Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State - Oklahoma Post-Game Quotes
November 25, 2000 | Cowboy Football
Nov. 25, 2000
OSU Coach Bob Simmons
On the defense and the final play
"I wish that we would've gotten down there. I think it was first and goal
and seven, and obviously they did a good job not letting us get in. But we
had an opportunity to win the ball game. That's what we wanted to do was to
have a chance to win in the fourth quarter and put ourselves in position.
We came up short. I thought our defense game plan was set. All week we
looked at a lot of film. We looked at different people and what they did.
We made a couple of phone calls, and we really came up with a different zone
scheme which we hadn't done all year. For us, our kids came away with some
plays which we had to do to have a chance to win the game.
On Bedlam
"This is Bedlam. Obviously, your emotions arise a little bit. I thought
our staff did a good job of looking at formations and tendencies, and tried
to take away some of the main things that they were doing. We really tried
to, obviously, force them either to run the football or throw in the knees,
but not to give up a good play. I thought that our defense did a really
good job.
On Aso Pogi
"He's (Aso Pogi) a freshman quarterback. He had a couple of throws in the
first half. He's going to be a good player. He's a guy that will continue
to mature and make plays. We like him. Aso's going to be pretty good.
This team coming back has got a chance.
On the final play of the game
"We wanted to give Marcellus (Rivers) the chance to make the big play. In
hindsight, we probably could have gone someplace else. But we wanted to try
to get the ball in his hands going into the end zone. We had a couple of
different options. We wanted to see if we could make that work. That's
something I had talked to the coaches about.
On his tenure at Oklahoma State
"I enjoyed my tenure here. I've had some good times. Obviously the bowl
season (1997) was really good for us. I like where the program is now. I
just have enjoyed my stay and my relationship with the people at this
university."
OSU PLAYERS
Tatum Bell
On his touchdown
"They'd been slanting it on the tight end the whole way. It was a play where
we caught them off guard. The line blocked so well. I had a crease, and it
was easy. I just turned it on then. I never realized I separated (from the
defense) until I saw the replay. I dove in the end zone because I thought
they were right on me."
On Bedlam
"I just found out what Bedlam means, so it's a whole new experience for me.
I got my first touchdown of the year, too, so I'm happy about that."
On the Cowboys' last series
"The penalty messed us up. I think the crowd got to us, and we got a little
bit too excited."
Dwayne Levels
On Bedlam
"That's what Bedlam is all about. You throw records and rankings out the
window, and you just come to play. You leave everything on the field. That's
the last game. For the seniors, that's the game they'll remember the most.
You walk away from here, and whether you're a senior, junior or sophomore,
you'll remember the game the rest of your life."
On the Cowboys' defense
"It was our plan coming into this game to throw them off and give them some
new looks. He (Heupel) hadn't seen anything like that all year long. The
first drive, we could have been too nervous. In a game like this where
you're running high on emotions and nerves, it takes a while to settle down.
But once we settled down, we were important. They couldn't do anything, and
we shut them down."
OKLAHOMA PLAYERS
J.T. Thatcher
On the game
"Every game is going to be a close game. OSU is a good team and has talent
everywhere on the field. We can't go out there thinking we are going to blow
everyone out. We had to calm down and go out on defense and not let OSU get
into the end zone."
On special teams
"The defense and special teams went out there and did their part. Coach
talks about special teams a lot and how to make good plays and good returns.
They say defense wins championships and offense wins games."
On fade to Rivers
"We knew it was coming because we watched it all week and it was single
coverage, so we went over there and made a good play."
Rocky Calmus
On the game
"It was a defensive game, give a lot of credit to their defense they played
one of their best games of the season. Offensively we didn't click, and to
be a good team you need to have offense and defense. I am glad to get it
over with and get to the Big 12 Championship. We can't play like this next
week, and if we do we will get beat bad."
On last three games
"You got the big bull's-eye on you, and people are going to play their 'A'
games. Teams are going to practice harder and smarter for you. We are always
happy to get a win anyway we can."
Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops
On Oklahoma State
"I feel good about another very good win. Give Oklahoma State credit, we
will and I will. They played very well on both sides of the ball and special
teams. They hustled and made plays. They kept themselves in the game and
gave themselves a chance to win the game."
On Oklahoma
"Fortunately, we made enough big plays to win the game, especially down the
stretch. Look at the great goal-line stand at the end of the game as well as
the offense to chew up the remaining part of the clock. To find ways to get
the ball and get first downs shows a lot of character, and I told the
players that. To find ways to win close games shows a lot of toughness and
character. I am proud of our guys, in a difficult situation, the way they
made plays and found a way to win the football game. Defense, I thought, was
outstanding again. We really just had the one bad play the entire day. They
did a nice job and we were late getting lined up. They creased us. Outside
of that, it was really solid the entire day. They (OSU) made some nice plays
against the pass, they batted a lot of balls. Again, the first drive is as
good as it gets, the way we executed down the field. After that, they did a
nice job."
On Running Back Quentin Griffin
"I thought Quentin Griffin, we singled him out with a special game ball, was
a factor in the game, his running and moving the ball. He did an excellent
job of running the football. The way they played us, that was there some."
