Oklahoma State University Athletics
Media Luncheon Quotes (October 20)
October 20, 2003 | General
Oklahoma State Coach Les Miles
On what the team takes from the Tech victory
“We've defeated two ranked teams back to back in our stadium, we feel awfully good about the victory. We will as coaches bemoan not finishing it out. Not finalizing two offensive drives, and allowing our opponents to continue drives based on penalties. As a lesson learned for this football team, somebody's got to go out on the field to win it for you, and in this instance it was the defense, and they came up with a series of plays that they needed to. That's the most important lesson learned, how to win football games.”
On Texas A&M
“I look at A&M, and they're a tremendously talented football team. They've got a good tailback and a quarterback that can really run and throw it. They have talented wide receivers, the same receivers they had a year ago. Defensively, their defensive line are big strong men, linebackers are young but capable, a very talented safety corps and two very capable corners. All the kicking team's units are well coached. They have not played as well as a team as I'm sure their coaches would want them to play. It can be a difficult place to win, and we understand that. We're not looking by that challenge at all.”
On Tatum Bell
“Tatum ran really well. He ran well in close quarters, he ran well where there was a contested run. Just before the 95-yarder, he gets hit in the backfield and holds on to the ball, lines up again and hits a 95-yard touchdown run. That's the style of tailback we need, and that's the kind of tailback Tatum Bell needs to be from this point forward. He was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, and deservedly so. He continues to improve, he's at a spot right now where if he continues that play he'll help us in the long run.”
On Reggie McNeal
“He is a true run/pass quarterback. He makes quality throws. He has the ability to hurt you with his feet getting out of the pocket. He has the potential to be very special.”
On catching touchdowns
“It seems like that here lately, but me and Billy (Bajema) have been really involved in the blocking game the past couple of weeks, and we pride ourselves on that. Any time we get a chance to score a touchdown it's real nice.”
On the offense against Tech
“We knew that Texas Tech had an explosive offense, and that they could score at any time, so as a unit offensively, we felt like we needed to put points on the board as often as possible. Try to sustain a drive, get seven if we can, get three, just any way we can to put points on the board. That was our goal going in, and for the first three quarters we were able to do that. We were lucky enough to keep the defense off the field, and that was able to help us a lot.”
On playing on the road
“To be successful in any league, you have to be able to go on the road, you have to be able to win big games like this one coming up. We just need to be focused and not worry about external things on us, we just need to worry about what we can do as a team.”
Freshman Linebacker Victor DeGrate
On the fourth quarter
“We thought we were just going to run away with it because that was what we were doing. We relaxed and started sitting on our victory, while they started playing football and trying to catch up. We came away with the victory in the end.”
On the offensive scheme you might face
“Kansas State could run and throw on offense. It really prepared us for this game against Texas A&M. They have a good quarterback and some good receivers. They just have not been capitalizing on certain plays, but from what I have seen they are pretty good.”
On Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal
“One of the things that make him such a good player is he can pass the ball. He can drop back and he can scramble as well, which can hurt us. We just need to step up and play football like you know how.“
Senior Defensive End Antonio Smith
On the last series of the game
“I think that last series was nothing but heart. Everybody was tired and worn out, but we did not want them to take from us what we have worked so hard for all season.”
On the defense against Texas Tech
“Saturday was bad so we are going go do what we need to do this week. I give our offense their due. We started having a lot of mental breakdowns on defense. We were giving it to them in the first half. We played a solid game defensively for three quarters.”
On the comparison of Texas A&M and Kansas State
“Texas A&M is different than Kansas State because Kansas State has more of a power running game. Texas A&M is going to be running a lot more option with their quarterback. Our defense is kind of suspect to it. If we can pressure the quarterback than he will either get tackled or we will force him into a turnover.”
On what is left for the season
“That is exactly what everybody was saying after the Tech game. We still have not done everything we want to do. There are no letdowns in the Big 12. We have to fight with every team.”
