Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU-Texas Tech Post-Game Quotes
November 17, 2012 | Cowboy Football
Nov. 17, 2012
Recap |
Final Stats |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
“Today's game was a very complete game. I mentioned last week that we were good in all three phases of the game, but I think we were better today. Defensively, we gave up 14 points and about 300 yards for the most part to a team that has had a lot of success on offense with a mature quarterback. We missed some tackles in the first half, but overall, our guys got pressure on the quarterback. We rallied to the ball and forced turnovers. We played really well. I thought coach (Bill) Young had a great defensive plan that we were able to execute. Offensively, we were able to keep rolling. We were able to throw the ball down the field and run it. We stayed fairly balanced for the most part. Our yardage total wasn't much because we only had 64 plays. That was all special teams. We had a really nice plan.
“I'm very proud of our team. We had a number of players who were injured this week and didn't practice, but they came out to play. I don't know if we've ever had a more productive day from players who were injured and didn't practice much. The attitude and the chemistry of this team is what allows them to have success. It's important to them. They've created an identity for themselves. They understand that they aren't selfish football players, which helps them do a nice job for themselves. As a coaching staff, we're very proud of the guys. Clint (Chelf) played really well. We had a package for J.W. (Walsh) in this game, and he played really well. They won the opportunity to enjoy this one, but we'll come back to work tomorrow night.”
On J.W. Walsh's involvement in the game
“He's a good runner. He made a bad read one time and got dropped behind the line, but for the most part he gave us a little edge near the goal line. We have not been good with short-yardage near the goal line for three years so we're trying to work through it and find ways to become a better short-yardage goal line team. He allowed us to improve with his running ability.”
On the defense being able to limit Texas Tech's fast-paced attack:
“If you look at the makeup over the past five or six weeks, our defense has played pretty good. In this league, it's difficult because of the offenses that we face. Could we play better? Yes. Could we get our defense off the field more on third and long? Yes. Could we have tackled more at Kansas State? Yes, but overall, the defense was pretty good. Bill Young and the defensive staff really made some adjustments. There were two or three really key parts to stopping their attack that worked on the first drive. The adjustments that were made were really good. The drive that starts the second half is always a really important part of the game. I think they made really nice adjustments.”
On the team's up and down performance throughout the year:
“Sometimes they play better than you think, but sometimes they play like we played in Manhattan where we were terrible. I wish I know why or how to prevent it. If you could bottle it up, it would be a good product. Our team feels good about themselves. The players on this team care about each other. The grind of college football, with 14 or 15 week seasons, it's tough. You either like to play football and it's important to you, or you don't. Unfortunately, over a 20-year period, I've come across players who just try to get through the season. These guys are really excited about playing each week.”
On Isaiah Anderson's performance
“He's fast. When you're fast, you scare the defense whether you can catch it or not. When you catch it, it makes things worse for them. He ran really well in practice Wednesday. At that point, we felt comfortable with him being able to play with speed, at a high level and being able to take a hit. Our comfort level went up after Wednesday's practice. He has started to get healthy. He has had that hand issue. I think he has gotten over it mentally, though. Charlie Moore didn't practice all week so we were tentative to play him. Isaiah had to play.”
On preparing for Bedlam next weekend
“I like our team. I like our competitiveness, and I like the way we practice. I think they'll play well. I would never approach a game in any other way. The players buy in to whatever we present to them as coaches, and we've got a lot of confidence in our football team. There is still work to be done each week. They have to get to bed on time, eat right and go to class. They have to operate their routine well and study. It has to be important to them.”
OSU offensive coordinator Todd Monken
On scoring 59 points
“It's a credit to our defense and our special teams. We had the ball in great field position and got a score from our special teams. They set up another score. We got a couple turnovers. All of those things play into, what really matters, which is points. Not yards or things that make you feel good after you lose. Those things we always talk about, but it comes down to how you score collectively as a group. The biggest thing today was that we didn't turn it over. I think that this is the first time this year that we didn't have a turnover. If you play good football, make explosive plays, and don't get penalties, then you have a chance to score points.”
On Isaiah Anderson:
"You know, Isaiah got hurt at Kansas, and he's progressively gotten better and better. It's one guy's misfortune. Charlie (Moore's) ankle still wasn't very healthy, and Isaiah's been there. The opportunity came, and he made some plays. We're happy that he got the opportunity, and we tried to do some things that maximized what he does. I'm just really happy for him. It's been an up-and-down career and season for him. On senior day, that's something that he's always going to remember.”
OSU defensive coordinator Bill Young
On the reason for the defensive performance
“I think that they played at a high energy level. Another part of that might have been the crowd. We did some different things in the pass rush that were able to free them up. Texas Tech is known for taking big splits, and it ended up helping us a little bit. Great effort from the front four.”
