Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Football Meets With The Media
August 06, 2011 | Cowboy Football
Aug. 6, 2011
STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State held its annual Football Media Day Saturday to discuss the upcoming 2011 season. The following is a sampling of what some of the Cowboy assistant coaches and players had to say.
Defensive Coordinator Bill Young
On the battle for starting positions among defensive linemen
“The defensive tackles are looking pretty good. Anthony Rogers and Chris Littlehead are competing neck and neck at the nose guard position. We've got Mike Mustafa and James Castleman that can work into the picture at any minute. And at the other tackle position, Nigel Nicholas has really got that ironed down and now we've got to find a backup.”
On progress of defensive linemen from last year to this year
“They're really physical looking kids. You're talking about 6-foot-4, 300 pounders that can move and they're athletic so we're excited about them.”
On unselfish play of defensive linemen
“They're right in the thick of things, and they're going against the center and the guards and they're going to get double-teamed almost every play. You've got to be a pretty physical and tough guy to play there.”
On takeaways on defense and the importance of pass rush
“We've got to have more this year. That's something we're going to stress every second we're on the field.
“We've got to do a great job, not only rushing the quarterback but containing him and forcing him into other rushers. If you get in the quarterback's face and knock him down a few times, he starts losing confidence in his offensive line, and he starts looking at the rushers instead of looking at the receivers.”
Co-Defensive Coordinator Glenn Spencer
On new faces at the linebacker position
“Spring was really good for them. We really closed the gap with Caleb (Lavey). So, we've got two guys that we can replace Orie's (Lemon) production with. Caleb has got a slight edge (in the race) because he's more savvy, I guess. He's just a raw athlete and one of those guys that, every week, takes a little baby step.”
On Caleb Lavey's progress in getting adjusted to the linebacker position
“It's just little technique issues. A lot of it's mental and a lot of it's tackling technique, not being out of control, not giving back the cutback or how to shed a block. So, it's a learning process with his body to be physical as well as his mind to know what to do. Both kind of go hand in hand.”
On playing linebacker in modern football and how the position has changed
“I tell my guys every day, 'You're going against one of the best offenses in the nation every day. They're explosive, they make plays, they spread the field.' So we get disappointed because it takes them a while, but I said 'Guys, just believe and keep working and keep getting better.'”
Safety Markelle Martin
On expectations coming into the season
“There's a lot of expectations. We're very excited to be here. We're out having fun and enjoying the company of each other so it's going to be a very exciting season for us.”
On the challenges for the defense
“I'm just being more physical, limiting the mistakes we made last year and just continuing to get better each week and striving to be the best defense we can be.”
On media questioning the defense
“We're used to it. But this year we're trying to set a tone for ourselves and set the bar pretty high to achieve those goals.”
On team expectations and goals
“They're pretty high. We're talking BCS. We want to go undefeated, and we want a national championship.”
Defensive End Richetti Jones
On the defensive line
“We hear a lot of questions and speculations, but we don't worry about it. We're gonna keep working hard and do our assignments and win some games.”
On expectations for this season
“Every group of players that comes through Oklahoma State wants to be the best and to be the greatest team to ever come through. Well, last year we had 11 wins so the only way to top that is to get 12 or 13. So that's the mindset of everybody on the football team right now, to work hard and win every game we play.”
On the game against Tulsa
“Any Oklahoma rivalry game is something that everybody is waiting for, and they want to see because Oklahoma doesn't have a professional football team so college sports is what it is when it comes to football. It's going to be a great game and be exciting for everybody.”
Cornerback Broderick Brown
On teammate Markelle Martin
“When I first met him, I was like 'Man, this guy's an athlete.' First he was at corner, and I saw him hit at corner. Then, they moved him to safety and I was like 'This man is gonna come down hill and bring the hat.' I just thought 'This guy's gonna be special.'”
On growth and progress in the secondary
“The secondary has been doing good right now. We've had some key guys step up, not only at the corner position, but also at the safety position too.”
On a teammate that may surprise and get some playing time
“Andrae May. He's been working out real hard. I praise him; I talk to him from time to time and tell him to keep working it. I tell him that his time is gonna come. This is the year for him so we'll see what happens during camp and during the season.”
