Oklahoma State University Athletics
Football Coach/Player Media Luncheon Quotes
April 08, 2003 | Cowboy Football
On his comments after watching film of Saturday's game
"The score's still the same. After looking at the tape, I think that I would have liked to have played better on offense. Obviously, there were some missed opportunities that we did not take advantange of, in terms of capitalizing on scores. We did not kick the ball as well. The biggest thing is that I thought at this point in time that we would execute better on offense and make better decisions. In a game like this when you are playing against a pretty good defense, you need to have some positive things happen."
On not opening up the offense more
"I think that not coming off of good field position had a lot to do with that. I try to leave that pretty much up to my offensive staff in terms of where they want to open up the offense and when. Here's the bottom line: you can put out four or five different formations which we do have, but what we have to do as a football team is not worry about what set we come out in, be ready to block, protect and execute. At this point in time, we are not consistent at doing those things."
On being disappointed at OSU's play in the red zone
"Looking at that film, there were about six or seven opportunities. We were down there in the red zone at the ten yard line. We drove down to the three, and we end up getting a hold call which pushes us back to the 15. We have to develop what I think is the right attitude, a scorer's mentality, that when we get down there we're going to get the ball in the endzone. In the last four or five quarters, we have not been able to do that. I think you have to have the right mentality when you get down there that you will get the ball in the endzone no matter what play is called. I still believe that we have guys that can do that, but we haven't been performing like that."
On executing in the red zone
"I know people get tired of hearing it, but execution is really the bottom line. Obviously, it goes back to us being better coaches and making sure that we put our kids in those kinds of situations. The only rethinking that we have done is that we have to perform and we have to know where we are on the field, not only as coaches but also as players, and we have to step up and do those kinds of things that will really excite our football team and get in the endzone."
On Tony Lindsay's performance
"Tony was not stellar to be completely honest. I thought in the second half he made a lot of things happen especially with his feet and in terms of getting us in position to score. Some of his decisions could have been better and I have said this before, the quarterback position is different. It's a big responsibility, we allow our quarterbacks to do certain things to make checks so they have to be in tune with what's going on on the football field."
On where his team stands after Southern Miss loss
"There's still areas where we have to improve in. I still like this team, I think we have a lot of talent but when I talk to them today we are going to have to look at why we aren't the team we want to be and address it and move on to play the University of Texas."
On his thoughts on the secondary
"We don't have one of our better players (Alvin Porter). I think it is very important for us to sit down as a staff and figure out what we can do and what we can't do and here's what we have to mix up. You can be a pressure team and it can hurt you. You have to be smart enough to get the kind of mixture that allows you pressure at times and to take away other things through blitz man and blitz zone combinations. Part of Southern Miss' success was on third down, they were 5-of-10 in the first half. We have to be a little smarter, we had them third and long on several occasions and we can't let them throw the ball over our heads."
On the concerns of the secondary's performance heading into play against Texas
"To a point, it's our job as coaches to take away some of things that Texas does. Texas has some talented receivers, their freshmen are as fast as any guys that we are going to play against. I thought Stanford did a good job against them and even though Texas outplayed them, Stanford won the game, only because they did a good job on special teams and their offense made the plays when it counted, keeping them in the ballgame. That's what we have to do."
On how good the team chemistry is now
"I think it is good. Chemistry is very important and I think after the game everybody was disappointed and I would be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed. After the game I talked to them about what we had to do and told them it was only one loss. I told them we have to play with a sense of urgency and we have to get better. I still think our chemistry is right where it was at the beginning of the season."
On utilizing Tony Lindsay's athletic ability more
"We have talked about doing that. I think Tony has the flexibility to do those things. There is nothing wrong with being an athletic quarterback, you don't have to sit back there and look down field all day for a receiver, if nothing is open run."
On the importance as coach not to panic
"I don't see why I would panic. What I have to do is to address the things that are necessary to my staff and address the things that are necessary to the team. This is not about panicking, it's about making some corrections and telling the team that all we want is in front of us. This is the beginning of conference play and its not going to be easy but at the same time I have said there is nobody on the schedule that we can't beat providing that we don't beat ourselves."
On his defensive line's performance against the run
"Our defensive line, somebody told me, is ranked nationally but on the other hand it's also where people are taking advantage of us. Somehow we have to find a balance. I thought our defense played well on Saturday with the exception of giving up three long passes which led to touchdowns. We can't be great run stoppers and allow them to throw the ball over our heads and I think that's where we have to be smart as coaches."
On his thoughts about Texas and whether the two-quarterback system hurts the team or not
"I don't really think it hurts them. In the game they lost to Stanford (I don't know their mindset) I watched the film and thought Texas did everything the had to do but win the ballgame. You have to give credit to the way Stanford played. Texas has two excellent quarterbacks, one is a little bit more athletic than the other one. I think Simms is a big lefty that can take off and run and I have a lot of respect for Applewhite. He is to me a proven quarterback and when he comes in he makes good decisions and right reads."
