Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy, Cowboys Preview Troy Game
September 06, 2010 | Cowboy Football
Sept. 6, 2010
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy and selected players and assistant coaches visited with members of the media at Boone Pickens Stadium on Monday to review the Cowboys' 65-17 win over Washington State and to look ahead to this week's battle with Troy. The highlights:
Mike Gundy, Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"Out post-game thoughts on the game last Saturday night were pretty accurate. Obviously Kendall Hunter played very well. Brandon Weeden got better as the game progressed. I thought he had a few jitters the first couple of series. The offensive line played okay. Defensively, we tackled well. I'm not sure that they had the skill players quite like what we're going to go against this week. They can make you miss in space. Special teams will have to get a lot better. But overall it was a good game. I was pleased with the very low number of penalties. It was a good game for us. We're looking forward to this week of preparation. Troy has a lot of team speed and a fast tempo that is very similar to ours. Their defense has a zone blitzing style and is not much different from what we've seen from them in the years past."
On the status of defensive tackles Shane Jarka and Chris Donaldson:
"I don't think Jarka will play and I think Donaldson will be back practicing this week."
On a low number of turnovers and penalties:
"I was pleased with the low number of penalties. We put the ball on the ground a couple of times but then we recovered it. Both of our young tailbacks did that. It's very important that we learn to take care of the football. I'm not sure I would've predicted that many yards rushing and I'm not sure I would've predicted no turnovers and essentially only one procedure penalty. Knock on wood we need to continue to work hard and continue to keep those penalties and turnovers at a minimum. It gives us a great chance to win."
On the secondary:
"We need to improve. There are some areas that our coaches had concerns with during the game. We've identified those and will work on them this week to get better. We have maturity at the safety spot. We're still somewhat inexperienced at corner. Brodrick (Brown) basically played one game last year. We're trying to work guys who are young. They'll continue to improve each week. We aren't a finished product there."
On the great start by the offense:
"I wouldn't have thought we would have been able to run that many yards and accumulate that many points in such a short amount of time. I was pleased. I would only caution everybody that we're only going to play more speed as we go on through the year. I hope the best for Paul Wulff and Washington State, but we were able to expose them in space some. We will have a greater challenge this week."
On if he was surprised with Dana Holgorsen's use of the two-fullback offense:
"I researched him a little more than I think people gave me credit for. I didn't really talk much about it but I made a few phone calls and did some research on him and what his thoughts are. The conversations that he and I had during the hiring process were very minimal. I was told by enough people that he's not necessarily interested in statistics and throwing the football. He's interested in scoring points and ultimately winning the game. I listened to the conversations that were on going on during the game on the headset and I was pleased with the comments and suggestions being made. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they had a problem tackling Kendall Hunter and so we will give him the ball and let him do whatever he needs to do in order to give us the best chance to win. I think that Dana is more interested in scoring points and winning games than he is in statistics. I'm not sure what everyone is talking about and I haven't really paid attention. I think the rushing yards was a good story and it gave us something to talk about. But we want to be as balanced as possible. I think at the end of the year we will be more pass than rush. One thing that has been consistent is that Kendall needs to touch the ball. Justin Blackmon needs to touch the football. Guys who have the ability to make big plays need to touch the football somehow."
On Kendall Hunter:
"I think Kendall played more physical against Washington State this year than he did two years ago. Kendall really likes to play football. Some guys at our level play the game but they don't really love to play the game. Kendall loves to play football. It's important to him. When he didn't get the opportunity to do it last year, he's been very excited about playing this year. That works in our favor and it works in his favor. I'm not afraid to say that if Kendall stays healthy he will play this game a long time because he can make you miss, he doesn't run his mouth, he plays football for the right reasons and he's a tough guy so he'll play a long time."
Defensive Coordinator Bill Young
On the Washington State game:
"It was a heck of a ball game. As coaches we graded them and looked at how they played. We played 33 guys on defense which is a huge number of guys to play. We made some mental mistakes that are correctable. Unfortunately it was the same guys making mistakes again. Most of them were the younger guys that hadn't played very much, but there were a couple of the older guys that made mistakes and we need to clean that up."
