Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy, Cowboys Preview Iowa State Game
November 14, 2011 | Cowboy Football
Nov. 14, 2011
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy and members of the Cowboy football team visited with the media on Monday at Boone Pickens Stadium to look ahead to this week's game at Iowa State. The highlights:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening statement:
"There is not a lot to say about the last game. Our guys did really well in all three phases. They started fast and finished. We were able to get some young guys in. They played well. We are moving forward to a short week in preparation for Iowa State. We got the team together last night. They have today off and then we will hold one real practice tomorrow. We will have a light practice on Wednesday and then travel to get ready for the game. Our message to the team has been about taking care of business and staying focused on preparation. Having a short week, we have lost some film study. The team needs to continue to play hard and take care of their business. We are looking forward to having the team back tomorrow.”
On shorter practices:
“We do not practice very long. We would like to have the additional day of practice this week. Obviously, when you play on a Friday you do not get that extra day. We had a choice to make. One would be to make up that day, today. This would allow the team to have Saturday off following the game to abide by the NCCA rules of having one day off per week. We decided to stay with the schedule and take today off. We have to make decisions where we are at as a football team. We also have to consider the health of our team. We felt that trying to steal an extra practice would not be worth it.”
On the offensive line enjoying the short week:
“They are pretty opinionated guys. I told Levy Adcock that I would listen to him more if he got a haircut.”
On Brandon Weeden and the Heisman:
“I am happy for him. Any type of accolades that come Brandon's way represent our football team and what we have been able to accomplish. He is very deserving. He has done everything we have asked him to do. He has been a great leader for us. There were times that people doubted his ability and he never said a word. There were games that he did not play in the second half or fourth quarter. He never once said that he needed more throws or touchdown passes. I am happy for everything that comes his direction.”
On offensive line protecting Weeden
“He got hit twice on Saturday. That is the most he has been touched in four or five weeks. They have protected him well. They play unselfish football. As long as they continue to do that we will be fine.”
On team building in the airport during the delay:
“There is some bonding. Like when we were kids and you went on a trip. They told you not to touch each other and to roll the windows up. There is bonding that takes place in those situations. That's exactly what happened with our team in that airport. There was a break dancing contest and guys watching games, arguing over them. We were there for a while, so we had the opportunity to do many things. It is good for them. They handled it very well. I did not hear any one complain. The only people complaining were the adults. The players did very well.”
On being loose:
“They are a loose group. Sometimes I will come up with a plan to change things up to justify what I do now. They will come to me and ask why I am changing things. I will give them some sort of reason. They want to stick with how we have done things all year. So I will change it back and we go on down the road.”
Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken
On whether playing conditions at Iowa State will affect the offense:
“I hope not. I hope it doesn't affect us. They have to play in it too, so I don't think it will be a factor. We have to play well no matter what the weather conditions are. Hopefully they'll be nice.”
On preparing for the conditions:
“Just make sure the players get out there early, especially on a grass field, and make sure the cleats that you're wearing for the game can adapt to the field conditions to be able to keep your footing.”
On the short week:
“It's the way it is. I've been used to it. With my four years with the Jaguars there were times when you play Monday night and play Sunday; Sunday night and play Thursday. That's a part of it when people watch you on TV then you end up having different types of weeks. That won't be an excuse whether we play well or we don't.”
“Our guys didn't have to play as many snaps as they would had it been closer. I think we played fewer snaps. It's like having a starting pitcher throw on just three days rest, but he only threw forty pitches – at least that's the mind trick we're playing.”
On postseason award speculation:
“It's kind of silly. With football you have a whole week to talk about stuff that really doesn't matter. What one game does to somebody in terms of winning a postseason award is really silly. Someone loses a game and they can't win a postseason award? That's the way it gets tricked around. One game and 'Oh my God, he's not good enough.' Well no, they're all really good players, and trying to decide who's the best to begin with is ridiculous. With that being said, I think it's a great honor that guys are being considered for those awards, and if they're fortunate enough to get those it will be a team award because none of those guys can't without the guys up front. You can't do it without the defense creating turnovers and stopping people at critical times. Those are all team awards but luckily individuals benefit from it.”
On Grant Garner:
“Grant, being a married guy; being a guy that's been here; being a guy that's come from the dead; got resurrected from a non-guy to being a guy that makes all the calls, to being a guy that gets everyone in the right spot. It's a rarity in any game. You can't point out where there's been a bad snap. I can't think of one when he's been in the game. One game I thought there was a bad snap, but Brandon dropped it. That's unbelievable when you think about everything you have to do making points. I know we work on it, but every dang snap – 85 snaps a game. He's invaluable.”
On Levy Adcock:
“Levy is a good player and he's kind of a goofball, so he keeps everybody loose. I think his personality is good for the guys. I think he cares more than he leads on to: his personality is like, 'I don't care;' goofy. I think he cares. It's important to him. It's one thing he enjoys doing and he's a really gifted guy. He has a lot of pure measurable skill and he's quick witted.”
Defensive Coordinator Bill Young
On the level of focus against Iowa State:
“There's no question we will be focused. Iowa State presents some different kinds of problems because they have a running quarterback and they are a running football team. They do have some play action and you get them in third down they'll put it down the field. You really have to be assignment-sound against them. They're going to run some zone read and zone read options and things that require you to take care of your business.”
On the Texas Tech game:
“It was exciting to go in with that kind of lead at halftime. The comfort zone is pretty good when you're up like that. The offense did such a great job. Every time they got the ball they took it and scored.”
On the defense:
“I think we're a work in progress. I think there are some really good things about us. We ball-hawk. We get after the ball and get turnovers. We have played the run really well and the pass really well. We've had some lapses but if you go back and look at our games, we score so many points that it's hard to keep that cutting edge with a 40-point lead or a 50-point lead. We've substituted liberally. We've put in our twos and if we're at home we'll put in our fours and fives.”
