Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: Bruce Waterfield
Gundy Talks Spring Game After Practice
April 13, 2016 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State football team held its 14th spring practice Wednesday afternoon at the Sherman E. Smith Training Center. Coach Mike Gundy met with media after the two-hour long practice session to discuss the day and the plans for Saturday's game. His comments:
Opening Statement:
"We finished up practice and had a really, really good spring. A lot of enthusiasm. The same group of guys that I've talked about made plays. Both young quarterbacks have showed improvement. I like where our running backs are. It was good to get Josh Mabin back with us today. He missed a couple of practices, but was out there with us today. We're excited about the game on Saturday and getting the guys out there and letting them play a little bit. We're going to have a lot of festivities along with the game and our goal is to get an hour and 15 minutes of football to try and put on the very best show that we can for our fans. We'll talk about it tomorrow and come up with a plan for and get that information out there for you guys so you can get the rosters settled. We wanted to wait until after practice today so we didn't have to adjust rosters based on the health of our team. We will have an orange team and a black team. We'll split teams up, but we're just not quite sure how we're going to do that yet. We'll have the scoreboard running and we'll play very similar to what we did last year. We'll let them play. It won't be a 60 minute game, more of a 40 minute game."
On the progress of the offensive line and running backs:
"I hope they've improved and I know they're improved. We've improved in blocking and being able to cover up defenders and I like how our running backs are sinking their hips and being more aggressive and downhill."
On the Cowboy Back position's growth:
"It's growing. It's more prevalent now than it was in our games last year and it's going to help our offense. We've got good players at that position. Now we have four or five guys who can play that position. We'll find out at the end of September, but I like where we're at with that position."
On how the Cowboy Back has evolved the offense:
"It gives us flexibility running the ball and a little more protection in the passing game. It actually helps us if we're executing the right way and we're all on the same page. It should help with misdirection on certain types of plays."
On what he's hoping to see on Saturday:
"We're going to have 80-100 plays. So there's going to be some good football, but what I want to see is effort and base offense and defense. The guys playing and we want to put on a show for the fans. We don't always consider this a learning the X's and O's experience for us, but it is a good teaching opportunity for playing in front of a crowd and being able to handle the situation and the pressure. That's our goal."
On where he'll be coaching from during the spring game:
"I'll be downstairs because I'll have some media requirements. We'll be communicating throughout the game and quarterbacks are going to talk at the end of quarters and so on, so forth. I'll be down there and have a whistle. I don't know that I'll have to use it much, but if I have to then I have it. I've really enjoyed being up in the video tower this spring. It gives me a chance to think and keep quality notes. And I'm sure the offensive coaches like it because it keeps me from staying on them during practice."
On how spring practice prepares the team for the summer:
"I don't have any questions in their work ethic. In our staff meeting, we have 102 players, give or take, on our team right now so we wanted to identify guys that we didn't think weren't fully committed to our organization. We had a difficult time coming up with a couple of names, but even that was iffy. So we have no questions about their commitment to maximizing their potential and being the best team possible."
Opening Statement:
"We finished up practice and had a really, really good spring. A lot of enthusiasm. The same group of guys that I've talked about made plays. Both young quarterbacks have showed improvement. I like where our running backs are. It was good to get Josh Mabin back with us today. He missed a couple of practices, but was out there with us today. We're excited about the game on Saturday and getting the guys out there and letting them play a little bit. We're going to have a lot of festivities along with the game and our goal is to get an hour and 15 minutes of football to try and put on the very best show that we can for our fans. We'll talk about it tomorrow and come up with a plan for and get that information out there for you guys so you can get the rosters settled. We wanted to wait until after practice today so we didn't have to adjust rosters based on the health of our team. We will have an orange team and a black team. We'll split teams up, but we're just not quite sure how we're going to do that yet. We'll have the scoreboard running and we'll play very similar to what we did last year. We'll let them play. It won't be a 60 minute game, more of a 40 minute game."
On the progress of the offensive line and running backs:
"I hope they've improved and I know they're improved. We've improved in blocking and being able to cover up defenders and I like how our running backs are sinking their hips and being more aggressive and downhill."
On the Cowboy Back position's growth:
"It's growing. It's more prevalent now than it was in our games last year and it's going to help our offense. We've got good players at that position. Now we have four or five guys who can play that position. We'll find out at the end of September, but I like where we're at with that position."
On how the Cowboy Back has evolved the offense:
"It gives us flexibility running the ball and a little more protection in the passing game. It actually helps us if we're executing the right way and we're all on the same page. It should help with misdirection on certain types of plays."
On what he's hoping to see on Saturday:
"We're going to have 80-100 plays. So there's going to be some good football, but what I want to see is effort and base offense and defense. The guys playing and we want to put on a show for the fans. We don't always consider this a learning the X's and O's experience for us, but it is a good teaching opportunity for playing in front of a crowd and being able to handle the situation and the pressure. That's our goal."
On where he'll be coaching from during the spring game:
"I'll be downstairs because I'll have some media requirements. We'll be communicating throughout the game and quarterbacks are going to talk at the end of quarters and so on, so forth. I'll be down there and have a whistle. I don't know that I'll have to use it much, but if I have to then I have it. I've really enjoyed being up in the video tower this spring. It gives me a chance to think and keep quality notes. And I'm sure the offensive coaches like it because it keeps me from staying on them during practice."
On how spring practice prepares the team for the summer:
"I don't have any questions in their work ethic. In our staff meeting, we have 102 players, give or take, on our team right now so we wanted to identify guys that we didn't think weren't fully committed to our organization. We had a difficult time coming up with a couple of names, but even that was iffy. So we have no questions about their commitment to maximizing their potential and being the best team possible."
Players Mentioned
LB
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