and right now, we are not equipped to play a lot of
man. We went with the zone and they did a good job of exploiting
that. What made the difference is that they ended up running the
ball much more and much better than we anticipated. Our scheme
against what they were doing was not as good as I would have hoped it
would be."
On Missed Tackles vs. OU:
"Our tackling was poor and I think there is a couple of reasons for
it. Number one, a lot of those tackles were out in space where you
had linebackers spread out in the open-field trying to make tackles.
I think the second reason was that we had guys that were trying too
hard to make tackles, and just weren't getting under control and
making stops. I definitely don't think it was a lack of effort. I
didn't see that at all, even in the fourth quarter when we were out
of the game, we still had guys chasing trying to make plays."
On Oklahoma State Being a "Must-Win":
"I think coaches don't say "must-win" because a lot of the time, you
may not win. We're playing Oklahoma State and I think they are a
pretty competitive team. It will definitely be a challenge for us
this week. We may bounce back and work hard this week and get well
prepared and go out and play pretty good and still not win the
game. The idea that somehow we're just a whole lot better than
everybody else is not accurate. If you go out and play really well,
then you have a chance to win the game. Looking at the remaining
schedule, I don't think there is a game on there that we can't
possibly win, but I don't think there is a game that we can't
possibly lose either. In terms of us salvaging the season, you don't
know how things are going to work out with everyone else, but if we
want to go to a bowl game, we're going to have to start winning some
games pretty fast."
On the Team's Attitude:
"I thought on Sunday, the team's attitude was as good as you could
hope for under the circumstances. The one thing that I feel strongly
about is that we do have good people on the team. We have some
people with character, and I don't anticipate any problem with
getting them to come back and go to work and try to get ready for the
next game."
On the Mark Farris Starting if Randy McCown Can't Play:
"It's not really a major decision. Based on the performance from
Saturday's game, we would put Mark in first. The last couple of
weeks, we've put Vance in first. We've not made a final decision,
and it could possibly get changed this week in practice."
On Randy McCown's Health:
"I think he'll be able to play, it is just a question of how long
he'll be able to play against a physical defensive team. It probably
wouldn't take a huge blow to injure him again. This team is one that
makes a point of going after the quarterbacks."
On the Running Backs' Health:
"I don't think Dante Hall will play. Ja'Mar Toombs likely won't
practice today. We'll just have to wait and see on him during the
week. We have to see who shows up out there today and see what we
can get done with them. The injuries have been a disconcerting thing
all year. We just haven't had a lot of continuity on our offense.
Injuries are a part of football, and we just have to take what we've
got here and deal with it."
On Tony Lindsay Being Back in the OSU's Lineup:
"It helps a bunch. He is a good player, but I really thought their
other quarterback (B.J. Tiger) was pretty good too. I think they can do
the same
things with both quarterbacks. Both are mobile guys, and they can
both throw."
On Sammy Davis:
"Sammy is playing a lot right now. I'm pleased with him. He's a guy
that has a lot of tools and I think he has done a great job as a true
freshman. He is a guy that has played a lot and has done well."
