Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy Previews Texas Tech
September 17, 2018 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy met with members of the media Monday to discuss the Cowboys' Big 12 opener against Texas Tech in Stillwater this weekend. A look at some of what he had to say:
Opening Statement:
"The postgame press conference was pretty accurate in what we saw after watching the tape. It was a very good effort in all three phases. I was pleased with the special teams' development and the offense's ability to take care of the football and get some big plays. And obviously the defense was able to make some big plays and had a consistent pass rush and the ability to stop the run. It was a great win for us. The players enjoyed it and we got back to work with practice last night, a day off today and we're looking forward to conference play. Texas Tech looks to be the same Tech that they've been for forever. They've got a young quarterback who is throwing it around and has come along. He's a really good player. This league will be disappointed to see him for the next three or four years, or however long it'll be. He seems to understand their system and looks like he gets it. They're moving the ball and scoring lots of points. We'll need a great week of practice and hopefully we can be as successful this Saturday as we were a couple days ago."
On if the team has switched gears to get ready to face Texas Tech:
"I think so. We had a good workout last night, even though it was light. We don't do a lot. Their frame of mind seemed to be really good. I see a chemistry that is being created amongst the leaders. Our younger players are following. That's always a concern of our staff and myself – is that we create some continuity and chemistry each year. I see that starting to take place, and if so, that leadership should help the younger players understand the importance of preparation. There's just not a lot of time to waste during the week once you get into league play."
On Taylor Cornelius:
"He's very mature. He's older. He's been around for a long time and has a great demeanor for a quarterback. He's confident in himself and unselfish. At this point, he's shown us that he's tough and can take a hit, which is an important part of playing quarterback at this level. Doesn't get rattled a lot. We like what we see. A month ago I said he was on the tee box or the driving range, and we didn't know what he would do on the tee box on No. 1, but he's done pretty well on the first two or three holes. He's getting into a different part of the course now, and hopefully he'll continue to play well. I think he's developing into being a pretty good college quarterback."
On Cornelius' age:
"He's up there, which is why I was joking about his discount at Denny's and giving him a hard time. I shared that with him afterward. (Taylor Cornelius) doesn't talk a lot. He's like a lot of players that we've had here that have been very successful. He doesn't talk a lot, which is good, because we do have a lot of players that talk a lot. I made sure that he was OK with me joking about him. He's a good boy and he's mature in a lot of ways, and that helps our team."
On Jarrick Bernard:
"When players come into your organization, some of them are a year or two away, and some of them are just a little more mature mentally and can handle the strain and pressure and all the different things it takes to be a college football player. He comes from a really good background … a lot of success in the classroom and on the football field … a very disciplined and structured organization. That has helped him move much quicker than some of the other young men that we get. It's an advantage for us to have him out there. He's getting quality reps at the safety position at times and then certainly being in our special teams. It's somewhat unusual for a young man to get that much play on one side of the ball and work on special teams, but I think he's able to handle the mental aspect of the game at this point, so each week we'll give him a little more."
On recruiting at Evangel Christian:
"We have for a number of years heavily recruited there. There have been guys who didn't show interest in us, and we liked him from day one. He wasn't as heavily recruited early when we got on him. Then we got on him, and as always, he begins to get heavily recruited, but he stuck with us. There was some loyalty there. Our guys did a really good job of getting on him early in the process."
On players coming to OSU in the spring:
"There's an advantage to any young man, if he's willing to come in early, and it fits his temperament and lifestyle. You could have a player with the same athletic ability that mentally is just not ready to do it … wants to be there (high school), wants to play basketball or baseball, wants to be around his peers and finish his high school career. Then you have other young men who are just ready to go out into the world. All kids are different. If they do come in early, it's definitely an advantage. They get all the teaching and coaching and the winter conditioning and their bodies develop. They learn how to handle all the stress, physically and mentally, as college football players."
On blocking kicks:
"We've come up with really good plans, and the players have bought into it. Special teams is about the players saying, 'I'm willing to push and execute whatever play you have in place,' and it takes mental preparation. You have to learn whatever phase you're on, offense or defense. Then you have to put the extra time in on special teams, and it takes a certain young man to be willing to put that extra time in because it's a drain, mentally and physically. You have to find the ones who want to do it and are excited about being on the field."
