Oklahoma State University Athletics
Football Practice Report - April 11
April 11, 2012 | Cowboy Football
April 11, 2012
VIDEO:Mike Gundy Presser | VIDEO:Todd Monken with the Media | VIDEO:Practice #9 Highlights
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State football team practiced for about two hours in Boone Pickens Stadium Wednesday dressed in full pads and under cloudy skies. After practice, head coach Mike Gundy, offensive coordinator Todd Monken and quarterback Clint Chelf were part of the group of Cowboys who spoke to the media:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening statement:
"This was a really good practice today. We had really good weather, and the players got better on both sides of the ball. One thing that stands out to me is we still have really good speed in the second level of our defense, guys that can run and make plays and get their hands on the ball. We haven't had that the last few years, or since I've been head coach, so that's really encouraging. The quarterbacks continue to get better. Wes Lunt had some nice plays today. Our wideouts need to do a better job of catching the ball; we didn't catch the ball as well as we needed to late in the scrimmage.
"Defensively, our guys are playing better and put more pressure on the quarterbacks, put more pressure on the running game. I really liked our attitude, really liked our tempo. We'll come out and have a thud full-scale workout on Friday, which is a little unusual for us at this time of year. We would normally wait until next week, but we're going to go ahead and have a really good workout on Friday - put the ball down and let them play."
On if there is any separation in the quarterback race:
"I think there's separation with guys, and then some other ones may make some ground up. We would still like to name a starting quarterback by the end of spring ball. We were hoping to do it by the end of this week, but we want to make sure it's the right guy and for the right reasons. We would like to be able to name a starting quarterback after spring."
On what other position groups stand out:
"There's a lot of things that happened today that happened last Friday that I really liked: the speed of our defense and the defensive line in the running game is really good. Our running backs are running the ball well, everybody sees that. Everybody expected that with the maturity. We need Herschel Sims and Desmond Roland to really follow up and give us good third and fourth running backs. Overall, I really like where our team is at. I like their attitude and the way they're practicing. We have a number of practices before we play our first game. It's an encouraging situation for us with so many young players playing football."
On cornerback Andrae May:
"Andrae has a knee injury that we'll know more about in a few days, but he certainly won't be back in the spring. We're hoping to get him back this summer."
Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken
On the progression of true freshman QB Wes Lunt:
"They've all gotten better. He's going to improve the most because he was not even around. From the get-go, he had no idea what he was doing. He's improved a bunch. They're all doing better. We have to function better as a team around our quarterbacks. Until we do that, we won't be where we want to be."
On if the quarterback race has been tighter than he expected entering the spring and if that's a good or bad thing:
"I don't know. You can say it's half-full and say that all three have done things a lot better than I thought they would. You can say it's half-empty and say that nobody has yet distinguished themselves as our guy. That being said, you're also talking about three guys that haven't played yet. We have a number of positions that would be like that - who's our starter at those positions? I don't know. It's all in how you want to look at it."
Quarterback Clint Chelf
On his play this spring:
"I feel like I'm getting a lot better. Like Coach Monken says, it's a process. We're replacing a lot of guys, so the whole offense is going to struggle at times. Personally, I feel like I've gotten a lot better, but I still have a long way to go."
On his desire to be the leader of the team and how that is going:
"I feel like some of the guys look to me to lead the team and that's what I'm trying to do - get their trust so they'll all look to me some day."
On his comfort level with the offense:
"I'm real comfortable. I know anything that the coaches say about the offense, I'll know it. I'm extremely comfortable around the guys. Like I said, it's a process - there are going to be some good days and some bad days, but we've got to keep pushing forward."
