Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy, Cowboys Visit With Media
September 14, 2009 | Cowboy Football
Sept. 14, 2009
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy and selected players met with members of the media at Boone Pickens Stadium Monday. Following are some of the highlights of what they had to say.
Head Coach Mike Gundy
On the status of RB Kendall Hunter
"Kendall Hunter is doubtful for this game. His injury was not as significant as we thought, but the likelihood of him playing is not good."
On Saturday's defensive performance
"Defensively, it's exactly what I thought after the game. We gave up too many big plays, some of them due to missed tackles. When you attempt 50 or so passes and never tackle him with the ball behind the line of scrimmage is not good. We have to get more pressure on the quarterback. They are all areas we can correct; we have to continue to work hard to get pressure on the quarterback."
On turnovers and mistakes
"Offensively, you can't turn the ball over that many times and beat another team unless you're just a lot better than them. If you're a lot better than the other team athletically, you can turn the ball over a number of times and still win. It doesn't happen a lot in college football now with some of the parity out there. We made more mistakes than they did and it put us in a tough situation."
On preparing for Rice
"Rice is a team that you have to be very careful with. Offensively, their attack is similar to what we faced last week. In my opinion, they want to run the football a little bit more. They have the same spread attack and they're going to move fast and try to catch you out of gaps defensively. They have lost some players from last year, everybody is aware of that. They do a great job of coaching. The games I've watched and the amount of tape I've watched from their defense, they are very sound. They've got guys that are more athletic and play better than what people give them credit for. There's a reason they won 10 games last year."
On the team's first practice since Saturday
"Our team will have to bounce back. We get them over here later on this afternoon. We'll have them for three hours or so and get them to bounce back. I'm sure the players will be looking forward to getting back. It's always good to get back, watch some tape, correct the errors and get back on the field to practice and be around each other. We'll move forward from this point on."
On players getting over the loss
"I think the kids are resilient. I think they overcome things. Last night, I get a call and my 4-year-old is in the emergency room. He's cut his foot open and he's getting stitches. He's walking around today, he's 4 years old, and he doesn't know the difference. I think our guys are the same way. It stings now. When you've won and had as much success as we have, they want to win for themselves, for the team and for everybody."
Safety Lucien Antoine
On Rice having a similar offense to Houston
"It's good because we know what to expect. After this week we know what to expect. All we've got to do is go back to work and work harder than we ever have and get ready for this week."
On the team's emotional state
"After Saturday, everybody was mad because no one likes to lose. We were mad; upset. They're on scholarship just like we are. They came to play and we've got to give them their props. We should have played harder than them. They did. They played harder than us, so what we've got to do is keep our head up because it's a long season. We've got to go back to work and come ready to play because we know what to expect now. Get ready, get better and go out there and play."
On if losing early is better than losing late in the year
"Oh yeah. Last year Florida lost to Ole Miss and they still won the national championship. If we look to the past were going to keep losing. We have to move on and focus on what's ahead of us because the future is bright. We've got a lot to play for and we're going to go out there and working hard. We're going to work real hard."
Cornerback Terrance Anderson
On if the national hype caught the Cowboys off guard
"I don't think it did. Houston came in and we just didn't execute to the best of our ability. A good team came in and played us and we didn't play the best that we could."
On what the Cowboys need to do to recover from the loss
"Go back to work. You've got to go back to work and prepare for the next team. The season's long still. That was only game two. You have another 12 games to go so you've got to get back to the next game."
On the Houston game
"I would say it's more eye-opening than anything. Now you see that, `Hey, it's college football.' You want to go in expecting to win every game, but sometimes things don't always go your way. When you feel the other side of it you're going, `OK, well we feel that side. We don't want to feel it anymore.' We just keep going."
On if the bad feeling can help Oklahoma State get its edge back
"Of course it can. We're going to go back, correct our mistakes and get ready for the next game. We don't want to feel that anymore so we're going to try our best not to."
Safety Johnny Thomas
On the Houston game
"You see what not to do and then you practice better on things you didn't do as well as in the past game."
"We lost some individual battles - not tackling well enough and just not wrapping up."
"You learn from your mistakes. We know what we messed up and we know where we need to get better."
On Rice
"Rice is a good team at spreading the ball around so it will be kind of similar to Houston. We've just got to do better than we did in the Houston game and execute."
Offensive Lineman Noah Franklin
On the difference in Oklahoma State's offense from last year to this year
"I just think it comes down to execution. We had four turnovers. We can't give the ball up that many times and expect to win. We just have to be able to go out there and execute and score points."
On if they are looking for answers to a slow offensive start
"I don't think it's any one specific thing. I think it just comes down to execution and getting out there and starting games the right way."
On if Houston did anything unexpected
"No, we had a great week of practice and preparation - a lot of film and watching what they did. Everything they did as far as stunts, we had seen on film and we had gone over in practice and we'd practiced against it so it really wasn't anything out of the expected coming at us."
On if the offense's confidence is shaken
"No. I think we're confident in who we are and our capabilities as an offense and we just have to go back to work and keep improving on what we're doing."
Receiver Josh Cooper
On the offense having a slow start
"It's just things like that happen. We've just got to keep coming out and preparing for the next team and executing our offense. It's just been key turnovers and key possessions."
On if they need to do anything differently
"Just keep practicing and keep preparing for the next team. That's what you've got to do."
On if they want to score a high number of points against Rice
"That's the plan every week. We've just got to come out and execute."
On the problems with offensive execution
"Just penalties and turnovers. They'll set you back every time."
On if Houston's defense did anything differently to surprise them
"No, we prepared all week. We knew the game plan. We just came out and things didn't go our way."
On being more involved in the offense against Houston
"It felt good to get involved in the passing game. They were doubling down on Dez all day and people have got to step up. Blackmon stepped up. I stepped up. It felt good."