Linebacker Shaun Lewis
On the upcoming season and expectations
“There's really only one way to look, and that's ahead. We can't look back at what happened in the past. It was a good season, but next year we have to improve upon what we did last year for us to be considered better than we were last year.”
On the preseason ranking and the perception of Oklahoma State
“People are certainly starting to pay more attention to Oklahoma State, but it's not where we start, it's where we finish. So we're just working hard every day to finish better than where we started.”
On filling in a leadership role for Orie Lemon
“We've got some guys stepping in and leading. I'm trying to take on a leadership role on the team. We've got Markelle Martin and Johnny Thomas, and the two veteran ends, Richetti Jones and Jamie Blatnick. So it's more of a collective group of guys leading on defense this year.”
Offensive line coach Joe Wickline
On the depth of the offensive line
“I really think that when you have experience back that has suited up and played a lot of football plays, that's very important. You really can't replace that. You'd rather not go into a year and say 'Well I have to replace all five guys and then next year hopefully we'll have two or three guys back.'” The depth is good here now; they're doing a nice job.”
Quarterback Brandon Weeden
On the summer
“It was long, with a lot of anticipation to kind of get going, but yeah I had a great summer. As a team we got better. I think guys were pretty excited, workouts went well. I think overall we had a better summer than we did the summer before that.”
On individuals improving over the summer
“Freshman Josh Stewart came in and had a great summer. He's going to make an immediate impact. When (Josh) Cooper comes out of the game, he's the guy that can fill his role without missing a beat. Mike Harrison had a great summer. He's learning; he's going to be (Justin) Blackmon's backup so he's going to get a lot of opportunities to make plays, and he's really taken on that role pretty well.”
On anticipation for this year as compared to last year
“Last year, no one really knew what to expect. This year, we've got a lot of our pieces back. Overall, we're excited obviously, but I think the OSU fan base expects a lot out of us. That's normal; I expected it after winning 11 games, but I think it should be like that. If there was no anticipation, something would be wrong.”
On preference for being the “hunter” or “hunted”
“I personally would rather be the hunter. You still have to prepare. Like last year, we prepared well and everything went well like we had planned, but last year no one had a clue who we were and that's not going to be the case this year, everyone's going to know who we are. We are going to have a target on our back, but we kind of deserve that in a way. Regardless, we play in the Big 12 and you have to play everybody now, so you still have to come out and play.”
Wide receiver Justin Blackmon
On the offense this year with a new coordinator
“It's not changing at all; we're still going to run the same offense, the spread. We're still going to throw the ball around; it's probably going to be about the same as last year between the pass and the run. It's pretty much the same, we just have a couple more options, which we would have had this year anyway because you can't do the same thing twice.”
On measuring up to last year's individual accomplishments this year
“I'm not really sure. I'm not going to try to measure up and have as many catches as I had last year or try to force it and gain as many yards, I'm just going to go out there and try to do my best to help the team.”
On this year's preseason ranking
“We don't really look at it too often. Last year in the preseason we were unranked and picked to finish last or second to last in the Big 12 South. We don't really pay too much attention to the media because it all comes down to who shows up on the field Saturdays.”
Running backs coach Jemal Singleton
On the fullback position
“Obviously we have a couple guys we're looking at. Kye Staley is kind of coming to camp as our No. 1 guy. (David) Paulsen has had some playing time in the past; he has a few things he needs to work on. One of our walk-ons, Derek Branson, has been very exciting and has definite potential. They are all pretty solid with what they've done so far.”
On Kye Staley coming off his injury
“When medical professionals tell a young man that he may never play and probably shouldn't play the game again, and he's able to work through that and come back, I'm hoping the best for him because he has worked so hard to put himself in this position. I'll be cheering when he gets his first snap in Boone Pickens Stadium.”
Running back Jeremy Smith
On this year's preseason ranking
“That's a good thing, it's a blessing. Of course, once the season starts, we have to take it one game at a time, and the rankings don't really mean anything. Our main goal is to go to the national championship.”
On playing a round-robin schedule against every team in the conference
“It's actually going to be pretty fun. We don't have to play to go to a Big 12 championship game anymore. It's going to be a great thing, and people are going to love it.”
