Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy Discusses Kansas State Matchup
October 08, 2018 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy met with members of the media Monday to discuss the Cowboys' upcoming visit to Kansas State. A look at some of his comments:
Opening Statement:
"I was pretty accurate in postgame. We were average up front blocking on offense. At times we were pretty good in the running game but didn't protect very well, which was obvious. When we do that, it's hard for us to move the football and be effective. We have to improve in that area. Taylor (Cornelius) actually played pretty well. He missed a couple of throws, but was essentially running for his life from play one and didn't have a chance. There were missed assignments at times and a little bit of technique – guys getting their head down in protection instead of staying tall, punching and covering guys up. The good news, in that area, is that we can fix most of that. We might get (Arlington Hambright) back this week. We're not sure, it just depends on how he practices and how he can do with his weight on his leg. We'll see where he's at. Special teams-wise, we were actually much better except in our ability to handle a punt – or a snap, I should say. I'm not sure what the answer is to that. At some point, guys just have to make plays. If the snap is good, you have to grab the ball and punt it. Our punts weren't very good. There were three line-drive punts that made me very nervous as I watched it from a return standpoint. Our guys did a great job of covering, so we were actually improved in special teams in that game. You didn't see it because of the safety and a couple of punts that were average. I was encouraged by that. Defensively, we've got to do a better job of not giving up big plays. Our safeties have to do a better job of not letting their eyes get into the backfield. We continue to work on that and talk to them. I know they're young. (Jarrick Bernard), (Kolby Peel) and (Thabo Mwaniki) are guys that haven't played a lot. We have to continue to improve. They can't get caught and can't have their eyes looking in the backfield. Some of what Iowa State did in the read zone – to be real honest with you, we didn't practice a lot of the read zone. We tried to play catchup during the game, and we got a little bit better as we made some adjustments. That's not something we were anticipating going into the game. That was a nice job on their part. Moving forward, we just have to keep rolling and keep working. I think the most important thing for us is trying to correct the mistakes we have before we even get into Kansas State. We worked on some of that last night. The guys were in a good frame of mind and had a good practice last night. Same old, same old. We'll get them ready and get ready to go up and play in Manhattan."
On Kansas State:
"Well first off, they're better than what people think. Three of their losses are to top-25 teams, and two of those are top-10 teams. I'm not trying to justify anything, but you get a bad rap by having a losing record early in the year. I'm going to guess that they've played one of the most difficult schedules of anyone in this conference up to this point. Defensively, they're very similar to what they've always done. I don't think they've changed much from when I first saw them in the late '80s. Same concepts up front and the same philosophies on the back end. They believe in it and they're good at it. Offensively, they played better in the last game – much better than they have been. Again, they've played some tough defenses. Texas is athletic on defense, West Virginia is athletic on defense and Mississippi State is athletic on defense. At times, it's not really easy to move the ball and score points. Special teams-wise, it's very similar to what you've seen in the past."
On Taylor Cornelius:
"He played well. Every week I've come in here and given you my honest opinion. I've given it to you after the game. After the first few games of the year, I told you that he was very average. He's gotten better every game. It's extremely difficult to play the position he does when you get sacked seven times and are running for your life another 16 times. You don't set your feet, your eyes get violated and you don't do a good job looking downfield – it's just natural for a quarterback to not want to progress as he should when there's pressure on him. He played a good game. But I don't think he had the capability of playing a really good game because he was on the run the whole time. I would've liked for him to carry the ball a little more, but some of that was not setup that way based on what Iowa State did. We hit them on it early, and then they started folding guys over the top, which keeps him from keeping the ball. That's pretty much common knowledge. He played good, but would he have liked to have some throws back? Probably. But that's something that's pretty common across the country."
On the offensive line:
"I would say now, if I was a gambling man and was to have bet on it, I probably would've lost my money at this point with where we're at. We played some musical chairs early based on trying to get guys in the right spot. We settled in a bit. We lost (Arlington Hambright) so we started going to the musical chairs again, and then in the last game it was really more about technique and fundamentals. It's not an effort problem. Last week was just some technique. It's still there, but we're just not there yet. We'll work hard on it this week."
On the concern of losing conference home games:
"The concern is that some of the issues we have are defending the deep ball and not being good up front with protection, not with where we play. My goal in the game was to start fast and we did, then we dropped a punt. Everything just leveled out from that point. We did a good job of putting ourselves in good positions. If Tylan Wallace catches the ball in the fourth quarter with four minutes left, he is going to run into the end zone and we are up by two or three points, and now the pressure will be on them. He's a good player, good kid, we just didn't make the catch."
On the offense:
"Whenever we cover the guys up in the run game and protection-wise, we are a pretty good team. But when you fail and get sacked seven times and you get pressured 14 times, you are going to have a hard time being successful on offense."
On the defense:
"Defensively, we can't give up the big plays. You have to try to defend the deep ball better. Our guys are getting violated with our eyes, getting caught in the backfield and getting run by. We just have to tighten it down and work on it Tuesday and Wednesday as best as we can."
On the youth at safety:
"We are young in the safety position and it's a difficult position to be young at. Those guys have to be really disciplined. Thabo Mwaniki didn't get a lot of work last year and we have two true freshmen. They have to be really disciplined and structured in their eyes - they get caught looking around at times. It doesn't surprise me, but I wish we had answers for it; meaning more mature players at that position where these guys wouldn't be playing. That would help but that's not going to happen."
