Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Football Media Luncheon
April 08, 2003 | Cowboy Football
On the OSU's defensive performance "I couldn't ask for any more out of the team than I saw, and the defense is part of the team. Obviously, I'm proud of the way that they played. It's outstanding. The past couple of weeks, we've dominated up front. If you've got a great defensive line who will play great, it really allows you to take pressure off of those defensive backs. I thought for the most part watching the film that the quarterbacks did not have enough time to throw."
On the running backs "I watched the film, and you have to give them(the running backs) credit. Any plays that you run, you talk about six or seven in the box. You can block everyone except for that one strong safety or free safety and obviously in some of the plays that they were running, their strong safety was sitting there in our backfield before we even got started. I thought that we had a chance though. Obviously, I expect our backs at times to make those guys miss, but when they're sitting in our backfield, that doesn't happen."
On the team being balanced offensively "When we put our drives together, that was one thing that we were trying to set up. When they walk their safeties down, play action was an option for us, and the execution of that between B.J. and Ben resulted in a positive drive and positive points."
On his overall assessment of B.J. Tiger "I thought that he did a good job. You want your quarterback being responsible for keeping the drives going. What we tried to do was take advantage of their athletic ability on some plays by calling their number. Throwing the ball, I thought B.J. threw a nice, long pass to Ethan (Howell) and then he hit the short outs that we called for him. So I thought that he managed it pretty well. Then Ben came in and pretty much did the same thing except for one play where he actually threw it into the ground. What those two young quarterbacks have got to learn is that they're not running backs and that linebackers are bigger than them and they need to get down."
On whether B.J. Tiger is "in the doghouse" "B.J. is not in the doghouse. B.J. has got to learn, and that's what I explained to him because he wants to make plays and he wants to win and be competitive as much as anybody else. When you do it at times out of the structure of what we're trying to teach it can create a problem and it can create a turnover. Fortunately for us, it was not a turnover. He got the ball back on a touchdown. I tried to get him to understand that 'Son, you really fumbled this ball because of your actions. You need to learn from that.' He's going to be a good player. He's going to be a good quarterback. He's a great competitor, but he's got to learn that sometimes these things are going to work, but sometimes they're not going to work. He was fortunate this time. Hopefully now we can go on and put that behind us and do the right thing."
On being patient with Ben Bowling and B.J. Tiger "You have to be patient. Number one, they are still learning to go through some reads. They are going to make some mistakes and we're probably going to have to live with that part of it, but from a quarterback standpoint, they have got to learn accountability and that comes during the course of the week when you sit down and map out a game plan. You do certain things. The only thing that I expect as a head coach from a quarterback as I set there and watch film is for you to try and execute that particular game plan to the best of your abilities and that's the only thing that I ask. If things are not there and you take off, that's part of the game. But when you do something that I look on the film and ask why you are doing that and you can't explain it to me, that's when coaching comes in."
On this week's game plan "Right now, B.J. (Tiger) is starting for us. We'll get a chance to play Ben (Bowling), so there's not been any ratio of time versus this time. Both those kids are big assets for us and I think that the more playing time each kid gets, the better off we're going to be as a football team."
On the importance of the passing game "We're going to have to do both (running and passing) because we had a great running game up here last year against them. We did some things to scheme them a little bit and from the standpoint of a passing game, they're going to make it an eight-man front and they're going to make it very difficult to run. They're very big anyhow. Big and athletic. I watched the film and I just shuddered. It's important for us to get the running game going so that we can throw the football."
On J.B. Flowers "I am very pleased. He's exceptional. I really like J.B. and his attitude for this whole year and how he has been really focused in on trying to make that a better defense and a better secondary. The things that J.B. has not done in the past, he's doing in the present. I always called him 'stone hands' but up to this point, he's done great job back there in the secondary. He's to be commended."
Senior DB Evan Howell
On OSU's defensive effort in the first two games "We're feeling pretty confident right now. We're not going to get overconfident, just confident, going into every game with the same mentality: We're trying to shut teams out. Basically, we're not trying to let anybody score on us. We're pretty confident; we feel like we can keep the opponents out of the end zone and make them settle for a field goal."
