Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State-Missouri State Postgame Quotes
September 06, 2014 | Cowboy Football
Sept. 6, 2014
Opening Statement
“It was a good win for us. We talked about our youth quite a bit this preseason and I think it showed up today. We were kicking way too many field goals, and we have to improve in areas like that. We had too many penalties. At a crucial time, we had a chop block, and we had a defensive personal foul. Those things we have to clean up. We got some young guys some experience, which is good. Daxx (Garman) came in and played for J.W. (Walsh). We'll know more about [Walsh] and his situation tomorrow. Either way, at that point we were going to play Daxx so we just decided to go ahead and leave him in and move forward. Rennie Childs did a good job for us. He made some plays for us in the running back spot. It gave us a chance to work some young players. Each week will be a challenge for us. The upcoming opponent is just like we have a conference game next week. So for the most part, we're in conference play, and we have to take advantage of every opportunity we have to get better and play smarter. I didn't think we were really a smart football team today. There were some errors we made that were really glaring. We'll continue to push forward and work to be better tomorrow.”
On Garman's performance
“He's had a lot of reps built. He's had reps since day one. He's really ready to play. He had to go through some grueling things. The speed of the game is something different for him. He hasn't played in a long time. He made some mistakes, but he also made some throws.”
On Garman's 87-yard pass to Sheperd
“I saw what he saw. I was back watching. I've had that view a lot in my life so I saw exactly what he saw. I was worried at that time because the only guy that I thought could make that throw was wearing a headset. When he made it, I was OK with it.”
On Garman not playing a game in five years
“I think he did OK. He made some plays. There were some throws I'd like to have back. A couple of throws that I know that he could make a better throw because I've seen him do it. The first time you play in a game at this level, it's different because you really can never manufacture the speed and the tempo. So I thought he did fine. We'll know a lot more when you watch tape and see where all the defensive players are and what his reads were and if he was sound in what was important, which is getting the ball in the right guy's hands.”
On what he liked about the team's performance
“First off, we won. That's a good thing. Next thing is we have a lot of work to do with young players. One time, I counted eight freshmen, two sophomores and a junior on the field on defense. They were out there for quite a while, so that's good for our guys to get some reps in. They made mistakes. They missed tackles in space. They got beat on double moves. A couple of times, some of the freshmen safeties weren't lined up correctly. Those are the situations that you're in when you play with that many young players. I would say that the main thing about this game is that we got a lot of young players some quality reps in. They have got to get work because we are eventually going to have to use them some, hopefully sparingly throughout the conference. But they're still going to have to be on the field at times.”
On the blocked PAT, field goal and punt
“I think we have a good group of players that understand how to accelerate and take the ball off of the foot as a punt block group, and most of them are freshmen or sophomores. In practice, they've been really good at it. Some players run by there and they put their hands up too high, and they miss punts. Some guys understand the angle and reaching down and taking it off the foot of the punter. I had mentioned to our staff that I thought we had a good young group of players that understand blocking a good punt, which we never know. The time from their snap to the contact of the punter's foot was slower than what we see in this league, but we still felt like the guys took good angles and understand blocking a punt.”
Oklahoma State Coaches
Offensive Coordinator Mike Yurcich
On Brandon Sheperd's 87-yard touchdown catch
"That was a heck of a catch by Sheperd. It was a heck of a pass (by Daxx Garman) on a run to his right. He threw it a little bit behind him. Great job. It was great to see (Garman) make a pass like that and great to see Sheperd make a play like that. Those guys work so hard, so it's great to see plays like that on Saturday."
On what he said to quarterback Daxx Garman before entering the game
"It's always the same. At that time, it's all about being in the moment and the plays that are coming up. We want to make sure we preview the plays in the upcoming series, so we gave him a list of our plays and he knows them like the back of his hand. Being the No. 2 guy is that you don't get all of the No. 1 reps, so that muscle memory sometimes isn't there like the starter would have."
On coming out flat to start the game
"We have to look at that and get our guys ready to go. That's our job as coaches and I take that job of being a motivator. You've got to make sure your guys are ready to go. We've got to do what we've got to do this week to prepare our guys to be ready to go next Saturday."
On getting the wide receivers involved
"We're always pleased to get everybody involved, whether it's the tight end, fullback, tailback. It's a team game, and to spread the wealth is really key."
