Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU vs. Nebraska Postgame Quotes
October 23, 2010 | Cowboy Football
Oct. 23, 2010
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Oklahoma State vs. Nebraska Oct. 23, 2010 · Stillwater, Okla. OSU Head Coach Mike Gundy
On the game as a whole "Well obviously that one didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. The game was a battle of quarterbacks and making plays in crucial situations. The kick return was huge. We weren't as physical as we needed to be. Second half we didn't tackle very well and offensively we scored late but we weren't able to move the ball consistently."
On the first loss "They have now been faced with adversity, the true tell sign with what a man is made of is during difficult times. They understand that and I understand them to come back tomorrow and go to work. I expect the coaching staff to show up with a smile on their face because college football is a long season and we have to get ready to play the next game."
On Taylor Martinez "Early in the game we put pressure on him. We bounced him around a little bit. We kind of got him out of his rhythm for a while. But then we allowed him to get into his rhythm by missing tackles. We have to do a better job of tackling."
Dana Holgorsen, Offensive Coordinator
On third down situations "It is a critical down. At halftime we were 1-6 on third downs. I was happy with some of the stuff we were doing, but obviously we need to be converting on third down and we didn't. So we talked about it at halftime and we didn't do much better in the second half."
On Nebraska's defense "They are a good defense. I mean they have been for the last couple of years. When you play a good defense they stop you at times. So they stopped us half the time. I give them credit."
On the offense's effect on the defense "I don't worry too much about what happens on the other side. We try to move the ball, try to get first downs, and one of the things we focus on is turnovers and first downs. We didn't turn it over very much, and that was a plus. But if you want to keep the defense off the field you have to convert on third downs."
Bill Young, Defensive Coordinator
On Nebraska converting third downs "We have allowed people to convert on third downs too much this fall. We have got to get out there and correct that and make sure it won't happen. We tried everything. We rushed three, we rushed five, we dropped eight and just weren't getting it done. So we need to find something that works better."
On penalties "I think that we got some penalties in crucial situations. We would have them at third down and forever and then give up a penalty to convert. So that doesn't help."
On the missed tackles "I think that it is a combination of that we didn't bring our feet with us and that we were diving around. Nebraska did a tremendous effort doing a second effort and staying on their feet.
Justin Blackmon, Wide Receiver
On the first loss of the season "Nebraska was a good team. We went out and we fought hard. They were very physical. We are going to have to bounce back from this one. This is in the past now and we have to look towards the future."
On if they were slowed down by Nebraska's defense "They did the same thing that they did first half during the second half. They were very physical and we need to work at being more physical as an offense."
On the 80-yard pass from Weeden "That is something that we have practiced this week. We found the opportunity to use it and it worked out well."
On keeping the defense off the field "We have to execute. We only got three third downs. We work on it a lot and that is something we have to do better on."
Brandon Weeden, Quarterback
On the loss "Obviously it is a tough one to swallow. We came out and we competed on both sides of the ball. We put our defense in some bad situations. Third downs were the difference in the game today. We didn't convert when we needed to and they did."
On what he said to his lineman after the game "We were just talking about how we can still accomplish all of the things that we want to accomplish. This loss will be tough to swallow, but we still have a lot of season left. I told them how well they played. They really opened up some gaps for Kendall and he put up some impressive numbers. We did some good things tonight."
On Josh Cooper "Cooper has it in him. If you are manned up on him one on one he is good."
Richetti Jones, Defensive End
On Taylor Martinez "His first two steps are what get you. You need someone to slow him down a little bit, but that is hard. He did a great job all night long on breaking tackles and making us miss."
On Martinez breaking tackles "It is very frustrating. He is a college quarterback and he is expected to make plays, just like we are expected to make plays. He just made more plays than we did."
On bouncing back from this loss "We struggled today. We just have to keep playing hard, it wasn't our best game and we have to just roll with the punches. There are a lot of things we can improve on."
Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini
On the offense bouncing back after poor performance against Texas "Obviously, last week wasn't what we wanted. Really, that was a crazy first half. There were a lot of things that happened in that football game. I thought this football team showed a lot of fight; a lot of character in that game. We weren't perfect by any means, but I just told that team I'm proud of that group of guys for sticking together; fighting. That was a tough environment; that was a pretty tough football team we played. Like I said, we weren't perfect, but I thought we settled down and played a pretty good second half. First half, I thought we were a little bit sloppy, but made some plays. I thought the second half was pretty good and I'm proud of that group of kids."
On defensive adjustments in the second half "We settled down, we tackled better; we just played better and made more plays. We gave up a bunch of big plays in the first half: we missed some tackles and just not playing the ball well down the field. They threw a bunch of - I don't know whether it was by design - but there were a lot of underthrown balls and we just didn't react well to them. We lost sight of the ball. It's one of our strengths: we usually do that very well. I thought we did a little bit better in the second half, except for that last touchdown. There were some good players over there, and in this game, you have to pick each other up. I thought that the times that the offense needed picked up in the game, the defense did it, and vice versa. It's a team game. We said going in, 'We've got to do what ever it takes to win the football game,' and that's what we did."
On if he expected Taylor Martinez to pass for 300 yards and five touchdowns "You take what's there and if somebody's going to crowd the line - we had a good plan going in. I thought (Offensive Coordinator Shawn) Watson called a heck of a game. I thought he kept them off balance and took what was there. I thought Taylor read well and I think we executed our offense the way it needs to be executed. I thought Taylor really made good reads; he made good decisions. It's a team game and I thought everybody played well and made plays. Like I said, we weren't perfect, but there were a lot of good things. I thought we made a big step as an offense and as a football team."
On overcoming adversity "We talked about it going into the game, no matter what happens, you've got to keep fighting. You've got to pick up for the guy next to you and the guy next to him, and no matter what, make some plays. Everybody in the game had their mistakes, I promise you, but everybody in that game that played today made some plays and did some things to help us win the football game. That's the way it goes, especially on the road, you've got to whatever it takes to win the game. I thought our kids had the right mindset. We started to get a little wide-eyed in that first half and things started reeling a little bit. They guys got their composure back together and kept fighting. Like I said, I give them a lot of credit for reacting the way they did."
Nebraska Player and Coordinator Quotes
Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson On Taylor Martinez "Taylor Martinez grew up today. That's a good thing. It's a big step in his career. Today you got to see what we see every day in practice. He has a great arm and he can compete with his arm. He's just young. He's a redshirt freshman and he's never played at this level until now."
"So he's just getting better every time he walks out there. His confidence is huge. There's always going to be a performance that is a threshold performance that shoves you through the door and hopefully this was his today."
"He did exactly what he was supposed to do today. He was very poised. He was the eye of the hurricane. He found his way to a completion or he took off and ran."
Quarterback Taylor Martinez On the passing game "In practice we always pass the ball like that. Today we just showed everybody else that we can throw the ball like that instead of dropping back and running. My receivers did a great job of finding me and they made great catches."
On playing on the road "I like playing road games. I like the atmosphere and the hostility. I think our team comes together as a unit more when we play on the road."
"I always have a lot of confidence in Niles (Paul). He's a great player and a great receiver. He hardly ever drops the ball with the exception of last week when we all played bad including myself."
Receiver Niles Paul "Last week was a humbling experience and I just came back to practice and got back to the basics and catching the ball."
"I was very proud of everybody from the offensive line to the running backs to the receivers. Everybody played hard and put points on the board and that's all that matters."
"We knew we would have a chance to take one back to the house. I saw the hole and thank God for my teammates because they got a blocks and opened me up. I didn't pay much attention to their fans. All I did was turn around and say `God Bless.'
Defensive Back DeJon Gomes "Any time you can go on the road in this conference and escape with a win it feels good, especially with the explosive offense that we faced today."
"I don't know if we really made too many adjustments. It was almost a pride factor knowing that our offense was putting points on the board but we were allowing too many points. Our offense was keeping us in the game. We knew we had to come back out in the second half and fight."
"All respect to [Kendall Hunter] but I wouldn't really say we were just trying to limit the big gains. He is a really good back. He found some holes and he hit them hard."
