Oklahoma State University Athletics
Press Luncheon Quotes from Oct. 3
October 04, 2005 | Cowboy Football
Media Luncheon
Monday, October 3, 2005
Mike Gundy Quotes
On the week
“We are back at it and looking forward to practice tonight. Our players are upbeat and the coaches are upbeat after a tough loss. We are looking forward to a new challenge this week, especially defensively. We have gone from playing a power football team to more of a spread team. Our players are looking forward to playing hard and getting out there on Saturday and playing football.”
On Missouri quarterback Brad Smith
“Their quarterback is the guy who makes plays for them. They do a great job of putting the ball in his hands. He is a very good football player and experienced. He is probably a better thrower this year, in my opinion.”
On Missouri's defense
“Defensively, we are playing a team that moves around well. Their nose guard is a good player. He gets into the gaps and makes it tough to run inside. (Derrick Ming) runs well side to side and makes plays. (Jason Simpson) is a savvy player for them. In (A.J. Kincade), I see a guy that makes plays. It will be a good challenge for us. “
On improvements
“We should get a little bit better each week. We are going to try to win the Missouri game. Our defense is going to try to contain Brad (Smith) and what they do on offense. Offensively, we have got to find some ways to score points. We never could get in a rhythm on offense. We continue to work and we continue to work as a team. We won three games as a team and we lost one game as a team. We have to work together in all three components of the game. We have a system in place. We want to stay in that system and continue to get better at it. We will get better at it.”
On Bobby Reid
“The guy who touches the ball all the time has to play well for you to win games. He knows that. He knows he did not play well. There were eight or nine time we had receivers open and he misfired. When that happens, you lack rhythm on offense. Bobby does not show signs of having a lack of confidence but a couple of times during the game I saw him put his head down a little bit. There is a lot of pressure on him to perform. He cannot allow that pressure to make him feel like he has to do more than he is capable. He has to go out and play his game and let it come to him. I feel like he will play better this week.”
Jamie Thompson, senior safety
On overcoming the loss
“We've just got to go back to the drawing board. We've got to give it our all at practice, and not let it get to us. It's still going to linger in our mind, but there are a lot of things we need to correct and focus on to get ready for Missouri.”
On defending Brad Smith
“He can hurt you with his arm and his legs. He's a shifty guy that we have to watch out for because he's got a big wide receiver named Chase Coffman, and he's got some other athletes we have to watch out for.”
Corey Hilliard, junior offensive lineman
On putting the loss behind them
“It's a little tougher because you know you didn't do good, and it gets you down. But you've got to put it behind you and move forward.”
On playing Missouri at home
“They're a good team that I think will be looking for revenge. We just have to come out here and have a good week at practice and not take this loss with us.”
On what the offense needs to improve the most
“Just being productive. We don't need to get so worried about things. We just need to go out there and play football.”
Bobby Reid, redshirt freshman quarterback
On his reflections in the hours after the game
“I did good in Texas State, but this isn't Texas State high school football. This is college. We play good opponents every week, and we just need to focus and concentrate, and believe in ourselves that we can do it, and we will be alright.”
On the team's confidence
“I'm pretty confident. Me and the guys go out and work hard, and we need to put the loss behind us. I know it will be nagging at us at the back of our minds, and most of the guys on the team probably don't want to go through that feeling again. We just have to work hard and everything will work out.”
On Brad Smith
“Ever since I've been in high school, I've been watching Brad Smith play. He's sort of like me in that he's from another state and plays at another state school. To me, he looks like he nonchalantly just runs the plays. He doesn't look like he cares, but deep down, I know he cares, but it's the just way he carries himself out there on the field, and I like that about him.”
On what the offense needs to correct
“We've just got to believe in ourselves. I believe in my receivers, tight ends, running backs, offensive line, my coaches and our defense. Speaking from my perspective, I didn't play the way I should have, and I feel like I let our defense down by not playing the way that I know how to play. If I don't play right, then our offense doesn't play right. My mother told me I should notice how I looked down out there, and she told me I can't show my soldiers when I'm down. When the captain is down, the rest of the soldiers are going to think it's the end of the world. It's not though. We've just go to bounce back from this.”
Jamar Ransom, senior linebacker
On Missouri
“We've got to go out there and be fast. We've got to get to Brad Smith early, and we've got to come out with the victory.”
On the defense's effort against Colorado
“I think the defense showed a lot of good things out there. We played to the end and our effort was really good, but it doesn't matter what side played good or bad — we all came out with the same result.”
On having Reid at practice to simulate Brad Smith
“It's really good because we see it every day. Bobby is always running on us. He's got too many plays, literally. He's just running around, and we've got to try to catch him. I think practice against him is going to give us a really good key on how to go out there and attack Brad Smith.”
