Oklahoma State University Athletics
Coach Simmons Discusses Oklahoma
November 22, 1999 | Cowboy Football
Nov. 22, 1999
Head Coach Bob Simmons
On player suspensions
"I have suspended Marcellus Rivers, Evan Howell, J.B. Flowers and Alvin
Porter for violation of team policy. While I understand that an
investigation of an alleged incident may happen, I have not been notified of
any official investigation. The action I have taken is without regard to
whether or not an investigation may occur but deals only with team issues.
This is the only comment I will make."
On what he told the team about the suspensions
"They're not going to be there, and we have to move ahead with this
ballgame. They're (the team) going to have to realize that."
On addressing the team about coming together
"Here's my address to the football team: The OU game is the most important
thing right now. You can't deal with what's going on with distractions. Our
focus right now is to win this ballgame."
On how the team will handle today's suspensions
"We will deal with the fact that we won't have four players there as a team.
Again, the most important issue right now is getting ready to play OU."
On Oklahoma
"They are a good football team. They're a little different. Their offense is
very productive. (Josh) Heupel is a very good player. He knows the system.
He knows where to go. I was very impressed with him when I watched him on
film. I am impressed with their entire football team. Defensively, they
swarm to the ball and they do a good job. It's going to be a challenge for
us."
On whether they will try to stop OU with the pass rush or cover the receivers
"It's got to be a combination of both in terms of our defensive game plan.
The more time he (Heupel) has, the more effective he is. We have to come up
with a scheme that allows him minimal time, but at the same time, we need to
be sound back there in the secondary."
On how the suspension of three secondary players will affect the defense
"Marcus (Jones) has played quite a bit. Again, we have to come up with a
game plan that takes into account all of those things."
On covering Josh Heupel
"You have to make him make quick decisions. He knows who to go to. He's very
smart. I thought that Texas Tech did a good job of making him move around.
Based on what a lot of other people have done against this kind of system,
we need to be ready."
On Jacoby Shepherd's play becoming critical to the defense
"Absolutely. He is a good player. Shepherd has played throughout the season,
and he' s a valuable player. We thought going into this season that he had
all the tools to be a good player. We will count on him just as we count on
the others that are playing."
On using past games versus OU to develop a game plan
"I've never looked at it that way. I've always looked at each year as
separate. I don't look back at past victories. It is important to how we
play that particular ballgame and what we need to do and how we execute.
That's always been my approach because when we play well, we have a chance
to win. If we execute, we have a chance to win. I'm not going to change
that. The fact that we won those past ballgames had to do with the fact that
we played better and we won."
On whether or not the team is intimidated by OU
"I've never understood the intimidation factor as long as I've been here.
What I've understood is if you take a team down there and you're capable and
you play like you're capable, you always have a chance to win. That's been
my approach from day one."
On OU being undefeated at home
"They play well at home. They feel good about their place. Regardless, we
still have to go down there and do what we have to do on both sides of the
ball."
On whether OSU will go to a bowl game
"I won't worry about that. The key is getting win number six and then
throwing the ball into the court of the guys that make that decision. If in
fact that happens, I would think that we would be very much a contender
based on what we've done."
On OU's defensive weaknesses
"We're going to try to stay on the field as long as we can. That's going to
be our motivation, whether it's throwing the ball or running the ball. If we
can do what we've done these past couple of weeks, then we will have an
opportunity."
On whether this season has been longer than others
"Not necessarily. It's a season where we've been up and we've been down.
We've tried to stay the course as much as possible, and that's been the
focus. Regardless of what has happened within your program, you really try
to stay the course and remember what this program is all about. That's my
message. Now, we're at the point where we can achieve some of those things
that we talked about and put ourselves in that situation (winning six
games). That's the only thing we wanted to do. We wanted to do it earlier,
and it didn't happen. But it still can happen."
On whether he was hurt by his players' actions
"The most important focus right now is not my hurt. It is the team and for
us to come together here and get a good enough game plan, go down to OU, and
get a win."
On relieving the frustration of the season with a win on Saturday
"With a win on Saturday, we will accomplish what we set out to accomplish
and that's to get ourselves in a position to be bowl-eligible and to have an
opportunity to be considered."
Sr. LB Kenyatta Wright
On how to beat Oklahoma
"You just have to play physical football and play good defense and execute
on offense. That's how you beat everybody, and that's what we have to do
this week. We have to get to the quarterback (Josh Huepel) because he's the
one that controls everything. They have receivers who can break away anytime
at any point in the game. We just need to get the quarterback rattled and
play stiff defense in the secondary. That's the way we're going to win it."
On losing the four suspended players
"I don't really know the circumstances around it, but we have a lot of
players. The NCAA lets us take 70 players down to Norman, and we're going to
take them down there and win this ballgame."
On the team joining together to beat OU
"That stuff that's happened is not the focus this week. The focus is on OU,
so we're going to go get our minds straight and go down there in about an
hour and watch film and get ready for OU this week."
On getting his team focused on the OU game
"We have a bunch of players in the secondary and linebackers and defensive
linemen. We have a lot of players that play every game. Then you have Chris
Massey and he can play any position in the secondary, probably any position
on the field. He's going to have to step up this week, and this is going to
be his chance to shine in the secondary."
On OU's passing attack
"It's more important to take care of the coverage part of it. Brandon
Daniels is a playmaker every time he touches the ball. Jarrail Jackson is a
playmaker every time he touches the ball. We're going to have to play stiff
coverage and with the secondary players that we have, I think we can do
that."
On OU's running offense
"It's been there for them. They do a little shuffle pass and some little
drop plays, but they spread everybody out. We just have to play stiff
defense all around with the passing game and the running game. I don't think
that they're coming into this game thinking that they're going to have to
run to win. They're going to have to pass to win."
On the value of having beaten OU at home twice during his career
"There's a lot of value. That's just like our second home now. We feel like
we have a second home down there in Norman. It's like playing in Lewis
Field. We're going to have a sea of orange on one side and a sea of red on
the other side, but we are going to make it our home."
On what getting a sixth win at OU would do for the season
"It will be really sweet. After that long stretch of games where we had
those losses, Coach narrowed it down to three games and said it was the
triple crown. We have to get three jewels to win the triple crown, and we
have two of them. This weekend if we get that one, our year is complete.
"They moved the game back to Thanksgiving weekend for whatever reason, but it's really special to play at OU and against OU every year."
On the possibility of going to a bowl game
"In my opinion, I hope someone selects us to a bowl game, but we don't have
any control over it. We just have to go in there and play the game, play to
win, and see what happens after that."
Sr. WR/PR Terance Richardson
On his injured ankle
"It feels good. It feels better than I thought it would at this point."
On missing practice due to his injury
"I don't know right now. I just have to go day by day, I guess, and see how
much running I can do on it."
On watching his 53-yard punt return against Baylor on tape
"I haven't seen it yet. I guess I'll see it today in the meeting, but I
haven't seen it yet. It feels good to see myself break the (career punt
return) record and stuff like that and look at the good blocks I had."
On breaking the OSU single season and career punt return records
"It feels great. I always looked at myself back in the days as winning
honors and stuff like that, and it's come true. It feels great, just like I
expected it to."
On the offensive game plan versus OU
"I don't expect it to change much. We have a good running game, and we have
guys who can throw the ball when we execute right. I don't expect it to
change much."
