Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
October 06, 2001 | Cowboy Football
Oct. 6, 2001
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OSU Coach Les Miles
On the overtime decision to kick a field goal "We talked about it, but it was not the percentage move. Playing at home, we wanted to play it out."
On the loss "I don't think any loss is easy. The good thing about this game is that you have to give credit to Missouri. They played awfully hard. They were on the ropes. We had an opportunity to finish them earlier in the game and did not. They came back out after halftime and got right back in the game and went ahead. Give credit to that Missouri team. Then you have to give credit to our Oklahoma State team because they came back after them and fought hard. I like this team. I don't like finishing behind another club, but I like this team. They fought. They keep hanging together and doing the right things. There will be some of these games that will finish in our favor."
On what happened in the third quarter "It appeared to me momentum shifted, and we could not get back on track for a couple of series. When the offense finally scored and gave them renewed life, suddenly the defense was back and playing. I had the real sense that late in that game the defense was going to be hard to move on, and we had a real opportunity to win it."
On Missouri's field goal at the end of the first half "That three pointer was significant in the game. We didn't anticipate that. We had them backed up, and they were rushing the ball to run the clock out. Then they hit a long pass. It was that style of drive. When they went and got three on a two-minute drive, that was a successful turn for them. It surely helped them."
Oklahoma State Players
Richard Schwarz
On getting into game
"There is an initial nervousness at first. After a while it goes away and the adrenaline starts pumping. Then it is just like every other day in football."
On momentum swings "We had our up and downs. We played good enough to win sometimes and bad enough to lose sometimes. Of course it didn't come out the way we wanted it to."
On going to overtime "We needed to hurry up, get our heads up and keep our tempo up. That is what we did to tie it up and go to overtime."
Aso Pogi
On feeling in locker room after the game "It is hard to take a loss. It is kind of like things are going good for you and then you come up on bottom. Nobody likes to take a loss, but we did and we have to grow from that."
On momentum of fourth quarter "We knew going into this game it was going to be a hard fought game. We knew that Missouri was a good football team and we were going to have to battle. Those are the type of things we have to do every game. I thought we showed a lot of character offensively the way we came back. We have to grow and learn from these things."
On Rashaun Woods "Rashaun honestly felt that the guy couldn't hold him. We looked at him and it was that time. We have to make plays and go to our play makers. Rashaun did it. It is an everyday thing that we do."
Oklahoma State Locker Room
Chris Massey
On the game
"We jumped on them early, but what we have to do is just keep on pounding. We kind of laid down after we got ahead. We are going to have to correct that."
On the defense doing what they needed to do
"We are never going to quit. We will keep coming after you. It is the little things like giving up short runs on first down. We just have to go back in and dig deeper and make things happen for the offense."
Rashaun Woods
On the end of the game
"We are just trying to win the game. Everybody did a good job. The offensive line did an exceptional job. Everything seemed like it was working for us after we came back. We got back in the game and we stayed in it to win it."
On winning
"This year is about winning. We are going to do what it takes to win. That did not happen for us, but everybody was trying and we gave 100 percent."
Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
On the outcome of the game
"Those games are great if you win them, but if you don't you feel awful. I am very proud of my football team for fighting. A lot of the momentum we gained in the third quarter, we lost in the fourth quarter. They did a great job coming back. It was a great throw on that touchdown pass on fourth down. We just have to keep fighting, and we made some plays at the end."
On Zain Gilmore
"He really showed up tonight. He started practicing better last week. We said on Thursday that we have to get Zain (Gilmore) in there because he has changed. He is looking better and it has been pretty remarkable to see that. He ran hard and tough, and he was able to hold onto the football."
On the final overtime period
"That was our fourth field goal block in four games. We work on winning the game all the time in practice. Brad Hammerich practices so well that we just wanted the ball at the end. We did not want to lose any yardage so that he would be able to kick it. How big of a kick was that?"
Missouri Player Quotes
Thomson Omboga
On The Win "That's a big win for our team because we were looking at a 3-1 record had we lost, instead it came down to a 2-2, and that's a big boost for our team."
On Touchdown Catches "They were amazing, I have been waiting for those all year. It's just too bad they didn't come at home, but I'll still take them regardless of where it was."
Brad Hammerich
On field goal at the half "It's always good to put three points up on the board when your offense drives down the field. That's always a confidence booster and it only put us down a touchdown and a two point conversion. It's great to put points on the board anytime you can."
On Thoughts of Getting Blocked "No, I didn't really think about that, there's thoughts of missing, but I've never had one blocked yet."
On Last Field Goal "Yes, I knew it was good the moment I kicked it. It went right through the middle, unlike the other two or three."