Defensive Coordinator Glenn Spencer
On his initial takeaway of the game
"Our inexperience showed at times. Even though we got a lot of guys a lot of reps and played some young guys for the first time, they got some plays on our ones. A lot of our ones are inexperienced, so it's not like we're returning a great and experienced group to handle a bunch of misdirection, wheel routes out of the backfield and double moves by wide outs. Ideally, this right here is the kind of game where you have a ton to learn by with a team of guys that haven't played very much. They've really got a great challenge ahead of them to get ready for this next week."
On preparing for UTSA
"Just last year, they had a team of juniors that really got after us physically. I was telling somebody that that could have been the most physical game that we played all year last year, as far as someone just wanting to come down our throat...We have a lot of respect for them. It won't be a challenge for our guys to see that team and realize that they're very capable of coming in here and handing (a loss) to them if we don't have a great week of practice. I expect a battle. I think that they're a good football team, and with our youth and our inexperience, we've got our hands full."
On using this game as a learning experience
"We won the game. Just as much as everyone was telling us how good we were when we lost, now we won a game and outside everyone is going to say we aren't any good. It's all garbage and it's all poison, so I just want us to take this game and take advantage of every opportunity where we saw breakdowns. We made a lot of nice plays too. The expectations, again, we don't want to give up that many points or that much yardage to anybody. I've got to keep it in my mind that it's a process with these guys and we must get better to be successful next week."
Oklahoma State Players
Running Back Rennie Childs
On bouncing back from Florida State
"It was very important for us to bounce back. We need to keep the momentum that we started with playing Florida State. We came out focused with no fear and determined to win. We need to keep that going for each game."
On stepping up the run game without Roland
"We stepped up the run game by busting it through the middle with me, making them put more people in the box. Then Tyreek (Hill) comes into the game, hits it on the outside with his speed and outruns everybody."
Wide Receiver Brandon Sheperd
On the first home game of the season
"It feels good to get a home win. Looking at the field and finally being able to get on it, it's a good feeling to start with a win."
On his 87-yard touchdown reception
"Daxx (Garman) put the ball on the money. All I had to do was go up, get it and score. It was a perfect ball. I couldn't ask for a better ball."
On the transition from Walsh to Garman at quarterback
"It was very important. We talked about it on the sideline. Jahjuan (Seales) and I told him we had his back and that we were going to get the ball any time he throws it to us."
Quarterback Daxx Garman
On playing for first time since 2009
"It felt great to get back out there. It's been a long time. It felt good to get out there on the field going through the actual motions in a real game situation."
On preparing for the unexpected
"We have to be ready. That's what coach tells us every week, just to go out there, be a distributor to all of the guys and make plays."
On maximizing his opportunity
"We stayed with our game plan. We really tried to deliver the ball to the guys going downfield making plays and hand it off to the running backs getting explosive plays."
Defensive Tackle James Castleman
On preparation for this week
"For this week, we attacked it just like any other game. Last week we faced the national champions, so that was our mentality for this whole week. We're going to play everybody like we're playing the national champions ... We're not scared of anybody."
On the younger players performance
"Our young guys stepped up last game and they stepped up this game. It's not like they're just having their ups and downs. They're staying level and just working upwards, which I like a lot."
On the blocked extra point
"We work on it every day in practice. We just tried to get a good push in the middle. I wouldn't have made that play if it weren't for Ofa Hautau, Jimmy Bean and anybody else down that line because if they get a push, then it frees me to block the kick."
Defensive End Jimmy Bean
On the defense overall
"I feel like it was important for everybody to get in there and make some plays. As a defense, it's important to be around the ball to prepare us for later down the road. We have to stay focused no matter who we're playing. We had the mindset straight out of the gate, first play to the last play, that we were going to make plays as best as we could."
Missouri State Head Coach Terry Allen
Opening statement
"It's all good. A bunch of guys played well, both defensively and offensively. We had some guys get their first catches, and that'll bode well for the future. I think that the only injury was to Malik [Earl]. He kind of banged his head there, and you never know what to think when something like that happens. Overall, we walked out of here in pretty good shape."
On the special teams unit:
"On the first one, we were supposed to kick it out of bounds, but we kicked it right down the middle and ended up allowing a 37-yard return. Footballs are different than basketballs. They aren't round, and they don't always go where you kick them. On the second one, they had the block on, and they did a really nice job with it. Our guy was trying so hard to kick it where he wanted to the first time that he ended up holding it a little too long. Then, of all things, we've got a guy who has snapped the ball over the last two years with 100 percent consistency, and he misses. We had three bad punting experiences that really led to our demise. Other than that, I'm proud of our effort."