On Calvin Bundage and Jordan Brailford:
"I like what the defensive staff came up with. It was some different things that we haven't really seen here or tried to get accomplished and I think it helped us. We've got some guys that are versatile. It could be a real advantage for us to move them around and put them in places that the offense may not be able to identify."
On the Jim Knowles' ability to innovate as a defensive coordinator:
"We will know a lot more in a month. We are getting into a stretch here where we are going to see different styles of offense, and each week is a challenge. The team last week is considerably different than what we are facing this week. As we progress through, we are going to get a pretty good taste of different style of offenses. After six or seven, we see where we are at and where it all fits in. Those guys on defense have to come together as a group and come up with a plan based on the style of the attack we are playing each week."
On improved tackling:
"It was better. We took care of the ball. We put the ball on the ground four or five times. We didn't have any dumb penalties. We played clean and we tackled better. [Boise State] is really good at the controlled West Coast passing game. If you get them down right there, it's OK. If you don't, then those five to six-yard gains turn into 12 and 14-yard gains and it can be a really long day. So I thought we tackled better. That's a work in progress with the new rules and how you have to tackle from the waist down. It's not as easy as what it seems."
On the offensive line:
"They were better in the second half. We weren't very good in the first half. They made a couple adjustments, scheme-wise, and our guys covered up and did a better job in the second half and that was evident. In the runs, we were popping our backs through and getting eight to 10 to 12 yards, and if they made the guy miss, we were getting 20, 30 and 50 yards. That will give you an illustration of what I was talking about, by covering guys up and getting a little bit of movement for some really good running backs. Hopefully that will improve next week. We are going have to get a lot better at run-blocking. We've got a group that we are using now. I think we are going to stay consistent with what we are doing and hopefully that will help us out."
Opening Statement:
"The postgame press conference was pretty accurate in what we saw after watching the tape. It was a very good effort in all three phases. I was pleased with the special teams' development and the offense's ability to take care of the football and get some big plays. And obviously the defense was able to make some big plays and had a consistent pass rush and the ability to stop the run. It was a great win for us. The players enjoyed it and we got back to work with practice last night, a day off today and we're looking forward to conference play. Texas Tech looks to be the same Tech that they've been for forever. They've got a young quarterback who is throwing it around and has come along. He's a really good player. This league will be disappointed to see him for the next three or four years, or however long it'll be. He seems to understand their system and looks like he gets it. They're moving the ball and scoring lots of points. We'll need a great week of practice and hopefully we can be as successful this Saturday as we were a couple days ago."
On if the team has switched gears to get ready to face Texas Tech:
"I think so. We had a good workout last night, even though it was light. We don't do a lot. Their frame of mind seemed to be really good. I see a chemistry that is being created amongst the leaders. Our younger players are following. That's always a concern of our staff and myself – is that we create some continuity and chemistry each year. I see that starting to take place, and if so, that leadership should help the younger players understand the importance of preparation. There's just not a lot of time to waste during the week once you get into league play."
On Taylor Cornelius:
"He's very mature. He's older. He's been around for a long time and has a great demeanor for a quarterback. He's confident in himself and unselfish. At this point, he's shown us that he's tough and can take a hit, which is an important part of playing quarterback at this level. Doesn't get rattled a lot. We like what we see. A month ago I said he was on the tee box or the driving range, and we didn't know what he would do on the tee box on No. 1, but he's done pretty well on the first two or three holes. He's getting into a different part of the course now, and hopefully he'll continue to play well. I think he's developing into being a pretty good college quarterback."
On Cornelius' age:
"He's up there, which is why I was joking about his discount at Denny's and giving him a hard time. I shared that with him afterward. (Taylor Cornelius) doesn't talk a lot. He's like a lot of players that we've had here that have been very successful. He doesn't talk a lot, which is good, because we do have a lot of players that talk a lot. I made sure that he was OK with me joking about him. He's a good boy and he's mature in a lot of ways, and that helps our team."