On Texas' passing offense
"They put points on the board and that is what coaches look at. I think they are big enough to run the football, their offensive line is as big as any pro offensive line, they are young and that may be part of the problem running. When you have two receivers like they have and two quarterbacks like they have, they chose to go up top which everybody in the country is doing. I know they want more of a balance but I could take scoring 40 to 50 points a game."
On Texas' defensive linemen Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton
"Big and biggest. Those guys are not only big but they are strong and athletic. We had a chance to see them first hand here last season. In reality we have had success moving the ball against Texas. We can't be our own worst enemy, we played them here last season and it was 7-7 right before halftime and we fumble the ball and they go into the half 14-7. We come back out in the second half and we are moving the ball but began to throw interceptions which really flipped the game around. We played down there in 1998 and had a chance to win the ballgame but they kicked a field goal late to win. It's a good team and I am saying we are going to go down there with a chance to win the ballgame but we have to play well."
On any chances of Alvin Porter playing Saturday
"I am hoping. There is a committee from the university meeting with the NCAA this week and we are hoping for some kind of decision this week. It may not come but we are hoping."
On quarterback Aso Pogi's performance last Saturday
"Not bad. The thing that Aso has to do and understand is that everything is not a home run and if you do the little things, big things will happen. I liked that Aso could come in and make good checks but he has to understand the total picture, not only him but Tony as well. When you have the ability to check on third and short, the percentages of completing a pass down field are not good. The quarterback needs to get the first down and start the drive all over. I think he has an exceptional future, he is a good student of the game, he is still young and will make some mistakes but he is going to be pretty good."
Linebacker Terrence Robinson
On a frustrating game
"Yeah, it was a pretty frustrating game. I mean, I feel we could have done some things offensively as well as defensively to prepare ourselves to win this game, but now this game is over with. We have another game ahead of us. We hold our heads up high and go on next week and put it behind us."
On putting the Southern Miss game behind them
"Its not easy to do at all. It is something that is always in the back of your mind, because you do not want to lose especially at home with almost a sellout crowd."
On what it means to him to play Texas (his home state)
"This game means a lot to me. Every time you say Texas it kind of pumps me up. I wanted to go to Texas out of high school. They recruited me late so I felt like I was a second option in their recruiting process, and Bob Simmons stuck with me and I felt this is where I wanted to be. I have some friends that are playing at Texas so it is kind of a competition between us talking back and forth."
On big hits
"I always look for the opportunity to make big hits. Every time I see the opportunity I try to take it. I try to make the big hits just to get the team pumped up. I feel I have to be the playmaker on defense to get the defense pumped up. That is something that we all look for not only to get the defense pumped but also to get the offense pumped up as well."
On the offense
"No, we are not getting frustrated with the offense. We feel we have made some mistakes also. The offense is doing their part and the defense has to do their part. We just have to take care of our business and leave it to the coaches to take care of their business on the offensive side."
On the linebacking core
"I feel as a group that there is not a question mark anymore. We have shown that we can hit and that we can go to the ball. We can read the offense when it lines up. We can do some of the things that the past group has done. I feel we can take away that question mark now."
On putting pressure on the Texas quarterback
"Yeah that is one thing that is very important to us. We really have to get some heat on the quarterbacks. They do a lot of passing and we feel that if we can get to Applewhite or Simms it will help us to win the game defensively."
On the mood after the Southern Miss game
"Everybody was kind of down, but everybody went around and told each other to pick their heads up. This is a game of football, you win some and you lose some. You have to keep your head up and move on with the next week. We still have eight or nine games left. Everybody was quiet so the mood was totally different from winning the first two weeks."
On the secondary
"I'm not too concerned. I feel the secondary will step it up. We have a few inexperienced guys in there. I feel they will do their part in taking care of the receivers, but we also have to do our part up front like getting to the quarterback."
On the pressure of getting to the quarterback as a linebacker
"Yeah, I have to take it upon myself, but not only me the whole front seven. We know the competition is different than the first two weeks. We have to get to the quarterback in whatever we do."
On defending the run against Southern Miss
"I feel we really moved to the ball, and we ran the proper blitzes. The first two weeks we made a few mistakes that we saw on film. We got the mistakes taken care of and did a great job."
On the trouble they had against Southern Miss
"I feel there were a few mistakes, but there was also a lack of execution. There were things we could have done both offensively and defensively."
On how the team stacks up
"Everyone probably considers us a mediocre team, but I feel this week we will go out and prove to the press and to the nation that we can go out and step up and be a great team."
On being a big underdog
"Everyone thinks we are probably hanging our heads and giving up. Something we want to do is go out there with our heads up high and move on week by week. Everyone probably thinks we are hanging our heads and giving up but that's one thing we won't do. We'll hold our heads up high."
On getting the taste of a loss out of your mouth
"It's very important that we get that taste out our mouth. Like I said, we can't look back on the Southern Miss game. We have to get in there and watch film and see what they (Texas) are doing offensively and defensively and just prepare well."
On having a shot at beating Texas
"It's just a competition thing. We are going to go out and play hard and have fun and play with a lot of emotion and be fired up. It's just like I said: We are going to show the nation what we can do."