On not allowing any turnovers:
"It would have been fun to hit the big play, and it would have been fun to be a little more efficient on special teams, especially since I believe we had a chance to be competitive. They're a better football team than we are, but I was proud of our football team today."
On how things could have gone differently throughout the game:
"You never know what's going to happen over the course of the game. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to get an early score, and I wish we would have performed better on special teams. Our guys played extremely hard.
On taking positives out of today's game:
"We had 20 first downs, and we possessed the ball pretty well."
Missouri State Players
Linebacker Dylan Cole
On the matchup
"Everyone tries to make these FBS teams 'big shots', but I don't see anything different between us and them. I feel like we came out pretty strong, but there are a lot of things that we have to get better at, and that's what practice is for."
On the speed of the game
"Our offensive and defensive scouts try to give us a good look, but you never know until you get to the game. they were fast, and it was hard for us to adjust at first, but after the first couple of series we figured it out and I feel like we flew to the ball pretty well."
Wide Receiver Julian Burton
On MSU's offense
"I feel like we gained some momentum. We've had a lot of preparation all week, and we're going to bring our momentum into conference play and just keep getting better each week. We're going to go home, evaluate the film and get better; and we're going to continue to stay focused and disciplined."
On what can be learned from the game
"We're a pretty good team. We can play with anybody we want to play with. We have to stay focused and disciplined, and do the little things, and I think we can become a great team."
On QB Kierra Harris
"Kierra is a great quarterback. He's gained a lot of poise, he's gained a lot of confidence. We've been on him all summer and spring and it's paying off, it's showing. We need him to lead us to successful conference play."
Quarterback Kierra Harris
On the offense
"I thought we came out and executed well. There were a couple of drives where we started slow, but for the most part I feel like the offense held their own. Coach came up with a good game plan, we just came up short."
On this game compared to past FBS games
"We came in with the mindset that it's just another game, it's just another football team. Yeah, they played well against Florida State, but the reality was they were 0-1 and we were 1-0, and we wanted to come in and steal a win."
On his play
"I can get a whole lot better. I just have to keep working on the mental stuff, keep being coachable and listening to coach Christophel. I have to practice hard and keep studying week in and week out.
On the best feature of the offense
"The chemistry. We really put an emphasis on chemistry and executing and I feel like one of our strengths is being on the same page."
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement
“It was a good win for us. We talked about our youth quite a bit this preseason and I think it showed up today. We were kicking way too many field goals, and we have to improve in areas like that. We had too many penalties. At a crucial time, we had a chop block, and we had a defensive personal foul. Those things we have to clean up. We got some young guys some experience, which is good. Daxx (Garman) came in and played for J.W. (Walsh). We'll know more about [Walsh] and his situation tomorrow. Either way, at that point we were going to play Daxx so we just decided to go ahead and leave him in and move forward. Rennie Childs did a good job for us. He made some plays for us in the running back spot. It gave us a chance to work some young players. Each week will be a challenge for us. The upcoming opponent is just like we have a conference game next week. So for the most part, we're in conference play, and we have to take advantage of every opportunity we have to get better and play smarter. I didn't think we were really a smart football team today. There were some errors we made that were really glaring. We'll continue to push forward and work to be better tomorrow.”
On Garman's performance
“He's had a lot of reps built. He's had reps since day one. He's really ready to play. He had to go through some grueling things. The speed of the game is something different for him. He hasn't played in a long time. He made some mistakes, but he also made some throws.”
On Garman's 87-yard pass to Sheperd
“I saw what he saw. I was back watching. I've had that view a lot in my life so I saw exactly what he saw. I was worried at that time because the only guy that I thought could make that throw was wearing a headset. When he made it, I was OK with it.”
On Garman not playing a game in five years
“I think he did OK. He made some plays. There were some throws I'd like to have back. A couple of throws that I know that he could make a better throw because I've seen him do it. The first time you play in a game at this level, it's different because you really can never manufacture the speed and the tempo. So I thought he did fine. We'll know a lot more when you watch tape and see where all the defensive players are and what his reads were and if he was sound in what was important, which is getting the ball in the right guy's hands.”
On what he liked about the team's performance
“First off, we won. That's a good thing. Next thing is we have a lot of work to do with young players. One time, I counted eight freshmen, two sophomores and a junior on the field on defense. They were out there for quite a while, so that's good for our guys to get some reps in. They made mistakes. They missed tackles in space. They got beat on double moves. A couple of times, some of the freshmen safeties weren't lined up correctly. Those are the situations that you're in when you play with that many young players. I would say that the main thing about this game is that we got a lot of young players some quality reps in. They have got to get work because we are eventually going to have to use them some, hopefully sparingly throughout the conference. But they're still going to have to be on the field at times.”
