Oklahoma State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes
September 05, 2009 | Cowboy Football
Sept. 5, 2009
Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy Quotes
On the game
"It was an unusual game. I was very proud of the way our players overcame adversity during the week. The game was played very much like what you see in the SEC. The way the defenses competed and minimal turnovers, not a lot of total yards. I don't think anybody would have predicted that."
On defense's ability to bounce back
"I'm very proud of our defense for coming back after the first drive. They gave up 257 yards and they gave up 80 within the first four minutes. Essentially, it was 177 for the rest of the game. They did a tremendous job."
On offense's performance
"Offensively, we were very sloppy. We did not turn the ball over. If you win the turnover game, which we did, by being plus-3, in most cases you're going to win the game. The one thing you didn't see was a lot of big plays. There were a number of skill players in this game with a lot of ability. You saw a couple big plays but not as many as you would have thought."
On what victory means today
"We're very excited to get away with the win. It was a tremendous day. At the walk you couldn't see anything but orange. It's a great day for Mr. Pickens and the Oklahoma State family. To be able to open the west end zone, play the University of Georgia on national TV and win the football game."
On if the defense surprised him
"I expected our players to play very well and play better. I like their cohesiveness as a unit. They work well together, they care about each other. I was concerned when Orie Lemon and Markelle Martin couldn't play in the game. When you lose two players that have played a lot of plays, there is serious concern. To be honest with you, I didn't think they would play as well as they did, especially without a couple key guys."
Senior Linebacker Donald Booker
On the game
"I think we came out a little slow on defense and then we picked it up and started playing well. We made a few mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes."
Senior Safety Lucien Antoine
On the hype of the game
"It means a lot to us because a lot of people didn't think that our defense could step up and beat Georgia, but today everyone showed up and everyone played. As a whole I think we did a good job, but there is always room for improvement."
Senior Defensive Tackle Derek Burton
On pre-game nerves
"I was a little worried just like anyone else would be, but I think once we got into the game we calmed down."
Junior Wide Receiver Dez Bryant
On his touchdown
"We worked on it in practice and when coach called the play I just felt good and just really focused in on the play and catching the ball."
Senior Quarterback Zac Robinson
On the game
"It's only Week One and there is a lot of season left, but it definitely pumped up the season and let people know about us."
Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt Quotes
Opening statement
"I want to first of all congratulate Coach Gundy and Oklahoma State. They played a great game. They're a very fine football team. They did what it took to win the game and you've got to give them credit. I felt like our boys played hard. I don't know if we always did everything exactly right or the way it should be done, but I thought the effort was there. I'm also proud of our Bulldog fans. I thought they did a good job of hanging in there until the very end. Actually, when our guys were entering the locker room right at the very end there, a bunch of them stuck around and chanted UGA. That's a great sign of a great fan base and I appreciate them. I'm looking forward to getting into SEC play. Sure we lost this game, but there's an awful lot to play for yet. It's just game one. We're getting ready to get into our league play, which is really the only thing we can control anyway. I'm sure the guys will hurt for a while and then we'll be ready to go and prepare for South Carolina."
On the Georgia offense compared to last year
"I think when we look at the film we'll see that we're very, very close. Even as things were happening, you could just see we're just either one block away or just one better hat placement away, especially in the running game. I think there's a couple times where we could have caught a ball when we should have caught a ball and that kind of thing. I think if you had to say what happened in a nutshell, the biggest problem we had was the turnovers. We turn it over twice and we don't get any. When it's two to nothing against a very good football team; against two teams that are pretty evenly matched, that's going to be the difference and it was the difference."
On quarterback Georgia Joe Cox
"I don't really know how Joe felt. I thought Joe, mentally, did a good job from what I can tell. We didn't feel like he made any mental errors that you could say, `Hey Joe's out of it.' I don't think that's the case at all. If there's anything, and you'd have to ask Joe, it would be just how he felt physically. I don't how he felt in that regard. If I didn't know what he was feeling like the last couple days and just watched him from the sideline, I wouldn't have thought it had a lot of effect on him."
On Oklahoma State kick returner Perrish Cox
"He is a great return man. We had the one where he got free. I know, for a fact, one of our young men stumbled and fell at the point of attack. I'll have to look at film to see exactly what happened."
On Georgia punter Drew Butler
"He punted beautifully. We certainly should have had another one inside the 20."
On Butler's 75-yard punt
"He was fortunate on that one. It was short enough and maybe ugly enough where Dez (Bryant) decided he wasn't going to mess with it. Then we got a great roll. It was probably his worst kick, but it ended up being his best kick as far as yardage is concerned. He punted beautifully."
Georgia Player Quotes
Sophomore Punter Drew Butler
"I thought I did pretty well. I got a little too much hangtime then I was supposed to on those punts. I had a pretty good first 3 punts. I wish that sky punt would've gone down on the one. Pretty good first game, we'll improve on it. Overall, the punt team did pretty well, but unfortunate for the result."
On why his punts seemed to roll so well
"Coach Richt said he thought it was by design so I'll say it was. It had some pretty good, generous bounces. I'll take it, thought it went pretty well.
Senior Quarterback Joe Cox
On how he felt during the game
"I felt pretty good. Our medical staff did a good job of getting me out here ready to play. I wasn't quite 100 percent, but definitely good enough to play a football game. I was diagnosed with a viral syndrome, all I know. They tested me for the flu but it came back negative, so they just told me it was a viral syndrome."
On how he thought things went throughout the game
"We were, at times, one tackle away from breaking some big runs. We had three turnovers, can't win with three turnovers. Our defense played an incredible game. We didn't do our part on offense. I didn't do my part as the quarterback. We gave the ball up too many times."
On whether this is how the Georgia offense will go this year or are kinks still being worked out
"We just need to execute. We know we're actively turning the ball over and we need to eliminate that. We did better on penalties. We did a lot of good things. Again, you can't win when you turn the ball over."
On why the first drive went well, but others didn't seem go to so well
"I mean, that's just football. You'll have your good drives, and you'll have your drives when you go three and out. You can't score every time. They were a good team and had a good plan. They did everything you could possibly see on defense and we just, we had a good plan too we just didn't carry it out."
Junior Linebacker Rennie Curran
"We just didn't execute our plays. All we can do is look at film and see how we can improve."
On what he took away from this game
"We definitely were disciplined at not giving up those big plays. We were on the same page on defense. We communicated well defensively. But we went three and out and three and out a lot. No matter where the ball was, I felt we worked hard on defense and stayed positive."
On what keeps him going on defense when the offense keeps going three and out over and over
"The motivation from the offseason carrying over. Trusting my guys, believing in my teammates. That's what keeps me going all the time."
Do they use this as motivation and a building block for next week
"Definitely. We see what opportunities we missed and we need to improve on those. There were balls we should have picked off or picked up and those are missed opportunities we should have gotten. We need to continue to improve and be the best defense we can be. We got a lot of young guys who were playing for the first time and got that taste of college football. Hopefully, they learned a lot from this and we continue to grow as a team."