On the team's defensive statistics against the rush "Actually, I haven't had a chance to see the stats. I didn't get a chance to read the newspapers yesterday. I know we did have a pretty good game as a defense completely. We're just going to continue to work hard and get better and let the stats take care of themselves."
On the prospect of leading the nation against the rush "We'll take being rated No. 1 in the nation; that'd be a pretty good accomplishment. It would make people feel pretty good about themselves and make us want to come out and work hard each and every day. Once you find out you're No. 1 in the nation, you have to take that mentality into each practice, working hard, and carry it over to the game."
On being ranked No. 2 in rushing defense despite giving up -3.0 yards per game "It's no problem. We still have to go out each Saturday and win the game. That's our No. 1 goal; if the defense comes together and does a great job and the offense clicks, then everything's fine with us."
On whether the Tulsa game was a test for the secondary "It was a test. As we went into the week, Coach (Mike) Cassity met with us a lot and we watched a lot of film on those guys. We actually broke up into groups as defensive backs and watched a lot of film at home. It really helps when you become a student of the game and you're familiar with the formations they're running. It carries over into the game."
On expecting extra effort from Mississippi State after last year's game "I'm sure Mississippi State will come in with an extra effort. They say that it's hard to win in Mississippi on their grass, but we're going in with the same mentality. Our number one goal is to win, work hard at practice, and watch a lot of film. If they come with the run or pass. I think that our defense has got to be ready to step up to the challenge."
On the defense scaring opponents "I think that people are really watching our defense now and focusing in on us since we're not giving up very many points per game. Whether they feel fear or not, we're just going to come out and do our job. We're going to come out and try to shut teams down and hold them to field goals. That's our number one goal."
On the advantages of seeing the Mississippi State quarterback before "I don't know too much about him. I know that we played against him last year. He through a couple of balls, but basically they tried to run against us last year. I really don't know much about him right now, but today I'm going to watch a lot of film and try to break the quarterback down."
On playing against Mississippi State's offense "I have all the confidence in the world that our front line and our linebackers are going to stop the run. After we shut down the run, they'll try to come at us with the passing game, and our secondary will have to step up to the challenge."
On the secondary's coverage and tackling ability "We put a lot of emphasis on the pass. That's our number one thing is to cover first and to support the run second. You have to be able to tackle when you play the game of football. We don't want to miss too many tackles because if the running backs and the receivers get by us, they could go for a touchdown."
Senior WR Ethan Howell
On his career-best day against Tulsa "Without a touchdown, I guess five receptions for 107 yards is pretty legitimate, but I wish it had been 200 or 300. I try not to settle, but whatever the defense gives me, I just want to take advantage of it and help contribute to this offense as much as possible."
On the rookie quarterbacks, B.J. Tiger and Ben Bowling, who have split time since the season-opening injury to preseason starter Tony Lindsay "Being so young, those two guys all of a sudden having to step up and play major roles was unexpected for those guys and for everyone else - the coaches, players and fans. But when situations like this occur, with what happened to Tony, those guys just have to be able to mature and grow up faster than they normally would, and I think they're doing a great job so far, stepping up and continuing to play well."
On the quarterback's personalities "They're a little bit different. Ben is a little more quiet, and B.J. is a lot more talkative in getting everyone hyped in the huddle and things like that. But once that ball snaps, they're both similar because they're getting the job done."
On his preference regarding their personalities "It really doesn't matter to me whether you're quiet or loud. It's just whoever's going to make the best decision once the ball snaps, whether they're throwing the ball, running the ball, blocking or whatever. So it really doesn't matter to me about who's more talkative or whatever. It's just who gets the job done and helps to provide this offense with a leader."
On who fills the leadership void left by Lindsay's injury "From the offensive side, I would say everyone's doing a great job - Adam Davis, Reynell Lavigne, those guys on the offensive line; myself, Terance Richardson, Cameron White - we've all just stepped up our games. We've just continued to try to lift this team up and get this thing going."