On the blocked PAT, field goal and punt
“I think we have a good group of players that understand how to accelerate and take the ball off of the foot as a punt block group, and most of them are freshmen or sophomores. In practice, they've been really good at it. Some players run by there and they put their hands up too high, and they miss punts. Some guys understand the angle and reaching down and taking it off the foot of the punter. I had mentioned to our staff that I thought we had a good young group of players that understand blocking a good punt, which we never know. The time from their snap to the contact of the punter's foot was slower than what we see in this league, but we still felt like the guys took good angles and understand blocking a punt.”
Oklahoma State Coaches
Offensive Coordinator Mike Yurcich
On Brandon Sheperd's 87-yard touchdown catch
"That was a heck of a catch by Sheperd. It was a heck of a pass (by Daxx Garman) on a run to his right. He threw it a little bit behind him. Great job. It was great to see (Garman) make a pass like that and great to see Sheperd make a play like that. Those guys work so hard, so it's great to see plays like that on Saturday."
On what he said to quarterback Daxx Garman before entering the game
"It's always the same. At that time, it's all about being in the moment and the plays that are coming up. We want to make sure we preview the plays in the upcoming series, so we gave him a list of our plays and he knows them like the back of his hand. Being the No. 2 guy is that you don't get all of the No. 1 reps, so that muscle memory sometimes isn't there like the starter would have."
On coming out flat to start the game
"We have to look at that and get our guys ready to go. That's our job as coaches and I take that job of being a motivator. You've got to make sure your guys are ready to go. We've got to do what we've got to do this week to prepare our guys to be ready to go next Saturday."
On getting the wide receivers involved
"We're always pleased to get everybody involved, whether it's the tight end, fullback, tailback. It's a team game, and to spread the wealth is really key."
Defensive Coordinator Glenn Spencer
On his initial takeaway of the game
"Our inexperience showed at times. Even though we got a lot of guys a lot of reps and played some young guys for the first time, they got some plays on our ones. A lot of our ones are inexperienced, so it's not like we're returning a great and experienced group to handle a bunch of misdirection, wheel routes out of the backfield and double moves by wide outs. Ideally, this right here is the kind of game where you have a ton to learn by with a team of guys that haven't played very much. They've really got a great challenge ahead of them to get ready for this next week."
On preparing for UTSA
"Just last year, they had a team of juniors that really got after us physically. I was telling somebody that that could have been the most physical game that we played all year last year, as far as someone just wanting to come down our throat...We have a lot of respect for them. It won't be a challenge for our guys to see that team and realize that they're very capable of coming in here and handing (a loss) to them if we don't have a great week of practice. I expect a battle. I think that they're a good football team, and with our youth and our inexperience, we've got our hands full."
On using this game as a learning experience
"We won the game. Just as much as everyone was telling us how good we were when we lost, now we won a game and outside everyone is going to say we aren't any good. It's all garbage and it's all poison, so I just want us to take this game and take advantage of every opportunity where we saw breakdowns. We made a lot of nice plays too. The expectations, again, we don't want to give up that many points or that much yardage to anybody. I've got to keep it in my mind that it's a process with these guys and we must get better to be successful next week."
Oklahoma State Players
Running Back Rennie Childs
On bouncing back from Florida State
"It was very important for us to bounce back. We need to keep the momentum that we started with playing Florida State. We came out focused with no fear and determined to win. We need to keep that going for each game."
On stepping up the run game without Roland
"We stepped up the run game by busting it through the middle with me, making them put more people in the box. Then Tyreek (Hill) comes into the game, hits it on the outside with his speed and outruns everybody."
Wide Receiver Brandon Sheperd
On the first home game of the season
"It feels good to get a home win. Looking at the field and finally being able to get on it, it's a good feeling to start with a win."
On his 87-yard touchdown reception
"Daxx (Garman) put the ball on the money. All I had to do was go up, get it and score. It was a perfect ball. I couldn't ask for a better ball."
On the transition from Walsh to Garman at quarterback
"It was very important. We talked about it on the sideline. Jahjuan (Seales) and I told him we had his back and that we were going to get the ball any time he throws it to us."
Quarterback Daxx Garman
On playing for first time since 2009
"It felt great to get back out there. It's been a long time. It felt good to get out there on the field going through the actual motions in a real game situation."
