OSU vs. McNeese Postgame Quotes

OSU Head Coach Mike Gundy
Overall game assessment
"Defensively, we tackled well with an exception of a long run in the third quarter. In the first half we were just flat, so I told the team that I was disappointed in the way they were playing, and they weren't playing to the level that they needed to and, in my opinion, weren't focused like they were at Oregon State. They went out flat waiting on each other to make a play. Then in the second half they came out and played like they should have started the game. We were able to get a lot of young men in the game, which was awesome. The last 20 minutes or so of the game we were trying to get everyone out there and let them play and have fun. From that standpoint it was good, but as I mentioned, I was not happy at all with the first half. We've got to get a lot better in a number of areas. We'll enjoy this one tonight but continue to work hard and get ready to go on the next one."

On throwing the ball more this week
"Last week they were inverted and down low. Offense can't determine running pass. Defense determines running pass. Offense only determines tempo, so based on how they were playing there were more opportunities to throw the ball than there were rushing opportunities based on the way the safeties played."

On Dru Brown entering the game
"Sanders had done a good job. He was done and Dru needed to play. We got him in there and I was glad we could get him in late to play."

On guys who came off the bench
"C.J. (Moore) looked like he played good. He's gotten loose. He did a nice job at Oregon State, then he got loose here tonight. It was nice to see No. 8 catch one and run fast. That's what we brought him here for. He took off and did a nice job. Braydon (Johnson) was rolling pretty good, and I liked the way Dru played for the most part. When he was out there with the guys who have played some he was pretty effective. It gets a little rough for him when there are new guys out there who haven't really worked together. Jordan McCray made some plays, so that's good. Those guys are coming along. From watching in August, they're actually playing better now than I thought they would be. We'll find out as we go on, but I thought they weren't as far along as I wanted them to be three weeks ago, and they've played better in games."

On McCray and C.J. Moore's importance opposite Tylan Wallace
"That's an important position for us. We have the ability to run the football. We're pretty good on that other side, so we have to get some good play out of the X receivers. Up until now, they've played better than I thought they would. They're a little bit further along than what I saw in August, so that's a good sign."

On Tylan Wallace
"He's a good player. He's already, I believe, the best player in the country at that position. He continues to play well and make plays. We expect him to make plays for us, and if they're going to put one guy out there on him, we have to use him. Last week, we didn't have that luxury. They were playing a guy over the top. It's a little different every week, but we expect him to make plays. He works hard and should be productive each game."

On the defense's performance
"The defense actually played fine throughout the game. We gave up a long run. We got out of our gap on a blitz on the quarterback, then we missed two tackles and gave up a long run. Prior to that, the defense was playing pretty good. There were a couple of times we have to improve on containing the quarterback on the pass rush. That hurt us some tonight like it did in Oregon. We need to work on improving in that area. Overall the defense played pretty well. There were probably six to seven minutes to go in the third quarter and we had guys playing on defense who were on demonstration squad. They haven't practiced a lot. Other than holding them accountable for getting lined up and running the ball, it's new to them."

On Phillip Redwine-Bryant's play
"It's awesome. It's awesome for him. We've got so many young men now on our team who were walk-ons and are on scholarship now and can contribute and he's one of the leaders of our team in a lot of different areas. It's fun for me as a head coach to watch those guys make plays."

OSU Offensive Coordinator Sean Gleeson
On the success of the passing game
"It was kind of funny, the yardage kind of flipped. We don't really set out to try and throw for however many yards we threw for tonight. Sometimes, those things just fall in place. The one thing we did see on tape with these guys was that we thought we could get the ball thrown to our outside guys in the flat. They were playing some softer coverage on tape. They came up and tried to get in our faces a little bit. You see the result with C.J. Moore scoring a long touchdown on a shorter throw, Tylan Wallace did the same thing. Our outside guys played the strip a little, in the way that we thought it might go. The good news is, after a shaky start, our quarterback was firing back, like what we saw back in Oregon. He was putting the ball in people's faces and letting them run after the catch."

On Tylan Wallace
"During the week, we talked about getting the ball to him under 10 yards, these hitch and shorter throws. At one point, I told him, 'You know we are going to throw it to you and you are going to catch it. But that's not the end of it, you are going to have to break a tackle.' It was great to see him do that and he is just making plays for us. And that's what we need him to do for us, to be successful. Guys like him, Chuba Hubbard and other guys who've made plays the last two weeks, we need them to keep doing that and keep getting better."

OSU Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles
On defensive changes made in practice
"We just want to make sure we got lined up faster and we came out ready to start the game, which I thought we did. That was a big deal, that we would start fast and get out to game speed. I think we were at game speed right away last week. Do better on third downs and turnovers, so we worked on it a lot this week."

