Oklahoma State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes: Oklahoma State-UTSA
September 13, 2014 | Cowboy Football
Recap |
Final Stats |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
Opening statement
"That was a good win for
our team. It was sloppy and kind of ugly, really. Defensively, I thought our
players competed for the most part. We tackled really well. We were physical.
They took that challenge and played physical. We had three missed assignments
on the one drive where [UTSA] scored in the second half. Other than that, I
thought they were the key to the game. They tackled and were able to stop the
running game. UTSA averaged two yards per snap running the football. That made
a big difference. Offensively, we were kind of flat. Not very good for the most
part. Not making enough plays and not running the football. Until we learn how
to run the football, we'll just be average on offense. On special teams, UTSA
was terrific. Their punter and kicker are really good. They kind of took us out
of the special teams. We didn't get any chance to get any returns based on
their hang time that they had in both of those areas. We weren't very good at
punting tonight. In fact, we were poor. We have a long ways to go, and we have
a lot of work ahead."
On Daxx Garman's performance
"He settled on his own. You would have liked for him to complete the first swing pass to Tyreek (Hill), and when he threw that one poorly, that didn't help. He settled himself down. He was fine."
On the offensive line
"We just didn't block
anybody. We didn't move anybody out there. I'm sure there is a contributing
factor, which is the youth. We're going to have to move people out of there if
we're going to play in this league because we aren't going to be able to
protect and throw the ball down the field every game. We have to get better up
front. We need to get guys squared up, get them out there and allow the running
backs to make a cut. We just have to get better each week. They've got three
games under their belts and there's some youth there so we just have to bring
them along. We have to improve them."
On the running backs
"Tyreek (Hill) gives us the flash that we need, and we could never really get him loose tonight. Rennie (Childs) is a little bit of in-between. Against this team, Desmond (Roland) is able to smash it up in there and kind of move the pile. So there's an advantage to what he brings to the table."
On the offense
"We have a lot of work. We should have had 600 yards of offense. We missed some opportunities for big plays, and we missed some blocks and things like that. Our offense relies on the run and throw both. We're very balanced, and if we're not effective in one area, we have to manufacture a way to be effective in the other. We didn't square up in the blocking game. We missed some deep throws. There were several of them that were right off the fingertips of our guys. We need to hit more of those throws, and we have to square up guys in the running game. I thought our schemes were good, but we just have to be better and kind of look at what we're doing. That's what you go through when you have some young guys."
Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer
On forcing turnovers
"We just won a great game. Turnovers weren't there, but the kids just played a hell of a ball game. They got off the field so many times. They did great against the run. They played physically and had a lot of great tackles."
On improvements he saw in the secondary
"I think those guys did a tremendous job with the discipline of their eyes. I credit those coaches back there, Van Malone and Tim Duffie. I think they did a great job of preparing those guys, and I think the kids bought in. We're just a very average team trying to be good. Their tail is on the line every snap, and that's college football these days. If you have a missed assignment back there, you're going to give up big yards. That's just the world they live in so I was very proud of how the coaches prepared them and how the kids bought in."
On the number of reps starting defensive players are getting
"As a defensive coordinator you always want more, but I think (Mike Gundy) does a great job of managing that. He sits back and looks at it as a whole, as what's best for the team. In my seat, I'm always saying that we have to practice more to prepare more. It's good that he's there to help with that. Our goal is to have those guys fresh and ready to play on Saturdays, and he does a good job of that."
Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich
On the lack of intermediate game tonight
"We had a few intermediate plays over the middle. I know (Marcell) Ateman caught one late, and I think (Chris) Lacy caught a couple of intermediate balls. We were getting those corners playing flat-footed around 10 yards so we tried to take the top off the coverage and take what the defense was giving us. Sometimes, that's longer throws and shots down the field, and sometimes those throws are a lower percentage. Sometimes you get discouraged with three-and-outs, but you're taking your shots down the field."
On his feeling of where the offense is going into Big 12 play
"I think we're making plays. We need to be more consistent, but overall, there were a lot of positives. It's really important for us to go back, look at the film and establish a really good game plan going into this bye week. Try to get it in early. It's really important to get the planning done so you can practice it a bunch of times and get extra reps at it. We'll take a look at it. We like our productivity, but there's a lot of room to improve as well."
On if the off week comes at a good time
"I think so. I think it's great. We've just got to make sure we get our guys that are banged up healthy. We'll go back, watch the film from today and get better from it. We'll learn from mistakes and get back to the fundamentals, as always."
Oklahoma State linebacker Ryan Simmons
On the team's overall defensive effort
"We knew what these guys could do. We came in tonight with a mindset of knowing that we had to be more physical than them. We knew they would cut us a lot and try to get quick to the edge so we did a great job of executing our game plan. We were forcing the ball when we needed to and getting pressure when we needed to so we did a great job today, overall."
On UTSA challenging the team's physicality leading up to the game
"We definitely used that as motivation. For a guy to come onto your turf and say that he's going to physically outperform you, you don't want that. Nobody wants to hear that. We came out there with the mindset to just go get it, make plays and do our job."
