Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy, Cowboys Preview Kansas Game
November 15, 2010 | Cowboy Football
Nov. 15, 2010
STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy and selected members of the team met with the media on Monday at Boone Pickens Stadium to preview Saturday's game at Kansas. The highlights:
Mike Gundy, Head Coach
Opening Statement
“It was a good week for us last week and a good win for our football program, our team and our fans. There was a lot of excitement last night in practice. The players felt really good about their victory. We've got to get back to work tomorrow and this is an important week from the standpoint of staying focused on Kansas and our ability to travel and play well and continue with what we started in August. We'll be back at it tomorrow. We're looking forward to another good week and these guys are ready to play up in Lawrence.”
On the Sunday schedule
“Sunday is an opportunity for players to come over here and get treatment. We run them. We spend just a little bit of time on the next opponent. But we're only on the field for about 38 minutes.”
On the team handling pressure from being ranked in the top 10
“I think they're handling it very well. I don't think there is any question with what goes on with technology and coverage of college football that each week there is pressure. The sport of football is different because if you lose a game it can affect you for the entire season. In basketball you can lose three or four games and still be a national champion. In baseball two or three years ago, I think it was Fresno State that lost nine games and won a national championship. Football is not that way. You take a chance every Saturday and that's why it's important to stay focused and prepared and go play.”
On this team's talent compared to last year's team
“Last year's team was much more talented than we are right now. Defensive line, the cornerback position, wide receiver position and the offensive line position. We aren't as talented individually with this football team as we were last year. We lost a first round pick at left tackle. When Dez Bryant was here you had what could have been a top five pick at wideout. You had Perrish Cox that should have been no later than a second round pick. Keith Toston made it in the NFL. Zac Robinson is now playing in the NFL. I think why this team is having success is because they have good chemistry and we've had good leadership. I was concerned about losing so many starters but Orie Lemon has been good for us. If you watch him play you can tell he's been a great leader on the field and in the locker room. Markelle Martin and Johnny Thomas have grown up and developed into a leadership position. Brodrick Brown has developed into that role. Brandon Weeden has done it by play. Kendall Hunter has done it by play because they don't really talk much. Justin Blackmon's work ethic in practice has been a positive role for our team because he makes a lot of plays and the other guys see him make a lot of plays and practice well so that all fits together. We've gotten good play and good leadership out of our punter and kicker. So for that reason the young guys who have played more than what we would have wanted them to early in their career have had success and are buying in so that's worked well for us.”
On Brodrick Brown
“Brodrick is an interesting person. He broke his arm last year and we didn't have him for two months. He had just started practice a week before the bowl game. He was just kind of going through the motions. He's an intelligent young man so he was aware of what was going on. We had concerns about putting him in that game, in the Cotton Bowl. But he graded out as high as anybody on the field. He played very well. I think he's a good example of someone who stays in the flow mentally. Fortunately enough, they weren't on the field a lot that game so he didn't get exhausted physically. That had to help his confidence coming into the season, just being able to perform at such a high level on such short notice.”
Dana Holgorsen, Offensive Coordinator
On Justin Blackmon
"He isn't a finished product. He is the kind of kid that learns from his mistakes. With the Heisman deal, you are talking about the best player in the country. That is an award that is obviously pretty prestigious. All I can say is this, every time that he is on the field, he is the best player. So the 10 teams that we have played against, he has been the best player on the field."
On playing on the road against Kansas
"They are still learning. You have a bunch of kids that play hard and are used to winning. They are well coached, they play well, they play hard and they gave Nebraska all they wanted last week. We've lost more games at home than we have on the road this year, so playing on the road isn't that big of a deal to us."
On Brandon Weeden's performance against Texas
"He has to get rid of those, those two blaring mistakes. But I thought the other 73 snaps of the ball were extremely productive."
Bill Young, Defensive Coordinator
On avoiding a trap game against Kansas
“Our players have done a great job of staying focused. I'm sure Coach Gundy and all the other coaches will get them focused for this one too.”
On forcing turnovers
“It's something that we stress so much. If you come out and watch one of our practices, you'd probably laugh at the number of times you hear us coaches screaming about turnovers, ripping out, stripping out, going high point to pick the ball, take it and get a block, and all this. I think we're getting them because that's what we're demanding as coaches. We've got players that have really bought into that and the result is we're leading the conference in turnovers.”
On going back to Kansas
“I loved it up there. It's a great place to live; great people. Our football program was really down when I got there and when I left, it was about as high as it's ever been. It'll be fun going back.”
Brandon Weeden, Quarterback
On staying focused against Kansas
“We're going to stay focused, no question. We've won big games early in the year and bounced back and were focused all the next week. So no, we're not going to overlook Kansas. We have to go to their place; they're going to be hungry. They played well again last week against a good Nebraska team, so we're going to get their best. We have to stay focused. We've got a lot that we can control in these next few weeks.”
On his game against Texas
“I think my decision-making was pretty good. I was pretty accurate. Obviously, I made a couple mistakes: one, obviously, running that ball and the interception, stuff like that. I think against a team like Texas, as good as they are, as good as their defensive coordinator is, as far as scheming stuff up, I knew that I had to play well in order for us to have a chance to win. This offense relies a lot on individual guys and the offensive line making plays in one-on-one situations; we talked about that all week. Overall, I felt we did a lot of good things against a very good defense and we're proud of it.”