On the offensive unit's confidence in the defense "We always have to stay on our toes and be ready. With this defense we have, we have to say, 'Don't go over on the sideline and relax, because this defense could go out on the next snap and have the ball intercepted or get a fumble or anything like and give it to us right back.' We just try to stay focused and stay ready for whenever the defense gives us a change. We want to get in there and make plays and contribute to what they're doing."
On how the defense affects the offensive teams performance "We don't have a lot of time and opportunity to just go out there and free-lance. We know that if we do make mistakes, the defense will step in there and make everything better for the offense. But we just try to execute and do our job; we can't really rely on what the defense does. The defense will take care of themselves when they're in there and in thosesituations. But no, we don't just go out and say, 'Well, we're going to get three downs, and if we don't get a first down, we'll punt it and the defense will hold them.' No, we don't try to do that. We try to just go in and execute, march the ball down the field and score, whether its a field goal or a touchdown. That's what the offensive goals are."
On the offense's respect for Bowling and Tiger after scoring 46 points against Tulsa "I think after Saturday, we had a better game than we did against Louisiana-Lafayette. But the offense, we still aren't there as a group where we need to be. I guess you could say we haven't peaked yet, and you don't want to peak as an offense too early in the season. But we do want to execute better and continue to work hard and not make the mistakes we've made as far as fumbles and interceptions. If we continue to work hard and do what we're supposed to do, it's going to be a great offense this year."
On whether Bowling and Tiger can lead the offense "Most definitely. Those guys got recruited to come here and do one thing, and that's win. With the absence of Tony, those guys have to know that they have to step up and do the things that Tony did when he was out there on the field."
On the concern of facing the team's first road test with untested quarterbacks "It's really no concern. I think those guys both know what they have to do just continue to execute and do what we've done our first two games here. We know that were going into another environment, and they're going to be hyped. They're going to be hysterical, and they're going to be pretty pumped about us coming in there, especially after the defeat that we had with them last year. We beat them pretty bad last year, so they're going to be ready for us this year. I know Ben and B.J., going in, may be a little nervous. But once the ball snaps and the kickoff occurs, they'll be ready to go."
On playing in a new and different stadium "It's something different. I've never been to Mississippi State before, and I don't think many of the guys have ever been down there. We just go on what we hear; it's going to be a tough place. But I feel like anywhere you go is going to be a tough place on any given day. Whether you're going to a team that's 0-10 or whatever, you have to go in with the same frame of mind. You have to say, 'We're going to go in and play Oklahoma State football. Were going to execute. The defense is going to hit hard, and the offense is going to take the ball down the field.' We know its going to be a big challenge, but we're ready to step up to it."
On establishing himself as a big-play threat "Watching our first two games, they may see me on film and say, 'Watch for the deep ball.' But I'm ready for that role as a receiver, for other teamsto know that I have big-play potential. But I'm working on my shorter routes. I know I have the speed to run by a lot of people, so I just try to concentrate more on my routes and being more precise with catching the ball, watching the ball in and making a big play after I catch the ball."
Asked if it's easier to run a short route if the defense is expecting the long ball "I think it may be easier to a point. You have to go out and play hard, no matter who you're against. You can't settle for guys that may not be so good on the corner or guys that may be better than the next person; you just have to go in and work hard as though you're facing Deion Sanders every day. That's the frame of mind I try to have going into practice every day."
On Coach Simmons' comments that OSU could someday win a national title "That's excellent to my ears to hear him say that because I know that I know that he's not just saying that just to be saying it. I know he truly feels that way. That's the same attitude the rest of the team has; we just have to go in each week, play hard and continue to execute. And I think most definitely that a national championship is possible and in the making."
On Coach Simmons' effect on the program and its expectations "We've come a long way, and he's been a major factor and a major part of that. I believe that if you have your dreams set on big things like national championships and bowl games, you have to think that way before it actually occurs. I think if you just set the standard to say, 'There's no limit to what we can do, then I think anything's possible.'"