On Jarrick Bernard:
"When players come into your organization, some of them are a year or two away, and some of them are just a little more mature mentally and can handle the strain and pressure and all the different things it takes to be a college football player. He comes from a really good background … a lot of success in the classroom and on the football field … a very disciplined and structured organization. That has helped him move much quicker than some of the other young men that we get. It's an advantage for us to have him out there. He's getting quality reps at the safety position at times and then certainly being in our special teams. It's somewhat unusual for a young man to get that much play on one side of the ball and work on special teams, but I think he's able to handle the mental aspect of the game at this point, so each week we'll give him a little more."
On recruiting at Evangel Christian:
"We have for a number of years heavily recruited there. There have been guys who didn't show interest in us, and we liked him from day one. He wasn't as heavily recruited early when we got on him. Then we got on him, and as always, he begins to get heavily recruited, but he stuck with us. There was some loyalty there. Our guys did a really good job of getting on him early in the process."
On players coming to OSU in the spring:
"There's an advantage to any young man, if he's willing to come in early, and it fits his temperament and lifestyle. You could have a player with the same athletic ability that mentally is just not ready to do it … wants to be there (high school), wants to play basketball or baseball, wants to be around his peers and finish his high school career. Then you have other young men who are just ready to go out into the world. All kids are different. If they do come in early, it's definitely an advantage. They get all the teaching and coaching and the winter conditioning and their bodies develop. They learn how to handle all the stress, physically and mentally, as college football players."
On blocking kicks:
"We've come up with really good plans, and the players have bought into it. Special teams is about the players saying, 'I'm willing to push and execute whatever play you have in place,' and it takes mental preparation. You have to learn whatever phase you're on, offense or defense. Then you have to put the extra time in on special teams, and it takes a certain young man to be willing to put that extra time in because it's a drain, mentally and physically. You have to find the ones who want to do it and are excited about being on the field."
On Calvin Bundage and Jordan Brailford:
"I like what the defensive staff came up with. It was some different things that we haven't really seen here or tried to get accomplished and I think it helped us. We've got some guys that are versatile. It could be a real advantage for us to move them around and put them in places that the offense may not be able to identify."
On the Jim Knowles' ability to innovate as a defensive coordinator:
"We will know a lot more in a month. We are getting into a stretch here where we are going to see different styles of offense, and each week is a challenge. The team last week is considerably different than what we are facing this week. As we progress through, we are going to get a pretty good taste of different style of offenses. After six or seven, we see where we are at and where it all fits in. Those guys on defense have to come together as a group and come up with a plan based on the style of the attack we are playing each week."
On improved tackling:
"It was better. We took care of the ball. We put the ball on the ground four or five times. We didn't have any dumb penalties. We played clean and we tackled better. [Boise State] is really good at the controlled West Coast passing game. If you get them down right there, it's OK. If you don't, then those five to six-yard gains turn into 12 and 14-yard gains and it can be a really long day. So I thought we tackled better. That's a work in progress with the new rules and how you have to tackle from the waist down. It's not as easy as what it seems."
On the offensive line:
"They were better in the second half. We weren't very good in the first half. They made a couple adjustments, scheme-wise, and our guys covered up and did a better job in the second half and that was evident. In the runs, we were popping our backs through and getting eight to 10 to 12 yards, and if they made the guy miss, we were getting 20, 30 and 50 yards. That will give you an illustration of what I was talking about, by covering guys up and getting a little bit of movement for some really good running backs. Hopefully that will improve next week. We are going have to get a lot better at run-blocking. We've got a group that we are using now. I think we are going to stay consistent with what we are doing and hopefully that will help us out."
Players Mentioned
S
/ Cowboy Football
DE
/ Cowboy Football
LB
/ Cowboy Football
QB
/ Cowboy FootballLefty for three! #basketball #collegebasketball #ncaambb
Saturday, November 22
Oklahoma State vs. Nicholls | Condensed Game Highlights (11-22-2025)
Saturday, November 22
Christian Coleman dunk! #basketball #collegebasketball #ncaambb
Saturday, November 22
Cowboy Basketball Media Availability | Oklahoma State Postgame vs. Nicholls State (11-22-2025)
Saturday, November 22