On fourth-down stops
"It was great. There were a lot of young guys in there too, and you are trying to preach building a culture, a defensive culture that can match the success of this program. To play hard on the one-yard line is as tough as it gets. It's really positive for our guys to feel what's it like to get into those stances."

OSU Players
Quarterback Spencer Sanders
On how much an early-season win boosts the team's confidence
"It makes us feel great as a team. We started off slow, which we didn't like, but we came together as a team and executed when it really mattered."

On how he set the tone of the game early
"I kept my head up after the slow start and just told my guys to do the same. I told them we have to do what we have to do and play our game. I didn't like the way it started, so we changed it."

Wide Receiver Tylan Wallace
On how his big plays help the team
"I feel like, as a whole, we just came out kind of slow, especially me. I feel like I made a few mistakes in the beginning that I shouldn't have made. I should have come out more prepared, but I definitely feel like I had to make those plays so I could pick the team and boost our energy back up."

On how the team can improve going into next week
"We just have to come out faster. I feel like as a team we came out kind of slow. We can't be able to do that when we get later on into the season. So, I feel like we've got to come out fast and just stay fast the whole game."

Linebacker Phillip Redwine-Bryant
On how he affected the defense early
"I think the guys before me set the tone on defense early. I came in there with a lot of confidence, and I mean, I trust the guys around me completely, so they brought even more confidence out in me. I just made some plays and that's it."

On how the team can grow going into Tulsa
"I think we just have minor things to improve upon. We just have to run fits and fix up some things coverage wise. Other than that, I think we're spot on."

Cornerback Rodarius Williams
On how an early win helps the team
"We definitely needed this before going into conference play. We definitely need this boost around everybody. It's not just the [defensive backs] that needed it, but the whole team. The whole team needs a boost like that."

On how he can help the team going into Tulsa
"We have to improve on our discipline within the plays and stuff. Stuff like roughing the passer and hands to the face and stuff like that. It's really just some minor things that we can easily fix in practice."

Safety Kolby Harvell-Peel
On his confidence level in the team after the win
"It feels great. You know our young guys got to go in there and play and just fly around a little bit. Every single night you go in. It doesn't matter who you're playing that night, you want to go out there and win. Moving forward, this win will definitely help."

On the younger guys that got to play against McNeese
"We haven't watched film or anything yet, so I can't speak on that too much. I'm really just happy that I got to see guys that work day in and day out, the ones that may not get the recognition, go out there and really get to play."

McNeese Head Coach Sterlin Gilbert

Opening Statement
"Coach Gundy and those guys have had a lot of success for a long time and that's just a continuation of the team that he has put together this season. Those guys are really talented. Just looking from our perspective, I just want to see improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. I'm really anxious to get on the plane here and start watching on the way back what those corrections need to be and see the direction that we are going to go. Our guys are going to play with high level effort and that is something that we can hang our hat on, that we're going to build on. We know what's coming. We know we have Alcorn next week and the week after that we start conference when it ultimately counts. In the second half we were able to do some things, including moving the ball the way we really want to do it. That's something we can build on for sure."

On controlling field position
"We were able to create some stops and pin them deep but unfortunately were not able to manage some of that field position we had early on in the game, especially in a game like this. If you're going to play in it, get in it and stay in it. You have to take advantage of those which is something we did not do tonight that we'll be able to coach off of those opportunities and make sure going forward those are places we will finish and get points off of."

On approaching quarterback Cody Oregeron after pick six
"I know there's another 80 or 90 plays coming it just happened to be right there early on and they just bounced back. He's a resilient kid. He's got moxy about him. With every play and every snap he's gaining experience and continuing to get better. It's just breathing confidence into him, saddling him back up, and letting him go back out there and sling it back around."

Wide Receiver Trevor Begue
On tonight's game
"It was a great experience. We knew we were going up against a good football team and we knew we had to pretty much play perfect; obviously it didn't go that way for us. We just have to use this as a learning experience and finish the rest of the season strong."

On OSU's pick six on second play of the game
"Yeah, you have to shake it off. It's always about how you respond and I thought Cody responded well. That's what you want to see from your quarterback. That's what we wanted to see from our leader."

On improvements made in the second half and momentum for next game
"That's a good defense; even their two's and three's are good. It's just cool to do it in a big-time environment. I'm glad we got a little steam going and I think we'll use that for the next game."

On playing in front of a big crowd Boone Pickens Stadium
"It was everything I thought it would be, that's just big-time football. I'm just blessed to be in this position. That's a good football team out there and their going to go compete in the Big 12. We just have to move on to the next game."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dru Brown

Kolby Harvell-Peel

Chuba Hubbard

Jordan McCray

C.J. Moore

Spencer Sanders

Tylan Wallace

Rodarius Williams

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