Oklahoma State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes
September 19, 2009 | Cowboy Football
Sept. 19, 2009
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Oklahoma State vs. Rice Post-Game Quotes
Sept. 19, 2009 - Boone Pickens Stadium
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
On team's performance
“We had 83 plays on defense and 56 on offense. That's a little unusual, but I guess when you have returns, fumbles and put the ball on the ground on a kickoff return you don't get that many plays. I thought our players competed hard; their effort was great without watching the tape. We still had a few mistakes. I thought we played better from a penalty standpoint.”
On mistakes on special teams
“We still had too many mistakes on special teams. Dez has got to go catch that punt and not let that ball bounce. We had the turnover with Perrish Cox when he got hit from behind. We have two of the best returners in the country, but they have to play up to that level and take care of the football.”
On the offense
“I'm not frustrated, but we still have to play better. We've got to find a way to get more big plays. On the first drive we went down and got some big plays. Then we had another shot there, and we overthrew Dez coming across the field the second time we had the ball. We just have to keep pushing forward. We still have some guards that don't have a lot of experience that we are working with. The guys are playing hard. I thought Keith (Toston) and Beau (Johnson) really ran hard.”
On Zac Robinson's performance
“He had a couple passes that I thought he could have thrown better. I thought he ran the ball and played better, he took care of it. Overall, I thought it was the best he had played. The one that sticks in your mind is the deep one there early in the first quarter. If he hits Dez there, he probably scores. Overall, I thought he played better.”
On special teams inconsistency
“Dez needs to come field the punt. Perrish Cox, obviously, needs to take care of the ball, but he got ran over from behind. There's a little bit of all or nothing to them. When you have players that are very explosive, they take a lot of chances.”
OSU defensive coordinator Bill Young
On the defensive performance:
“I think the effort was fantastic. I think we really gave a good effort. We made some mistakes, but we played hard.”
On second half
“In the second half, I think I probably made some bad play calls. They took advantage of us. I blame myself more than anybody on that.”
On improvement from last week
“I think we got a little more pressure on the quarterback, and we reduced the number of penalties we got last week a little bit, although we still had a few. I think from the scheme standpoint, we probably played a little bit better than we did last week. It may have been due to the team we were playing, or it may have been due to what we need to be doing.”
OSU linebacker Shane Jarka
On the defensive performance
“I think we played pretty well, aside from some certain situations here and there. Overall, I think we brought it back from last week and made the improvements that we needed to.”
On pass rush
“After last week, (pass rush) was something we were working on. We just want to keep improving and getting pressure and a lot more sacks. We had a bunch of pressure tonight. I think we are really improving in that aspect of our game.”
On second half
“It was not the best half that we have ever played. As a defense, when there are turnovers and stuff like that and the short field, we have to stand strong. I do not know if we have done that yet, but we will. We are getting better and better each game.”
OSU linebacker Andre Sexton
On defensive improvement
“I feel like we came out strong in the first half. We put together a lot of great series and got off the field early. We played the screens a lot better, and that is something we worked on in practice. In the second half, I think we were put in some bad situations. We should have stepped up and bowed our backs a little more, and we did not. But, a win is a win. We are just glad we did put up a good performance in the first half, and we have something to build on.”
On pressuring the quarterback
“A lot of guys are stepping up on the defensive line. We have a lot of talented guys, and they are getting some game experience. You saw Richetti (Jones) make a sack, so now he knows what that tastes like. You are going to see a lot more to come. We have to have better coverage in the secondary so we can make it home on the front line.”
OSU linebacker Donald Booker
On big hits
“That was something we talked about as a defense. We have to come out and hit hard early because that is the type of defense we are. That is how we are going to play from now on.”
On what the defense needs to work on
“We really need to get to the ball and keep the quarterback in the pocket not letting him get away. He had some nice runs tonight, and that should not have happened. He should have been contained.”
OSU fullback Bryant Ward
On Zac Robinson's performance:
“It was really good to see him take off running again. When he first took over and started playing, he ran all the time. We never had sacks because Zac would take off running. It was good to see him do that again tonight.”
Rice head coach David Bailiff
Opening statement
“I am very proud of this football team. I thought they fought valiantly for four quarters. There's a lot of times in there where we've got to eliminate the mistakes and the penalties that are the difference even in this football game. As well as we played tonight, we haven't come close to doing what we're capable of. These young men have played a challenging schedule, and I'm very excited they have because it's going to help us in conference play. We've gone toe-to-toe against two of the best football teams in the country, and you saw how we've improved from one week to the next. And we'll continue to improve. You'll see a better football team even next week at Vanderbilt. I'm disappointed that we lost. I just told them, 'You know in this game, it's the greatest game there is; we're an extension of each other.' It hurts when you lose. It hurts them, it hurts me, but all you can do is bounce back and come back tomorrow. You've got to be over it and ready to work and put your total energies and focus into Vanderbilt.
