Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Notes And Quotes
September 12, 2004 | Cowboy Football
Postgame Notes
• Darrent Williams 59-yard punt return for a touchdown was his first this season and third of his career. Including five interceptions returned for scores, he now has eight career returns for touchdowns.
• With 184 yards tonight, Vernand Morency went over the 100-yard rushing mark in his fourth straight regular season game dating back to last year. He has rushed for 941 total yards in those contests.
• Donovan Woods 46 yard touchdown pass to Chijuan Mack was Woods' first career TD throw and it was Mack's first career grab.
• Oklahoma State is now 70-28-5 all-time in home openers. The Cowboys have now won nine straight home openers dating back to the 1995 season.
• OSU is now 38-25-5 all-time against the Hurricanes and have won the last three meetings.
• Tonight's attendance of 47,303 is the largest non-conference crowd since a 50,440 mark set against Texas A&M in 1988.
• Robert Jones had his second fumble recovery of the year in the third quarter.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Les Miles
On Tulsa
“We have to give credit to Tulsa. They played hard. They came in and demanded good play by us. “
On the game
“I think there was some guys who played sloppy in all three phases of the game. We are going to have to improve to do the things we want to do in our season. It is nice to be 2-0.”
On Big 12 upsets
“Certainly Missouri and Kansas State would like to be 2-0 at this point. I think Tulsa is a good football team. They can not be taken lightly and we did not. With that in the air we knew that if we looked past Tulsa the game might have had a different tune today.”
On Vernand Morency
“It did not look like we blocked these guys as well as we blocked UCLA. I know the running was tough at times. Morency has to understand that sometimes a five yard carry is a darn good carry. We certainly like handing the ball to Morency.”
On passing game
“I think we are going to settle in to throwing the football more than we have. I think we will improve. I think we will be fine throwing the football.”
On Donovan Woods
“He can throw the football. There was a dropped ball and a few other things. Besides a few things he was right on the money. We still enjoy throwing the football. Our young receivers will get better and Donovan will get better at throwing the football, there is no question.”
On the defense
“The defense played well through the third quarter. In the back end of the game it slipped. We need to learn, as a team, how to close some of these games out.“
OSU Players
Sam Mayes
Offensive Guard
On the win against Tulsa
“It feels great because it’s the first time I started (2-0) in my college career. Im excited and I think we have a great football team. Tulsa is a great football team and they gave us a great fight, and playing team slike Tulsa makes us better.”
On the running game
“Our running backs are great this year, and Vernand Morency is one that has done a great job for us this year. I enjoy blocking for him and the others. We are just getting the ball down field and I hope it continues throughout the rest of the season.”
On Donavon Woods touchdown pass to Chijuan Mack
“I have never put my heart into a football game like I did tonight. It was fun to see that and to get us on and off the field.”
Marquis Fountain
Defensive End
On starting this season (2-0)
“It feels real good because it has been a long time since Oklahoma State has started this good. Tulsa really played a good game and now we have to go and fix things we need work before next week.”
On the quarterback sack and the rest of the play of the defense
“I knew we had to step up the intensity in the second half. I just tried to go out there and step my play up.”
Julius Crosslin
Fullback
On contributing to the offense
“It felt great to get a reception and a couple of carries. We practice on the same things every day at practice. I did what I was supposed to do because we practice on it.”
On your big run at the end
“I wanted a touchdown so bad and got a little greedy at the end. If I would have kept my feet on track then I think I would have got the touchdown.”
Tulsa Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe
On the game
“I thought our guys played hard tonight. We got beat by a good football team and I give Les a lot of credit. They are a big, physical football team. Their quarterback made some plays and threw the ball well. You have got to give them a lot of credit.”
On defensive play
“I thought that we played some pretty good defense. We got worn down a little bit and probably played a few too many snaps in the second half. I thought our defensive guys played hard and battled all night. We made some plays on offense and took the opening drive down and scored a touchdown. I am proud of the way we played.”
On offense
“I think we are further ahead offensively than we were at this point last year. I think that we are making good progress. We are playing against good defenses right now. We will be playing against good defenses all season long. I am not frustrated at all as long as our guys go out and play hard for 60 minutes. Then a coach is proud of his team and I thought our guys did that tonight.”
On back to back 0-2 starts
“We are going to continue to try to control the things that we can control. That is our attitude and I really like it right now. I like the way we are playing the football game and I like the effort we are putting forth out there. Those are the two things that we can control and we are going to continue to play hard in our ball games this year and we will see how it ends up.”
On Missed Tackles
“We missed some tackles tonight, but you have to give them credit. Morency is a good back and Donovan is a big, strong quarterback. We had a chance to get those guys down a couple of times that would have possibly gotten us off of the field. Give them some credit. They are big, strong and physical runners. Les has a good football team.”
On Vernand Morency
“He is a great back. He has good vision. He sees the field well and makes good cuts. He runs behind his pads pretty well for a guy that weighs around 210. I think that Vernand (Morency) is a very good football player.”
Opposing Players
Junior Running Back Uril Parrish
On the first half
“I think we had a good start on offense. Hopefully we can continue to do that and work out the depth chart and injuries and we can continue to get better every week.”
On OSU’s defense
“They are a very aggressive and fast team, and you have to make your decisions quick. They are a pretty good team.”
On Vernand Morency
“He is a nice back. He has moves, he’s sly, he chooses the right holes, he knows when to pick up the speed and when to bounce it. He is pretty good.”
On this year’s team
“This year we are so much better. I feel that we have got a good start, even though we haven’t come up with a W yet, but I think we are ahead now than we were last year at this point.”
On scoring touchdowns
“It feels much better to be in the end zone. It lets us know that we are doing better and that we are staying good on our assignments and alignments.”
On having a good fourth quarter
“It really did help us a lot, because in the second half we couldn’t really find our rhythm, and it let us know that we have a rhythm and it let us know that we can be a second half team as well as a first half team.”
Senior Quarterback James Kilian
On the team
“I think we’re still trying to get our identity as a football team right now. We cannot rely on last year but certainly we are farther along. We’ve got more stuff in, we understand what coach wants.”
On OSU’s defense
“They have a real good defense, real athletic. I knew there was going to be a lot of speed and a lot of pressure, and that is what we got. They have a real good defense, one of the best we’ve seen, and I commend them for that.”
On Vernand Morency
“Obviously he is an explosive back, you don’t have to watch him very long. He seemed like he got a little stronger as the game went along, towards the second half. We did a good job of containing him early, but he’s going to get his touches. I thought our defense did a good job”