On finishing up the non-conference and getting into the Big 12 schedule
"We're going to prepare just like it's any other game. We have the same expectations. We have to go out and execute the game plan, get pressure when we need to, stay right in our coverages and limit our mistakes. If we can do that, we'll be good for the rest of the season."
Oklahoma State safety Jordan Sterns
On the secondary slowing down UTSA's passing attack
"We just flew around to the ball, kind of similar to what we did against Florida State. We were pretty disappointed in our performance last week so we made it clear in practice that we wanted to go hard this week and make a statement."
On what the team worked on to improve on last week's defensive effort
"In my opinion, we just didn't have any energy against Missouri State. We were dry because of who we were playing. Today, everyone was excited. They gave us a run for our money last year, and they're a pretty good team, especially for them only being in their fourth or fifth year in Division I. Overall, we were juiced up. We came out ready tonight."
On where the team can go from here heading into conference play
"This is the real deal now so we have to really focus on who we're going to be playing and focus on the right mentality. Texas Tech's a good team, but I think we can take tonight's performance and use that for the rest of the season. If we come out every day and play like we did today, we'll be good. We just have to keep going out there and make plays, make them punt the ball and get turnovers."
Oklahoma State running back Desmond Roland
On the running game picking up after the half
"With how the game was going, the flow just felt really off. It was a pretty slow game with a slow tempo at first, but then we picked it up and got the run game going. The offensive line did a great job of holding down the line and being physical, and the receivers did a great job of blocking downfield so we came out with the victory."
On what the team needed to execute in order to perform well tonight
"In my opinion, we physically handled them very well. We did what we wanted to do and got yards when we wanted to. They're a great team, though, and they're going to win a lot of games this year. We were the most physical team out there tonight, and that's how we were able to win the game."
On using momentum from tonight's victory and taking into the Texas Tech game
"We're going to take our physicality from tonight and build on it, especially heading into our games against Big 12 teams. We've got a week to get our bodies rested, and we'll be at full force when Texas Tech comes to town next Thursday."
Oklahoma State quarterback Daxx Garman
On going into his first collegiate game as the starting quarterback
"I owe it to my teammates. We came in with a good game plan and pretty much everyone did what they were supposed to do. My offensive line threw some great blocks tonight, and the receivers went out and did a great job of getting to the ball so I'm proud of the way the team performed tonight."
On his receivers making big plays
"The more reps we can take together and the more times we can throw the ball will help us get a better feel for each other. With the receivers, it's gotten better each and every time we've gone out for practice or for a game. We've got a pretty good understanding of that so I just try and put the ball out there where they can go and get it."
On his comfort level and getting used to the speed of the competition
"It really gets better every day. I know I've got guys around me who I can trust so I know I'll be able to rely on them once we start playing some teams from the Big 12, which we'll start getting ready for next week once practice starts. We'll come up with a good game plan, get everybody ready to go and do our thing from there."
UTSA head coach Larry Coker
On the OSU defensive line
"They are very fast and very athletic. They didn't stay blocked, and we had a tough time running the football."
On Blake Bogenschutz's contribution
"He did a nice job coming in. He threw the ball well, ran the offense well and, you know, he's just a true freshman. He's going to be a special player, I believe."
On the future of the quarterback situation
"We aren't going to talk about that now. We'll go back and evaluate it later."
On momentum shift early in the game
"We had three third-down penalties that kept their drive alive, and that's kind of the story of that drive for sure. It really put us behind the 8-ball for the entire game, actually."
On the run game
"We didn't get it going, and that hurt our offense. We've got good running backs so we had the opportunity, but you have to give them credit. Their defensive line, like I said earlier, is really quick and can move around well; they didn't stay blocked."
UTSA Quarterback Blake Bogenschutz
On his touchdown run
"We had momentum and we were driving down the field, and it's a good feeling to get out there and just drive down the field. I mean, you look around the crowd and everybody is silent all of a sudden and then we get momentum, and we see our fans section stand up a little bit. When people rally behind you like that it's pretty awesome. But he called a designed run for me, and I can't talk enough about the guys up front. They opened up like the Red Sea. That's just the way I saw it. When it opened up, I was just thinking 'Oh wow, there it is. I just got to take it.'" I mean, I can't say enough about the guys up front. They did awesome."
On the transition from high school football
"It's a big transition, but they keep on telling me it's just like high school football. You can't think of it any different. You just get out there and make plays and that's what we did tonight, but it was a great experience. It was a great debut here at Oklahoma State. Boone Pickens is a great place, a loud crowd. It's just a great atmosphere to go out there and make plays."
On what he learned from the game
"I think mainly it's just getting those first few snaps under your belt. It feels good to get that over with and get all the nerves out, I guess. When you first get out there, you kind of got some nerves and blood pumping a little bit, but it feels good just to get that out. We're going to watch film and make any corrections."
