Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Postgame Quotes vs. Tulsa – Sept. 19, 2020
September 19, 2020 | Cowboy Football
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement
"I was proud of our team. We got put in a unique situation there for a while and had to regroup particularly on offense. The defense was fabulous. Zero-for-12 on third down and one-for-four on fourth down is really the story of the game. We played well enough late to rally and get the guys the football that it needed to get to score points. I'm thrilled with the guys for fighting through all of the adversity and playing well enough to win the game at the end."
On the offensive struggles in the first half
"We needed to find a way to get drives started. We were moving some guys around trying to figure out what to do at quarterback. We needed a couple of plays and then Tylan Wallace made a play or two, Chuba Hubbard hit a run or two, and we got back on track."
On Tylan Wallace
"Tylan was good all day, we just couldn't get the ball to him early. Once we started going at him, he was fantastic and making plays."
On LD Brown
"I thought he ran more physical and determined today than he has in his career at Oklahoma State. He has practiced really well. He has always worked hard, but over the last month he has looked a little different in practice. I wish I could give you a reason why, but he has practiced really hard and his attitude has been good. I thought he was a very physical runner today, and we're certainly going to need him so I'm excited about what he accomplished today."
On the defense
"I told them in the locker room after the game that I was proud of them for continuing to make stop after stop. Sometimes when the offense doesn't play as well or sputters out as much as we did today, then defensively it's hard to continue to play, but they made plays. We gave up a wheel route for a big pass play, but other than that I thought they were really good, particularly good against the run and then terrific on third-and-long and on fourth downs."
Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery
Opening Statement
"I'm really proud of our football team; we had a tremendous game plan. They've just got so many weapons offensively. I thought for the most part, as a defense, we did a great job of running to the football, tackling, eliminating some of those explosive plays. I'm very, very proud of their effort. Offensively, we've got some work to do. We hurt ourselves with too many penalties; we just had too many penalties as a team today. Some of that is first game stuff that we've got to get corrected. We're going to learn a lot from this tape. At times, I thought we had some big plays and had some explosive runs in there. We just didn't put things away when we had opportunities; we've got to convert when you're down in the red zone. You've got to make those opportunities count. I was proud of our football team, and I thought we played extremely hard."
On Zaven Collins and Yohance Burnett's injuries affecting Tulsa's defense
"Zaven, and our whole defense, they were flying around. Obviously, Zaven is a special player; we've got a lot of special players. Not having Yohance and definitely not having Zaven for the whole second half, it was a cramp deal, nothing major. He just had a bad string of them today. We've got two or three guys in that situation. Yohance is a special player for us, and he's out for the year. Not having Shamari Brooks either, he's another guy that always battles with us and always plays big in these games. We're missing those guys."
On Oklahoma State's offensive efficiency after Shane Illingworth stepped in at quarterback
"They were trying to push the ball down the field a little bit. They got a couple of fortunate calls in my opinion, but he did hit a couple throws. It was a back and forth second half, both offenses struggling a little bit while defenses were playing extremely well. I think at that point, they got a little bit of momentum with a couple of throws and a call or two. You know, you're on the field on a hot day during the first game of the year, I thought that was the difference. They're the No. 11 team in the nation. We had our opportunities to win this game for sure."
On Tulsa's defense containing Chuba Hubbard
"I thought our defense did an outstanding job on him. I don't know what he ended up with, something like 93 yards. I thought we did a really good job of running to the football, playing gap-sound and gang-tackling when we had opportunities. You've got to do a great job against Chuba, you just can't let him get started. I'm very proud of the effort, especially against a Heisman (Trophy) candidate. I think our defense did great."
On missed opportunities on both sides of the ball
"We had a chance to go down and answer right there. We took the ball straight down the field and had to fight through some adversity to get the ball inside the five-yard line. Then we were down there in all the noise and got delayed on the snap. It's frustrating, but we're going to learn from it. From an effort standpoint, you can't question the effort we gave throughout the game in all three phases. Now, we just have to learn and get better."
