Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Notes And Quotes
October 11, 2003 | General
OSU Football
vs. Kansas State
Oct. 11, 2003
Postgame Notes
• Oklahoma State has now won nine straight games at Boone Pickens Stadium. The Cowboys are off to their best six-game start since 1997 (6-0).
• The win snapped a nine game losing streak to Kansas State, including four straight in Stillwater. The Cowboys last win over the Wildcats was a 17-13 decision in 1989 in Stillwater
• Darrent Williams 63-yard interception return for a touchdown was the fourth scoring return of his career, establishing a new Big 12 record. He added another interception for two yards in the third quarter and now has 244 interception return yards in his career. That moves him from fifth into third place on the Big 12 career list past Derrick Cash (Baylor, 2000-) and Michael Jameson (Texas A&M, 1997-2000)
• Tatum Bell went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the third time this season. With 143 rushing yards he moved into seventh place on the OSU career rushing yards list (2,770) past Shawn Jones (2,698 from 1980-84).
• Rashaun Woods (6 catches, 118 yards) streak of games with at least two pass receptions was extended to 37 games. He went over the 100-yard receiving mark for the third time this season and the 17th time in his career.
• With two touchdown passes today, Josh Fields now has 47 career touchdown passes, two behind school leader Mike Gundy (49, 1986-89).
• With one sack today, Greg Richmond now has 16 in his career, moving him into sixth place on the school's career list. He now has seven sacks this season.
• Billy Bajema's 25-yard touchdown reception was his first scoring catch of the season and first reception since the first game of the season (Nebraska).
• Luke Phillips 11-yard run on the fake field goal, was his first career rush and the Cowboys first fourth down conversion attempt this season.
• Phillips added a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, his longest of the season and his fourth career FG (seven attempts) from 50 yards or more.
• Freddie Sinclair notched his first career sack in the fourth quarter.
Postgame Quotes
OSU Coach Les Miles
On the game
'We looked forward to playing a quality football game for four quarters. They played with poise, they played very competitively. All three phases played awfully well against a well-coached football team. Bill Snyder is a tremendous football coach. We honor their football team with our very best effort. We got a victory that we wanted very badly. Goals set for this football team included winning this game. In a game where the opponent runs the ball as well as Kansas State does, it's going to be a tremendously physical game. Our defense played very well from start to finish.'
On the team
'Hats off to Darrent Williams. He had a tremendous game. He has great big-play potential in a number of ways. His interception for a TD was a great individual play. Tatum Bell came in and played very well. We got great leadership out of Josh Fields. Rashaun Woods had some big plays.'
On getting the victory
'We want desperately to achieve in the Big 12 Conference. This was an important victory for us, it lays out the rest of the season extremely well, but it's just the next game. We still have to go out and play well throughout in this conference. You win them one at a time and that counts five in my way of thinking and one in the Big 12. We look forward to next weeks game at home and we know its a tremendous challenge, but this football team will look forward to it.'
On the fake field goal
'It was the right opportunity. It felt like we needed seven (points). Luke Philips could have made a long field goal. We had no question that it was well within his range. I was surprised he didn't leg it in from there. It looked like he got to the first down marker and just looked for the sideline. You feel the momentum of the game and you understand that needs to be a seven-pointer rather than three. We were fortunate enough to continue the drive and get the seven. It was a wonderful play and it was successful.'
On the touchdown before half-time
'Anytime you play a good football team, you have to take every opportunity at scoring. It gave our defense momentum knowing they would have the ball first after halftime. It also told our offense that we understood what they were doing and could score against them.'
On the offensive line
'I'm really proud of those guys. They went in there and fought hard. Doug Koenig had been playing and splitting time with Hardison so he wasn't really a new guy. Caleb Noble was playing a lot of football for us, but got his first start and major playing time for us and played extremely well. Chris Akin had played center all spring for us and we felt comfortable with him in there at that position. We are fortunate to have the flexibility in the offensive line to do that. In games, its people that play and those guys played extremely well and did things for their football team that they hadn't done in the past. That's as important to this victory and as important to being a part of this football team as any function within this football program that there is.'
OSU Players
Gabe Lindsay
On offense coming around
'We know what we are capable of. At the first of the season we did not do as well as we thought we were capable of, but we never doubted that we had the weapons. It was just about us getting on the same page. When we play like we did today we are a good team.'
On a big game
'The last couple of games I felt like I really did not do anything. I was kind of down on myself but I knew this week they would need me. I just tried to step up and make big plays.'
On touchdown catch
'This whole week Josh (Fields) has been looking for me back side. When we ran that play I knew he would be looking for me.'
On Darrent Williams
'Darrent (Williams) is real good. People tend to underestimate us little guys. He has heart and that is what it takes to be a good football player.'
Greg Richmond
On the win
'This is a great win for us. This is a great win for the team, coaching staff and the university. We knew they had a nine game winning streak against us and we got an opportunity to end it. We have got to stay focused. We have six more weeks to go. We have got to get our focus on Texas Tech now.'
On Kansas State
'They are a tough team and they have athletes everywhere. They did a good job of attacking us were they could. We made a lot of plays but we also made a lot of mistakes that we need to correct. We gave up a lot of points but we will be okay. We just have to keep fighting.'