One of the things we have to work on as a football team is focus, and we've got to focus in the moment when we're out there so we can make the plays we need to make when we're in position to make them. I want you to know how proud I am of Nick (Fanuzzi), I thought he grew up, of Toren (Dixon), I thought we had some leadership tonight at a lot of different positions I hadn't seen yet. I leave with a little inner peace that we are getting better, and we're going to be a good football team.”
On why Rice improved
“They're a bunch of proud young men, and they want to please. We've worked fundamentals hard all week. We've talked about attitude all week. Guys like Toren (Dixon) and Nick (Fanuzzi) come over there every day and try to give it their best.”
On the defense trying to stop Dez Bryant
“That's why he's an All American. Dez is a special, special player, and he's a good young man. I visited with him before the game – good young man.”
On if Rice's improved effort was expected
“Absolutely. That's what you have to expect. To achieve anything in life, you have to have great enthusiasm and this game of football, it's a tough game played by tough men. If you don't have passion and enthusiasm, it doesn't ever work. You can't go out there and go through the motions.”
On Charles Ross
“He's a big man. You saw him move a pile tonight. He's 210 pounds. He's very fast. He's a true freshman, and I'm really excited about his future. You saw him move a pile tonight on some of that jumbo (formation) or find the seams and the holes. I thought he had great vision and played a big time football game.”
Rice quarterback Nick Fanuzzi
On his confidence level this week compared to last week
“I think tonight I learned a lot from last week and told myself the team as a whole was striving to score and every play counted and every play mattered, and when you think like that, just think of the next play and how you're gonna score. It didn't work like that the first half, but the second half we started to come out and get stuff clicking.”
On his scrambling ability getting up to level with his passing ability
“Well I think on the field the defense becomes more aware of where you can hurt them and makes them change their positions so we had a few plays where we overloaded them with drags and guys on the opposite side, and the team was in man coverage so they all shifted to one side of the field and the whole right side was open so when I see the gap, I just take it.”
On if he grew up tonight
“Yeah. I feel like it didn't come in tonight's game, it was a process through this past week. Coach talked about having a positive attitude. It's all about having that positive attitude. If you have that attitude and focus and keep driving and plugging away, we'll be fine. Like coach said, we came up short but we, myself and my teammates, found the pieces and went out there and played our best and that's all we can do.”
Wide receiver Toren Dixon
On if this game gives them something positive to build on going into next week offensively
“Yeah, definitely there was tremendous improvement from last week. I could've easily gotten down on my teammates and myself, but I didn't and stayed positive. One thing I can control is my attitude and my effort, and I go out every week inspired to score and improve and I'm extremely proud of our effort. We came in and played well against the 16th ranked team in the country.”
On coming back from a slow start for the team and the team's effort to come back
“At halftime, I gave myself a self-talk. I knew I wasn't performing up to my capabilities. I regrouped my teammates, and I knew I had to come out in the second half and play better and lead this offense and this team.”
On not being deflated after the fumbled field goal return for a touchdown and being down 14-0
“We just kept pushing and having mental toughness, not looking up at that scoreboard and being deflated. We just kept a positive attitude and our heads high.”
On how badly their offense needed this performance to ensure them they were going in the right direction
“We definitely needed this. We just haven't had any explosive or big plays to change the game. You saw how those things can spark the game and quickly change the momentum. We'll continue to get big plays and improve and work hard to fix things we weren't doing well. But like I said the sky is the limit for us.”
Defensive lineman Cheta Ozougwu
On how the defense drew the line in the ball game to limit big plays from happening
“We haven't been playing as well as we are capable of lately, and tonight we came out here and decided to play for the guy next to you, the brother next to you on the field and having fun what we do.”
On how the game plan went
“We had a great game plan this game. We've had great game plans in all the games, just we were in the right place at the right time and made the plays this game. Tackling to me is about attitude and being enthusiastic, which we were tonight. “
On how the team responded to OSU pushing the ball down their throats initially
“We just had to draw the line at one point. One thing I thought we didn't do as well was rush the quarterback. Once you stop the run and force the pass, you have to get pressure on the quarterback, and that's one thing we're gonna practice on in practice.”