Opening Statement
"I was proud of our team. We got put in a unique situation there for a while and had to regroup particularly on offense. The defense was fabulous. Zero-for-12 on third down and one-for-four on fourth down is really the story of the game. We played well enough late to rally and get the guys the football that it needed to get to score points. I'm thrilled with the guys for fighting through all of the adversity and playing well enough to win the game at the end."
On the offensive struggles in the first half
"We needed to find a way to get drives started. We were moving some guys around trying to figure out what to do at quarterback. We needed a couple of plays and then Tylan Wallace made a play or two, Chuba Hubbard hit a run or two, and we got back on track."
On Tylan Wallace
"Tylan was good all day, we just couldn't get the ball to him early. Once we started going at him, he was fantastic and making plays."
On LD Brown
"I thought he ran more physical and determined today than he has in his career at Oklahoma State. He has practiced really well. He has always worked hard, but over the last month he has looked a little different in practice. I wish I could give you a reason why, but he has practiced really hard and his attitude has been good. I thought he was a very physical runner today, and we're certainly going to need him so I'm excited about what he accomplished today."
On the defense
"I told them in the locker room after the game that I was proud of them for continuing to make stop after stop. Sometimes when the offense doesn't play as well or sputters out as much as we did today, then defensively it's hard to continue to play, but they made plays. We gave up a wheel route for a big pass play, but other than that I thought they were really good, particularly good against the run and then terrific on third-and-long and on fourth downs."
Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery
Opening Statement
"I'm really proud of our football team; we had a tremendous game plan. They've just got so many weapons offensively. I thought for the most part, as a defense, we did a great job of running to the football, tackling, eliminating some of those explosive plays. I'm very, very proud of their effort. Offensively, we've got some work to do. We hurt ourselves with too many penalties; we just had too many penalties as a team today. Some of that is first game stuff that we've got to get corrected. We're going to learn a lot from this tape. At times, I thought we had some big plays and had some explosive runs in there. We just didn't put things away when we had opportunities; we've got to convert when you're down in the red zone. You've got to make those opportunities count. I was proud of our football team, and I thought we played extremely hard."
On Zaven Collins and Yohance Burnett's injuries affecting Tulsa's defense
"Zaven, and our whole defense, they were flying around. Obviously, Zaven is a special player; we've got a lot of special players. Not having Yohance and definitely not having Zaven for the whole second half, it was a cramp deal, nothing major. He just had a bad string of them today. We've got two or three guys in that situation. Yohance is a special player for us, and he's out for the year. Not having Shamari Brooks either, he's another guy that always battles with us and always plays big in these games. We're missing those guys."
On Oklahoma State's offensive efficiency after Shane Illingworth stepped in at quarterback
"They were trying to push the ball down the field a little bit. They got a couple of fortunate calls in my opinion, but he did hit a couple throws. It was a back and forth second half, both offenses struggling a little bit while defenses were playing extremely well. I think at that point, they got a little bit of momentum with a couple of throws and a call or two. You know, you're on the field on a hot day during the first game of the year, I thought that was the difference. They're the No. 11 team in the nation. We had our opportunities to win this game for sure."
On Tulsa's defense containing Chuba Hubbard
"I thought our defense did an outstanding job on him. I don't know what he ended up with, something like 93 yards. I thought we did a really good job of running to the football, playing gap-sound and gang-tackling when we had opportunities. You've got to do a great job against Chuba, you just can't let him get started. I'm very proud of the effort, especially against a Heisman (Trophy) candidate. I think our defense did great."
On missed opportunities on both sides of the ball
"We had a chance to go down and answer right there. We took the ball straight down the field and had to fight through some adversity to get the ball inside the five-yard line. Then we were down there in all the noise and got delayed on the snap. It's frustrating, but we're going to learn from it. From an effort standpoint, you can't question the effort we gave throughout the game in all three phases. Now, we just have to learn and get better."
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