On preparing for the unexpected
"We have to be ready. That's what coach tells us every week, just to go out there, be a distributor to all of the guys and make plays."
On maximizing his opportunity
"We stayed with our game plan. We really tried to deliver the ball to the guys going downfield making plays and hand it off to the running backs getting explosive plays."
Defensive Tackle James Castleman
On preparation for this week
"For this week, we attacked it just like any other game. Last week we faced the national champions, so that was our mentality for this whole week. We're going to play everybody like we're playing the national champions ... We're not scared of anybody."
On the younger players performance
"Our young guys stepped up last game and they stepped up this game. It's not like they're just having their ups and downs. They're staying level and just working upwards, which I like a lot."
On the blocked extra point
"We work on it every day in practice. We just tried to get a good push in the middle. I wouldn't have made that play if it weren't for Ofa Hautau, Jimmy Bean and anybody else down that line because if they get a push, then it frees me to block the kick."
Defensive End Jimmy Bean
On the defense overall
"I feel like it was important for everybody to get in there and make some plays. As a defense, it's important to be around the ball to prepare us for later down the road. We have to stay focused no matter who we're playing. We had the mindset straight out of the gate, first play to the last play, that we were going to make plays as best as we could."
Missouri State Head Coach Terry Allen
Opening statement
"It's all good. A bunch of guys played well, both defensively and offensively. We had some guys get their first catches, and that'll bode well for the future. I think that the only injury was to Malik [Earl]. He kind of banged his head there, and you never know what to think when something like that happens. Overall, we walked out of here in pretty good shape."
On the special teams unit:
"On the first one, we were supposed to kick it out of bounds, but we kicked it right down the middle and ended up allowing a 37-yard return. Footballs are different than basketballs. They aren't round, and they don't always go where you kick them. On the second one, they had the block on, and they did a really nice job with it. Our guy was trying so hard to kick it where he wanted to the first time that he ended up holding it a little too long. Then, of all things, we've got a guy who has snapped the ball over the last two years with 100 percent consistency, and he misses. We had three bad punting experiences that really led to our demise. Other than that, I'm proud of our effort."
On not allowing any turnovers:
"It would have been fun to hit the big play, and it would have been fun to be a little more efficient on special teams, especially since I believe we had a chance to be competitive. They're a better football team than we are, but I was proud of our football team today."
On how things could have gone differently throughout the game:
"You never know what's going to happen over the course of the game. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to get an early score, and I wish we would have performed better on special teams. Our guys played extremely hard.
On taking positives out of today's game:
"We had 20 first downs, and we possessed the ball pretty well."
Missouri State Players
Linebacker Dylan Cole
On the matchup
"Everyone tries to make these FBS teams 'big shots', but I don't see anything different between us and them. I feel like we came out pretty strong, but there are a lot of things that we have to get better at, and that's what practice is for."
On the speed of the game
"Our offensive and defensive scouts try to give us a good look, but you never know until you get to the game. they were fast, and it was hard for us to adjust at first, but after the first couple of series we figured it out and I feel like we flew to the ball pretty well."
Wide Receiver Julian Burton
On MSU's offense
"I feel like we gained some momentum. We've had a lot of preparation all week, and we're going to bring our momentum into conference play and just keep getting better each week. We're going to go home, evaluate the film and get better; and we're going to continue to stay focused and disciplined."
On what can be learned from the game
"We're a pretty good team. We can play with anybody we want to play with. We have to stay focused and disciplined, and do the little things, and I think we can become a great team."
On QB Kierra Harris
"Kierra is a great quarterback. He's gained a lot of poise, he's gained a lot of confidence. We've been on him all summer and spring and it's paying off, it's showing. We need him to lead us to successful conference play."
Quarterback Kierra Harris
On the offense
"I thought we came out and executed well. There were a couple of drives where we started slow, but for the most part I feel like the offense held their own. Coach came up with a good game plan, we just came up short."
On this game compared to past FBS games
"We came in with the mindset that it's just another game, it's just another football team. Yeah, they played well against Florida State, but the reality was they were 0-1 and we were 1-0, and we wanted to come in and steal a win."
On his play
"I can get a whole lot better. I just have to keep working on the mental stuff, keep being coachable and listening to coach Christophel. I have to practice hard and keep studying week in and week out.
On the best feature of the offense
"The chemistry. We really put an emphasis on chemistry and executing and I feel like one of our strengths is being on the same page."
Players Mentioned
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