Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: Bruce Waterfield
Gundy Previews West Virginia Game
October 23, 2017 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Coach Mike Gundy met with media Monday at Boone Pickens Stadium to preview the Cowboys' game against West Virginia this Saturday. His comments:
Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
"My postgame, as always, was pretty accurate in relation to what happened during the game. Defense was terrific and made really good plays. We had some guys that were beat up on offense so we put some other guys in and we weren't very good rushing the football on first down. That's why we got behind the chains and never really could catch up, but give them credit. They have a good scheme and nice players, but our defense found a way to win the game for us and I'm proud of our team. We're moving forward now and we'll have our hands full this weekend, just like we do every weekend. This team is very capable of beating anyone in this league at any time. They have probably the best passing quarterback that we'll have faced up to this point and defensively, they've had a lot of success in their scheme and what they try to accomplish. Hopefully we can get a few guys healthy in the next couple of days, have some good practice and we're looking forward to going out there to play on Saturday."
On what the offense's issues were against Texas:
"We didn't block them. We couldn't block them up front and couldn't run the football and that's why we ended up in 2nd and 9, and 2nd and 8, so we were swimming uphill from the start. They were a little more physical up front and we weren't as successful at creating running lanes to allow us to get in 2nd and 6, and 2nd and 5."
On Johnny Wilson:
"For playing in really his second or third game of his career, and for what we've asked him to do up to this point, he's fantastic. But really, it wasn't an easy day for him. He learned a lot based on competing against a zero-technique nose guard that is a pretty good football player. There's times that he won and times that he didn't. He was essentially competing man-on-man against a guy who is a really good player and so we're thrilled with what he did and how he handled himself, but it'll be interesting to see where he's at around this time next year when compared to where he's at now just based on youth and inexperience."
On what impressed him about the OSU defense:
"They were resilient. I felt guilty continuing to walk out into the huddle after all that had transpired and telling them that we need a stop. They just kept going and my concern playing Texas, like always, is that they're very physical. They have big, thick running backs that can pound on you and beat you down and the quarterback is about 220 pounds. I went up to him after the game and I was taller than him, but he's got to weigh at least 220. They can wear you down. I was concerned on the perimeter, whether their long, rangy receivers would wear us down. And it happened some, but our guys were resilient. They just kept going and kept going. There wasn't any look in their eye like 'why is this happening?' I'll attribute that to the culture we have here where our players know to just go play the next play. They were fantastic and the defensive staff was great, but here's the bad news - West Virginia could give a flip about that. That's what we told them at practice last night. If they're eating the rat poison, they're going to get sick later in the week. So they better not eat the rat poison, because they've got a different challenge ahead of them this week and that's the way it is in this league, certainly it is for us."
On holes left unexploited against Texas on offense:
"After we watched the tape and had meetings yesterday and today up until right now, everybody had ideas. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any of them up to the point to where we could help ourselves offensively on Saturday. If you can't run the ball, and you're in 2nd and 9, versus a pass defense, there's really not a lot of answers. If they're playing all run, but you can't throw it, there's not a lot of answers, especially when you're playing a very talented team or a team where you're about the same. That's when the scheming really starts to factor in, but when they're just lining up and saying "good luck to you." that makes for a long day. They had a guy in the middle of the field - a robber - that should be up there playing run, but he's back there playing pass and we couldn't accomplish our goal. That made the game really long for me. You know, I love defense and special teams, but I still have offense deep inside me and when you can't make any plays, that kind of leaves me out there with my feet dangling off the ground. That's what happened in the game."
On Mason Rudolph's throws to Jalen McCleskey where he felt like he found a hole in the defense:
"The one (McCleskey) dropped and the one he caught were both in a pass defense. They made adjustments late and tried to come after us a couple of times, but that's not what they did for the most part. They just set up and played what they were playing."
On the defensive players and the idea of "eating rat poison" after a good week:
"The power of social media and media and your buddies telling you how great you are when you're 21-years-old, you start to think you're great. In this game, you can find out real quick. I have tried to stress that to them over and over and over and over that West Virginia doesn't give a flip. I've already had my buddies text me, and one of them was making sure you do a better job with West Virginia than you did with TCU after the Pitt game. Maybe they're right. Maybe I didn't do a good job of saying, 'Pitt's over with. TCU is a good team.' They better figure it out really quick because this team is capable of beating anybody in the league any given Saturday."
On West Virginia:
"I've mentioned that they're balanced. One thing they do, they're going to run eight or 10 plays and they're going to have a two or three play wrinkle every Saturday. I think this guy throws it better than anybody we've played up to this point. Defensively, they've had a ton of success. They're a three-down team and they've played some three-plus, they'll blitz and they'll play two-deep, but what we saw Saturday is what they're going to play. Our guys have got to come up with an answer for it and fit it into their schemes in the best way possible."
Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
"My postgame, as always, was pretty accurate in relation to what happened during the game. Defense was terrific and made really good plays. We had some guys that were beat up on offense so we put some other guys in and we weren't very good rushing the football on first down. That's why we got behind the chains and never really could catch up, but give them credit. They have a good scheme and nice players, but our defense found a way to win the game for us and I'm proud of our team. We're moving forward now and we'll have our hands full this weekend, just like we do every weekend. This team is very capable of beating anyone in this league at any time. They have probably the best passing quarterback that we'll have faced up to this point and defensively, they've had a lot of success in their scheme and what they try to accomplish. Hopefully we can get a few guys healthy in the next couple of days, have some good practice and we're looking forward to going out there to play on Saturday."
On what the offense's issues were against Texas:
"We didn't block them. We couldn't block them up front and couldn't run the football and that's why we ended up in 2nd and 9, and 2nd and 8, so we were swimming uphill from the start. They were a little more physical up front and we weren't as successful at creating running lanes to allow us to get in 2nd and 6, and 2nd and 5."
On Johnny Wilson:
"For playing in really his second or third game of his career, and for what we've asked him to do up to this point, he's fantastic. But really, it wasn't an easy day for him. He learned a lot based on competing against a zero-technique nose guard that is a pretty good football player. There's times that he won and times that he didn't. He was essentially competing man-on-man against a guy who is a really good player and so we're thrilled with what he did and how he handled himself, but it'll be interesting to see where he's at around this time next year when compared to where he's at now just based on youth and inexperience."
On what impressed him about the OSU defense:
"They were resilient. I felt guilty continuing to walk out into the huddle after all that had transpired and telling them that we need a stop. They just kept going and my concern playing Texas, like always, is that they're very physical. They have big, thick running backs that can pound on you and beat you down and the quarterback is about 220 pounds. I went up to him after the game and I was taller than him, but he's got to weigh at least 220. They can wear you down. I was concerned on the perimeter, whether their long, rangy receivers would wear us down. And it happened some, but our guys were resilient. They just kept going and kept going. There wasn't any look in their eye like 'why is this happening?' I'll attribute that to the culture we have here where our players know to just go play the next play. They were fantastic and the defensive staff was great, but here's the bad news - West Virginia could give a flip about that. That's what we told them at practice last night. If they're eating the rat poison, they're going to get sick later in the week. So they better not eat the rat poison, because they've got a different challenge ahead of them this week and that's the way it is in this league, certainly it is for us."
On holes left unexploited against Texas on offense:
"After we watched the tape and had meetings yesterday and today up until right now, everybody had ideas. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any of them up to the point to where we could help ourselves offensively on Saturday. If you can't run the ball, and you're in 2nd and 9, versus a pass defense, there's really not a lot of answers. If they're playing all run, but you can't throw it, there's not a lot of answers, especially when you're playing a very talented team or a team where you're about the same. That's when the scheming really starts to factor in, but when they're just lining up and saying "good luck to you." that makes for a long day. They had a guy in the middle of the field - a robber - that should be up there playing run, but he's back there playing pass and we couldn't accomplish our goal. That made the game really long for me. You know, I love defense and special teams, but I still have offense deep inside me and when you can't make any plays, that kind of leaves me out there with my feet dangling off the ground. That's what happened in the game."
On Mason Rudolph's throws to Jalen McCleskey where he felt like he found a hole in the defense:
"The one (McCleskey) dropped and the one he caught were both in a pass defense. They made adjustments late and tried to come after us a couple of times, but that's not what they did for the most part. They just set up and played what they were playing."
On the defensive players and the idea of "eating rat poison" after a good week:
"The power of social media and media and your buddies telling you how great you are when you're 21-years-old, you start to think you're great. In this game, you can find out real quick. I have tried to stress that to them over and over and over and over that West Virginia doesn't give a flip. I've already had my buddies text me, and one of them was making sure you do a better job with West Virginia than you did with TCU after the Pitt game. Maybe they're right. Maybe I didn't do a good job of saying, 'Pitt's over with. TCU is a good team.' They better figure it out really quick because this team is capable of beating anybody in the league any given Saturday."
On West Virginia:
"I've mentioned that they're balanced. One thing they do, they're going to run eight or 10 plays and they're going to have a two or three play wrinkle every Saturday. I think this guy throws it better than anybody we've played up to this point. Defensively, they've had a ton of success. They're a three-down team and they've played some three-plus, they'll blitz and they'll play two-deep, but what we saw Saturday is what they're going to play. Our guys have got to come up with an answer for it and fit it into their schemes in the best way possible."
Players Mentioned
Tuesday, July 07
Tuesday, July 07
Friday, June 05
Friday, May 29