Opening Statement:
"I was pretty accurate in postgame. We were average up front blocking on offense. At times we were pretty good in the running game but didn't protect very well, which was obvious. When we do that, it's hard for us to move the football and be effective. We have to improve in that area. Taylor (Cornelius) actually played pretty well. He missed a couple of throws, but was essentially running for his life from play one and didn't have a chance. There were missed assignments at times and a little bit of technique – guys getting their head down in protection instead of staying tall, punching and covering guys up. The good news, in that area, is that we can fix most of that. We might get (Arlington Hambright) back this week. We're not sure, it just depends on how he practices and how he can do with his weight on his leg. We'll see where he's at. Special teams-wise, we were actually much better except in our ability to handle a punt – or a snap, I should say. I'm not sure what the answer is to that. At some point, guys just have to make plays. If the snap is good, you have to grab the ball and punt it. Our punts weren't very good. There were three line-drive punts that made me very nervous as I watched it from a return standpoint. Our guys did a great job of covering, so we were actually improved in special teams in that game. You didn't see it because of the safety and a couple of punts that were average. I was encouraged by that. Defensively, we've got to do a better job of not giving up big plays. Our safeties have to do a better job of not letting their eyes get into the backfield. We continue to work on that and talk to them. I know they're young. (Jarrick Bernard), (Kolby Peel) and (Thabo Mwaniki) are guys that haven't played a lot. We have to continue to improve. They can't get caught and can't have their eyes looking in the backfield. Some of what Iowa State did in the read zone – to be real honest with you, we didn't practice a lot of the read zone. We tried to play catchup during the game, and we got a little bit better as we made some adjustments. That's not something we were anticipating going into the game. That was a nice job on their part. Moving forward, we just have to keep rolling and keep working. I think the most important thing for us is trying to correct the mistakes we have before we even get into Kansas State. We worked on some of that last night. The guys were in a good frame of mind and had a good practice last night. Same old, same old. We'll get them ready and get ready to go up and play in Manhattan."
On Kansas State:
"Well first off, they're better than what people think. Three of their losses are to top-25 teams, and two of those are top-10 teams. I'm not trying to justify anything, but you get a bad rap by having a losing record early in the year. I'm going to guess that they've played one of the most difficult schedules of anyone in this conference up to this point. Defensively, they're very similar to what they've always done. I don't think they've changed much from when I first saw them in the late '80s. Same concepts up front and the same philosophies on the back end. They believe in it and they're good at it. Offensively, they played better in the last game – much better than they have been. Again, they've played some tough defenses. Texas is athletic on defense, West Virginia is athletic on defense and Mississippi State is athletic on defense. At times, it's not really easy to move the ball and score points. Special teams-wise, it's very similar to what you've seen in the past."
On Taylor Cornelius:
"He played well. Every week I've come in here and given you my honest opinion. I've given it to you after the game. After the first few games of the year, I told you that he was very average. He's gotten better every game. It's extremely difficult to play the position he does when you get sacked seven times and are running for your life another 16 times. You don't set your feet, your eyes get violated and you don't do a good job looking downfield – it's just natural for a quarterback to not want to progress as he should when there's pressure on him. He played a good game. But I don't think he had the capability of playing a really good game because he was on the run the whole time. I would've liked for him to carry the ball a little more, but some of that was not setup that way based on what Iowa State did. We hit them on it early, and then they started folding guys over the top, which keeps him from keeping the ball. That's pretty much common knowledge. He played good, but would he have liked to have some throws back? Probably. But that's something that's pretty common across the country."
On the offensive line:
"I would say now, if I was a gambling man and was to have bet on it, I probably would've lost my money at this point with where we're at. We played some musical chairs early based on trying to get guys in the right spot. We settled in a bit. We lost (Arlington Hambright) so we started going to the musical chairs again, and then in the last game it was really more about technique and fundamentals. It's not an effort problem. Last week was just some technique. It's still there, but we're just not there yet. We'll work hard on it this week."
On the concern of losing conference home games:
"The concern is that some of the issues we have are defending the deep ball and not being good up front with protection, not with where we play. My goal in the game was to start fast and we did, then we dropped a punt. Everything just leveled out from that point. We did a good job of putting ourselves in good positions. If Tylan Wallace catches the ball in the fourth quarter with four minutes left, he is going to run into the end zone and we are up by two or three points, and now the pressure will be on them. He's a good player, good kid, we just didn't make the catch."
On the offense:
"Whenever we cover the guys up in the run game and protection-wise, we are a pretty good team. But when you fail and get sacked seven times and you get pressured 14 times, you are going to have a hard time being successful on offense."
On the defense:
"Defensively, we can't give up the big plays. You have to try to defend the deep ball better. Our guys are getting violated with our eyes, getting caught in the backfield and getting run by. We just have to tighten it down and work on it Tuesday and Wednesday as best as we can."
On the youth at safety:
"We are young in the safety position and it's a difficult position to be young at. Those guys have to be really disciplined. Thabo Mwaniki didn't get a lot of work last year and we have two true freshmen. They have to be really disciplined and structured in their eyes - they get caught looking around at times. It doesn't surprise me, but I wish we had answers for it; meaning more mature players at that position where these guys wouldn't be playing. That would help but that's not going to happen."
Players Mentioned
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