Andrew McGee, Cornerback
On being fifth in the nation in turnovers
"Coach Gundy and the coaching staff they are always on us at practice, even after we make a tackle, telling us to strip the ball out. We work on ball drills on the time. It has become very important to us as a team to create turnovers, because if we are ahead on the turnover margin, we will most likely win the game."
On having confidence in creating turnovers
"As more and more guys step up and make plays, and more guys create those turnovers we get more confidence going into games. We have numerous players that have more than one interception or more than one fumble recovery or forced fumble. We can trust our players to come in and create turnovers and do what they need to do to win the game."
Dan Bailey, Kicker
On being a semifinalist for the Groza Award
“It feels good. It's definitely an honor. I think there are 20 of them or so, but anytime you can be mentioned with some of the best kickers in college football, it's definitely an honor.”
On changing his shoes against Texas
“I was going through warm ups and I wasn't hitting the ball very well. I couldn't figure it out because I felt fine and I looked down and the heel of my shoe had ripped apart from the sole. So, I was kind of forced to go to my back up pair.”
On missing his first career extra point
“I was more surprised than anything: I'm so used to making them. The first thing was, it happens, and when it does happen, you've got to just take it as it is and move on to the next kick. Luckily, I played well for the rest of the night. I had a longer field goal to kind of get my confidence back. It kind of shakes you for sure, but the only thing you can do is go on to the next kick.”
Quinn Sharp, Punter
On being a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award
“I've definitely thought about it. I just found out recently that I made the top 10 semifinalist list, so that was a big step for me because that was one of my goals coming into the year was to actually make that top 10 list. It would be an honor to win that award. There are plenty of great guys out in this country that are punting right now and there's a lot of competition, so we'll see how it pans out from here.”
On Dan Bailey
“Dan and I have had a great year together. We've worked really hard in the last offseason together. We're always there for each other. If he feels like he's not comfortable with something he's doing, I'll try to look at what he's doing and help him out. Sometimes we'll have to do that on our own because we don't get as much coaching and film sessions like other guys do. We've been there for each other and we've both had a great year. He's excelled at his position; he has been doing a great job and I've had a lot of success this year also. It's been nice being with somebody like that and we're both very level-headed and we help each other out all the time.”
On following 2008 Ray Guy Award-Winner Matt Fodge at Oklahoma State
“Hopefully I can do that. Hopefully I can keep the tradition going. That would be nice. We'll see how it pans out though.”
Isaiah Anderson, Wide Receiver
On Oklahoma State being 9-1
"I feel like it has put us in the national spotlight. People know now that we are someone to reckon with. With all the hard work that we put in this summer, it has finally paid off for us."
On the leaders on the team
"I think that we have a lot of players that lead by example. Kendall Hunter doesn't say much to anybody, but the way his work ethic is on the field and in the weight room benefits everybody. We are all trying to make ourselves more like him. Brandon Weeden is a vocal leader, along with Orie Lemon. We look up to those guys and we expect them to be there when we need them, and we will be there for them too."
Grant Garner, Offensive Lineman
On the offensive line's performance this year
"I know the guys that we play with, I know the players. We have been here for three of four years together. I think that the system is good, and Coach Wickline is good, and the guys want to be good and are willing to put in the work to become good."
On Kansas's defense
"I think we can't overlook them. I think as long as you don't allow it to be a trap game, it won't."
Josh Cooper, Wide Receiver
On going on the road to play Kansas
"We come out every week and play hard. We try not to look past anything or look towards OU or anything, we are just looking towards this week."
On the performance of the offense
"The last few weeks we have really gelled well together as an offense and done a lot better. We have been excited to go to practice and get better every week. Coach Holgorsen always preaches to us about going out and getting better and I think that we have shown that."
Richetti Jones, Defensive End
On if being overlooked in the preseason helped bring the team together
“When somebody counts you down and out before the season even starts and they haven't given you credit for the hard work you've put in - they don't know what's going on but they count you down and out - that's all the motivation you need. I feel that's what our team strives off of, just working hard, staying focused and proving everybody wrong.”
On forcing turnovers
“It's something that's practiced every day. Coach Gundy and the defensive staff, they run around the whole practice chasing us around, telling us to 'strip the ball, strip the ball, strip the ball.' Coach Gundy, he's on us 24/7, the whole practice, and if we don't strip the ball, if somebody wraps the guy up for a tackle and we don't strip the ball, we're doing up-downs. It's become a habit for the whole team, so it naturally happens in the game now. When we hit certain guys, we'll try to strip the ball or put our helmet right on the ball, and it's something Coach Gundy and his staff work on every day. They strive on it every day.”
On Kansas
“We haven't had a chance to watch film yet. We watch film tomorrow, but we're going to approach this game like we approach every other game. We're not going to put too much emphasis on any team and we're not going to look over any team. We're going to go out and do what we do every week: just go out and practice hard and focus and get the job done.”