On Ell Roberson
'He is a phenomenal athlete. We just tried our best to corral him and keep him in the pocket. We should have done a better job of putting pressure on him. We are going to correct that and be ready to play next week.'
OSU Locker Room
Khreem Smith
On the game
'It gives us a lot more confidence going into the Big 12 knowing we can play with any team. We have to work hard every day and hopefully we can get to the Big 12 Championship.'
On his individual game
'I have always had the confidence, but now I have to go out and make plays. All Coach asks of us is to make plays, and that's what we try to do.'
On Texas Tech
'We have to work on our pass rush. They are one of the most dominant passing offenses and we have to stop them.'
Corey Hilliard
On his first Big 12 game
'It was crazy. This was my first Big 12 game and my first start against a Big 12 team. It was so much fun and I enjoyed it a lot. They played hard, and I had to play hard the whole game.'
On preparing for Texas Tech
'They are another good team, and so we have to go back to work. There will be a lot of physical play, and we have to be ready.'
Kansas State Head Coach Bill Snyder
On the fake field goal
'We had not seen the fake, but you have to be ready for fakes at all times. We were attempting to block it, fell asleep at the switch, and didn't have it covered. Poor coaching on my part.'
On Ell Roberson's play
'Everybody makes mistakes, I probably make more than most. I'd have liked for him to have started the ball game better, he finished the ball game well I thought. We've got some issues as far as turnovers, interceptions, obviously that was a factor, and it's not always the quarterback's fault. I think he's better this week than he was last week, but I still think he's making enough mistakes that he can get you in trouble, and that's what happened.'
On his team's morale
'I don't know, it's a relatively quiet locker room at this point in time. I'd like to think it's a locker room that recognizes that we're still making the effort to go 15 rounds, and that we've got to fight the first half like we fight the last half, which means we've got to get off to a better start, which in my eyes means we've got to practice a little bit better. I'd like to believe that we've got a room full of guys that have tremendous character, have a great deal of heart, that care about each other, that believe in the program and are not about to give themselves up.'
On the inability to consistently stop OSU
'Oklahoma State figured in to a lot of things. They figured in to the ability to throw the ball, they figured in to the ability to run the ball. This is a good football team, you need really to understand that. They ran the ball well and they threw the ball well, we got caught in trying to do some things with Rashaun Woods, and sometimes it hit, sometimes it didn't, and sometimes it hurt us in some other areas.'
On Rashaun Woods
'He's pretty amazing every day I think. He's a very talented, very tremendous player, and he's got the help of a very accomplished quarterback. Josh Fields does an excellent job. They do a nice job coaching to get Rashaun into situations where from time to time they can get him matched up one on one. He's just a guy who's not going to run by you, he's not going to run fast, but what he's going to do is get downfield and jump up and make plays. He's dog gone hard to defend.'
Opposing Players
Josh Buhl
On the game
'I wonder why we can't play four quarters of football. We came out and played good football in the second half, but it was already to late.'
On the defense being fatigued
'It's a combination of many things. They made big plays and we were on the field a lot. We had too many turnovers on the offensive side of the ball and we just didn't come out to play until the second half.'
On where to go from here
'We really just want to get a win. We've got to find some way to put it together like we did today in the second half. We need to calm down and come to play every quarter.'
On the fake field goal
'That was a good play by Oklahoma State. They knew that we were going to try to block it up the middle. We didn't have it defended right to contain them running. It was a good call. You have to give the coaching staff credit for that.'
On the offense of Oklahoma State
'Oklahoma State did a good job of scheming us. Our run defense was good at some times but just horrible at others. The deep ball hurt us a little bit with Rashaun Woods. We gave up too many big plays and we just can't do that.'
On a reversal of last year
'I don't think they pushed us around. I don't think we played responsibly and the way we should have played. Our offense gave up plays by throwing interceptions. We just killed ourselves in a lot of aspects of the game. If you do that, you really can't win the game.'
On Oklahoma State
'Oklahoma State is a pretty good ball club. They have good coaching and they just out schemed us. We killed ourselves on a lot of plays, throwing interceptions and giving up big plays. Give credit to them, they played a good game. They have got a chance to do a lot of things.'
On OSU's offensive talent
'Oklahoma State has a lot of good talent. They did a good job of running the ball and throwing the ball on us. Give their offense credit, they played a good game.'
Rashad Washington
On the loss
'This still hurts. We put in a lot of effort to come out with a loss. We are very disappointed. They played a better ball game than we did and they were the better team today.'
On the fake field goal.
'It was a real big momentum shift. If we hold them to a field goal there, we have a better chance of winning this game. Them getting a touchdown out of it really hurts.
On Rashaun Woods
'To me he is one of the best in the country. He runs precise routes and does things real well. He does things that other receivers in the country can't do.'
On the next game
'We are going to keep fighting. We will go into practice on Monday and try to get things corrected. We have to come out next week and get a win with Colorado at home.'
Ell Roberson
On the defense
'Oklahoma State came out to play. My hat goes off to their defense because they came out and played hard. They got up the field and their tackles made plays.'
On the corners of Oklahoma State
'They played good defense and our receivers didn't make plays.'
