Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Hold First Scrimmage Of Fall
August 13, 2011 | Cowboy Football
Aug. 13, 2011
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State football team held its first scrimmage of fall camp Saturday evening on the grass practice fields adjacent to Gallagher-Iba Arena. The team has typically practiced in the morning, but the 6 p.m. start time matched the scheduled kick time for the Cowboys' season opener against Louisiana on Sept. 3.
After the scrimmage, coach Mike Gundy and others visited with members of the media. Some highlights:
Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement
"That was one of the best scrimmages we've had here in seven years. It was a lot of fun for me as a coach to watch our guys compete. We had about 170 plays if you count special teams. I was really encouraged by both sides of the ball. I don't think we turned the ball over, we didn't give up many big plays on defense. We had a lot of effort and saw some young guys make some plays. It was just a lot of fun being out there for two and a half hours. We were able to let our freshmen and young players get about 40 plays. To be able to watch them function as a group out there was really exciting. It was a good night, we had great weather and we couldn't ask for anything else."
On the play of the defense
"You always want turnovers for the defense but then you want to take care of the football and they did take care of the football and I thought the defense wrapped up well. We didn't take them to the ground; we had what you call a live-thud scrimmage. I thought we were physical up front and it was very productive. I was a little concerned about whether we would do a good enough job tackling by not taking them completely to the ground and I thought they did a nice job. I thought it was a clean scrimmage overall."
On Clint Chelf
"I feel a lot better than I did at this time last year, which is to be expected. I feel better about him now than I did when we started on the fourth or fifth. He has a long way to go but I like his demeanor and I like his work ethic."
Receiver Justin Blackmon
On Saturday's Scrimmage
"We worked hard and got better. It's our first scrimmage and the first time we ran a lot of those plays live. It's a building block and we've got the speed of the game down. I would say it was a good first step, but we've got a lot more to go."
On Clint Chelf
"I feel way more confident in him today than a year ago. Last year, he was good. Now he knows the offense, he knows the system, he knows when we check plays. He's not out there guessing and he actually knows his stuff now. I'm a lot more confident in him and he's more confident in himself. You can see that on the tape."
Cornerback Brodrick Brown
On the defense's performance in Saturday's scrimmage
"It's exciting to be out there. We need to force more turnovers as a defense. We came out physical and aggressive today. We were running around. Even when we got tired, we were still grinding. That's the thing about our defense. We're tough and we're going to fight until the end."
On the young players that caught his eye at Saturday's scrimmage
"At safety, Deion Imade, Zack Craig and Andrae May were all young guys that looked good today. When those guys get on the field, I get excited and yell their name."
On his mindset as a team leader
"I always have to work hard since I'm an undersized guy. I can't ever be comfortable. I have to push myself to work harder, to be better than the next guy and be better than my opponent. That's what I rely on - my heart and my ability to be better than whoever I'm up against."