On the game against Troy
"Troy has an offense that is very similar to ours. So we have had an opportunity to work with it this spring and during two-a-days so that should help us quite a bit. They will have some new wrinkles and some plays that we haven't seen so we will have to adapt and make sure we expose our players to those."
Offensive Coordinator Dana Holgorsen
On the misconception of the new offense:
"I just do what works. Regardless of how it gets done, the overall objective is to move the ball around and score touchdowns. You go through the process of seeing what plays will do well against specific teams and you do your best of getting prepared. If they work then they do."
On playing smart:
"We have been talking about playing smart since the day I got here. There are several things we preach every day and one of them is playing smart. What I mean by that is no penalties, no turnovers."
On Kendall Hunter:
"When you get set back with an injury you never know how they will respond. Some guys come back better, but some guys don't and I think that it shows what kind of character Kendall Hunter has. He is working harder, more energetic than ever, he smiles more than he ever has. He talks more than he ever has. I think there is a lot in store for that kid."
Markelle Martin, Safety
On keeping the momentum from the Washington State game:
"We just need to come out focused and put in a lot of hard work this week. We need to understand what we need to do to come out and win."
On the defense overall:
I think that is where we wanted to start. We wanted to set the bar high for the opener and that's exactly what we did."
On preparing for Troy and staying focused during the week:
"I think with the young team we have we won't have a problem keeping the momentum. We just have to stay focused. We want to force some more turnovers, minimize the points the other team scores, and force three-and-outs."
Justin Blackmon, Wide Receiver
On recovering a blocked punt against Washington State:
"That was pretty easy. I was not expecting that one. It came out of nowhere. Everything was going my way and the ball happened to just bounce right to me."
On growing from his freshman season:
"I've got a different mindset now. I am trying to work harder and be a better person on and off the field. I am trying to be a better leader and overall a better teammate. I have a lot more responsibility than I did last year."
Lane Taylor, Offensive Lineman
On the overall play of the offensive line against Washington State:
"We did really well. Of course, we have four new starters and they all stepped up and took care of the job real well. All of them had a good game. For the first game, we were a lot farther along than I thought we'd be, so we're doing well."
On continuity along the offensive line:
"We're working together real well. Our communication is real good. We relay calls and communicate well so we all stay on the same track and it's going real well for us."
On what it's like blocking for Kendall Hunter:
"It's real nice. When you're out there blocking and you see him take off for 60 yards, it's real nice. It keeps it exciting and it's fun to block for somebody who is so talented."
On the importance of pass protection:
"It's real important for us. It's our job to keep guys off the quarterback so we take pride in that and we're going to try to have the least amount of sacks this year and keep Brandon Weeden healthy and keep people off of him."
Brodrick Brown, Cornerback
On Troy's offense:
"Troy is a pretty good team. We've watched a little film on them. They're fast, fast guys on the offensive side of the ball and they don't hold back anything, so we've just got to come with it and come out and hit them hard."
On the 2007 OSU loss to Troy:
"I wasn't here in '07, but I heard about that game. It's not necessarily revenge because we beat them in 2008 after they beat us. It's a whole new season and a whole new year and the best team is going to win."
On his mindset as a cornerback:
"Every team is always going to challenge me, but that's what I like. When it's time to make the play, I'll make the play. Every receiver is going to step up to the challenge and try to catch as many on me as they can, but if I take it away early, then they'll probably stop."
Josh Cooper, Wide Receiver
On Troy's defense:
"We haven't watched much film on them yet; we'll probably start studying tomorrow. They're always athletic and they always give us a run for our money, so we look forward to playing them."
On the Cowboys' offensive performance against WSU:
"We know what we have to do every weekend. We knew coming into this game there were going to be a lot of people who would be doubting us and saying we couldn't do this. We knew we had to come out and do what we had to do."