On the confidence level of the defense
“We're really playing with a lot of enthusiasm, and I think that everybody is just feeding off of each other. When you play with that much energy, it just accelerates everything. We seemed to be playing really, really fast. We gave up some yardage, but at the same time we made some big plays.”
On getting turnovers
“That's huge. We have been working so hard and hadn't gotten any but got some today. We could've gotten a couple more. When you give our offense the ball on a short field, you had better watch out.”
OSU quarterback Clint Chelf
On the offense's overall play
“We played well. The offensive line kept me clean and opened holes for Jeremy (Smith) and Joe (Randle). J.W. (Walsh) came in and made some good plays, and our receivers played well. I just tried to spread the ball to those guys and let them make plays.”
On being the guy who gets to come out with a big lead as opposed to recent years
“It felt nice. For the first time being able to let J.W. take over and just send the seniors off the right way. It was our last home game, and we just wanted allow them to get out, enjoy it and soak it all up.”
On the momentum the team is building moving forward
“I think any time you win two-straight games, especially in that fashion against good football teams, you feel like you have some momentum going.”
OSU safety Zack Craig
On blocking two punts
“It was a great feeling. Going into the game, we had some block schemes set up and I knew if I ran down there and stuck my arm out, I was going to block it. You never know if you're going to get it. When I did, I can't explain it. It was nuts.”
On scoring a touchdown
“When I got to the end zone, I was shocked and excited. It was just awesome. It was my first touchdown here at Oklahoma State. It was awesome. That's all I can say about it.”
On the importance of this win
“It was a big win. Number seven. We want to finish strong. If we win these last two games, we have the chance to get to a big bowl so we're excited about it.”
OSU wide receiver Isaiah Anderson
On his career day receiving
“It was fun. For that to be my last one at Boone Pickens Stadium and go like this, I couldn't have been put in a better situation.”
On what sparked the performance
“We knew going in that we were still kind of banged up so I was told they might try to showcase me a little bit. I told Coach (Todd) Monken after the game 'Thank you. Just thank you so much for trying to get me the ball.' It's been a long time coming, and I was so happy to do it in front of the home crowd.”
On playing his last game at Boone Pickens Stadium:
“I was anxious just to get out here in front of my family, and these fans have been so faithful for the past five years that I've been here. It's been a fun ride. I've enjoyed every bit of it.”
OSU linebacker Lyndell Johnson
On slowing down Texas Tech's explosive offense
“We knew we just had to stick to the game plan, believe in it, buy into the system and have the confidence to go out there and make plays.”
On his individual performance
“It always feels good to play well. Knowing you have the team behind you. Going out there and not worrying too much if you make a mistake because they're behind you. And playing in front of the home crowd, it was great.”
On building momentum going into next week
“It was a good win. We got our confidence back. We lost it a little against Kansas State, but now we've got it back. We're up and running now.”
OSU defensive tackle James Castleman
On his interception
“I was supposed to come off that play, but I stayed in so when coach called it, I was like 'Yes!' I tried to remember coach telling me that I usually drift too far back in coverage, but that time I did it just right. Calvin (Barnett) jumped up and almost hit it, and it went right to me and hit my hands. After that I had tunnel vision. All I could see was Nigel (Nicholas) blocking. I was so excited. I started screaming once I hit the ground.”
On stopping Texas Tech's offense
“Texas Tech has a great offense, but I feel like our defense worked really well together today and that's what makes a good defense – working together and trusting each other. We talked about that today in chapel. Trusting each other and everything, so that's what did it – us trusting each other and working together so well.”
On the team's overall performance
“The team played really well today. The defense worked together, and the offense worked together. The coaches always talk about working as one, and that's what we did today.”
Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville
On the players' morale after tonight's loss
“The morale is good. We had our best practices last week. I have no problem with the effort and how the guys go into each game and compete. We're our own worst enemy in a lot of ways. It's been a long eight games, but we'll bounce back.”
On the offensive struggles tonight
“We had to do things that sometimes we've been able to do and sometimes we haven't. Tough night, and on the offensive side of the ball we weren't able to run it in the first half. We couldn't run any time off the clock. We've been one-dimensional.”
On the mistakes made tonight
“We competed, we just gave up too many points. Going into tonight, we felt pretty good about it as long as we didn't make mistakes, but we made more than our fair share in this game.”
On the Oklahoma State-Texas Tech matchup
“Our guys like to play against them. We just never got any consistency. The second half, we were down by 21, driving, got a great play and then got a holding call. The little things just kept us from getting any momentum.”
On giving up big plays
“We've given up big plays. Post routes and go routes. We're trying to stop the run. You've got to take your choice on what you want to do. Sunday and Monday going into this game, we said if we can keep them to one big play, we'll be in good shape. We'll stop the run, control them on third downs and go to zone coverage, and it just got away from us. They made a lot of big plays.”