On whether this defense can help win a national championship:
“I don't think there's any question we can. We've done a really good job. Obviously we can do better, but again, with an offense like ours and a kicking game like ours, we do our part and the sky is the limit.”
Quarterback Brandon Weeden
On being mentioned as a Heisman Trophy frontrunner:
“It's exciting, but I don' worry about it. It's one of those things to be listed with guys like Andrew Luck and Trent Richardson and all those guys across the country – that's exciting, but I don't get wrapped up in it. There's too much at stake these next couple of weeks. If we keep winning games, all that stuff will take care of itself. I'm not here saying I wouldn't love to go to New York because I'd love to go to New York, absolutely, but if I do go to New York, it's for one reason: I'm playing well and we're winning a lot of games.”
On if the short week helps in preparation for Iowa State:
“Yeah, you have to stay focused. You look at what Iowa State has done, they've beaten some good teams and we have to go there on a Friday night, so it's going to be a challenge. It doesn't matter who it is, you can't overlook any team in the Big 12, or in college football in general. They'll sneak up on you and next you know, the goals you set aside are not there anymore. We'll be focused. We'll be dialed in. We're going to have a great week of practice and we're excited about it.”
On Iowa State:
“They do (play hard) and they're well coached. You look at the defensive side - they tackle well; they're never out of a gap; they're really gap-sound in everything they do. One thing that is for sure with those guys is they're going to play hard. They're going to fly to the football, they're going to do everything right. It's our job to take care of the football and do the small things, continue to get first downs, do all the little stuff that we can control and when we get into the redzone, we have to punch it in. We can't kick field goals, we have to score touchdowns. It's going to be a challenge. We're going to have to play well.”
On Grant Garner:
“He's the anchor. Offensively, he makes us go. Up front, he makes the whole offensive line communicate. He makes the point. He does everything. He's a good leader. Guys love being around him. He's a funny guy. He's one of my best friends on the team. No one really talks about him because most offensive linemen don't get pub, but he's what makes this offense go.”
On Levy Adcock:
“He's in the same category (as Garner). The guy's going to be a top-round pick. He's 6-6, 325 and athletic. He has a chance to play in the NFL for a long time. He's a good player. He's just one of those guys. He's just a good dude.”
Center Grant Garner
On playing on Friday night:
“I think having one less day could be a good thing because we don't have too much time to worry about anything else other than the game – one less practice. I think that will be nice for us. I think it could be a good thing.”
On Iowa State:
“I expect to see what they've put on film. They play really hard, they get in their gap and they don't beat themselves. I think we're going to have to earn everything we get.”
On where the team is ranked:
“We feel great about it, but at the same time, we all know that we haven't really done anything yet other than win some games. I think everybody is still hungry to see what we can do with these last two games.”
On Levy Adcock:
“I think he's extremely important. He's a swing tackle, and I think he played all four positions on Saturday, which there's not a lot of guys that can do that. I think he's really important to the team and he does a good job with keeping things light as well. He's a good personality to have around.”
Offensive Tackle Levy Adcock
On the team after the Texas Tech win:
“Like I've been saying, our (defense) always comes up in the biggest spots, it seems like, and gets a turnover or gets or fourth down stop. They always show up at the right time, and, an as an offense, we know if we get the ball back we have to do something with it. Every time we get a turnover, we're looking to score, for sure, because we want to have points off turnovers.”
On if it's hard to not overlook Iowa State:
“No, not at all. This game right here is as important as the OU game. We have to take care of it here, and that's what we're looking to do. We're going to prepare all week for Iowa State. Our main focus is Iowa State for the week.”
On Grant Garner:
“He's a huge part of the team; good player; great guy. He's so intelligent on the football field. He's our ringleader on the field.”
Receiver Isaiah Anderson
On the Texas Tech game:
“It's good to know you can execute and rest your starters after halftime and get our younger guys in there for some experience.”
On plane trouble in Lubbock:
“We just sat around and watched the TCU-Boise game and the Stanford-Oregon game. It was really exciting to watch TCU come back and score a two-point conversion like that and how Oregon handled Stanford. They were good games to watch.”
In response to teammates playing chess at the airport:
“I asked the people at the airport if they had a checkers set, but they told me that's all they had.”
On staying focused for Iowa State:
“We saw how Tech upset Oklahoma and we don't want to fall into that same trap, so we are just trying to take it one game at a time.”
Defensive Tackle Nigel Nicholas
On the defense:
“As a defense we just like to go out there and play hard. We know a lot people around the country look at us as the weak point of the team and if that's how people want to look at us we'll just allow it. On defense, we know what we can do and we know what we're capable of. We just go out there and play hard. We just go out and play football. That's all we can do. We can't change the way people think. As a defense, we're all hard-nosed players and just fly around and fly to the football. Our offense does a very good job and we just like to go out there and stop people.”
On the win at Texas Tech:
“You can't blow out a team every game. Basically, we just go out there and try to stop them. If you don't then you just try to stop them the next time. I have to thank our offense. They do a good job of scoring and get us in a good mood.”
Fullback David Paulsen
On playing on Friday:
“We're not going to change the way we practice. We're going to take Monday off like usual and just rest our legs and be fresh. The biggest concern this late in the year is keeping everyone healthy. I enjoy playing Thursday nights and Fridays nights. When we're getting to the end we want the attention on us. We thrive on the pressure.”
On BCS rankings:
“I feel like the rankings are for the fans and the students. That's what they get to enjoy. The only ranking that matters to us is what happens on Dec. 4 after the season is over. I know it's easy for people to look ahead to the Bedlam game, but we're staying really focused. The rankings are just a number right now. We just have to prove them right.”
