Oklahoma State Postgame Quotes Vs. Kansas - October 30, 2021

Oklahoma State Quotes

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy

Opening statement:
"Obviously our team played really well tonight in all areas. We were fantastic on defense and good on offense and played well on special teams. It gave us a chance to get a lot of guys on the field. We were able to put our twos in late in the second quarter and then as we got into the fourth quarter, we let some other guys play who have been a part of this team and contribute in practice every day and work hard. It was a great experience to get those guys in and let them play some. It was a good win for our guys."

On Spencer Sanders:
"Spencer played well. He threw the ball well and was effective with that. When he had to pull the ball down and run the football, he was effective. He made really good decisions tonight, that would be my guess, and he was fairly accurate throwing the football."

On the defense continuing to play at a high level:
"They're just playing well; I almost hate to jinx them. They've played well throughout the year and I think Jim (Knowles) and his staff put good plans together. I think there is an advantage because they're in his fourth year and they have a good feel for his system. We have a number of guys that are veterans who have played a lot of snaps. It's hard to replace experience and maturity and that's what we have on that side of the ball."

On playing a clean game and getting out to a fast start:
"We played well. I just realized we had the one penalty on the pass interference, which was kind of questionable. I don't know if there has ever been a game here where there has not been a penalty. We practiced well this week. The snowball started rolling downhill and they couldn't really stop it and then it just kept going. We focused well and practiced well during the week."

Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Jim Knowles

Opening statement:
"It was good to see out first group come out and really take control of the game. It just feels good, I think, for everyone on this defense that can, from the start, prevent the big play and get off the field on third down. And get turnovers. It just brings confidence to everybody. No matter what else is happening, that's what we really work on and build around here. It was good to see the young guys play. It was good to see a lot of guys got to play. And the older guys, who haven't had much of a chance to play this year get in the game today. It was good to see them get in and get the experience. You can coach off of that. Overall, we accept this as a really strong performance. I don't know if they had any explosive plays. And we did great in the turnover battle and third down, for sure. I was really pleased with the effort."

On his defense's consistent success and continued focus:
"I contribute that to these guys. I haven't made a tackle since 1986. These are the guys that do it. And, what I told them in the pre-game talk where we really have good bonding, was that we've been together for what seems like forever. These guys know the way I think. And I told them that they all hung with me a few years ago when they might have thought I was being a little bit of a 'not nice guy.' Let's put it that way. Not quite the words I used. But they hung in and they believed. And I just think now you're seeing the fruits of that. We have a bunch of mature guys who believe in each other and believe in the system, and they know it. They know it. You can't be thinking out there and that's the way these guys play. They don't think, they just know it. It's a part of them now."

On the defense's success on third down:
"We build it to believe in third down stops. We really have. And we built it to know what to do on third down, how they're going to try to attack us and just being in the right spot. That's taken some time, but you're really seeing that pay off right now. Guys believing."

On how he built a successful defense in the Big 12:
"It takes time. It takes time. Kolby [Harvell-Peel], Jason [Taylor II] and those guys will tell you that I was talking about that the moment I arrived here. That's why I came here, to win championships because of the degree of culture that Coach Gundy has developed, along with Coach Glass in the weight room. And I knew if we could have a top defense, a nationally ranked defense, one that everyone could trust, that we could do big things."

Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn

On John Paul Richardson and Jaden Nixon:
"I thought both were great. It was fun to watch those guys run around; they've been dying to get out there. They've taken a lot of reps in practice. We've talked a lot about if we can redshirt John Paul or not. He's done a great job in practice and deserved to get out on the field. I'd love to get him out there more."

On the offense's success:
"What I'm really happy about is that we've gone two weeks now without a turnover. That helps not putting the defense in a bad position or anything like that. It's been two weeks of holding onto the football. We need to continue that."

On Tylan Wallace's return to Stillwater this week:
"It was great, you know. I walked in while Coach was talking with Tylan and he came up to our meeting twice, both Thursday and Friday. He spoke to the receivers, gave them some great tips about what it's like to be in the NFL. One, he talked about effort, and two, he talked about getting to know the playbook. To have him come in and say that is awesome."

Oklahoma State's Dominic Richardson

On being a physical runner:
"I've always been a physical running back. I'm just a straight downhill back. I don't juke a lot, I just run through you. I just think that's my weapon that I have. I'm just a physical runner that wants to get downhill."

On Jaden Nixon and Zach Middleton getting playing time:
"That was amazing. They were pumped up. I told them to stay ready. Coach Woz tells us to always be ready and be focused and have that mentality that you can take over. When they got in tonight, they did pretty good."

On Jaylen Warren:
"Jaylen Warren, I mean, is very athletic as you can see and a physical runner. He can do it all. Watching him, I'm back on the sideline taking notes and trying to do what he does. I think that physical running comes from him as well. He can run through people, making moves, sliding left to right, going over people, it all pumps me up a bit and helps me stay ready because I want to get out there and do what he does."

Oklahoma State's Spencer Sanders

On the confidence of the offense:
"Honestly, it's just a great chemistry moment. I feel like we really grew, today. We kind of stayed together as a team and no matter what the score was, we just kept moving. New drive, same drive we just kept doing what we were doing."

On his huge run block:
"You know it was just like heat of the moment. It was just me and him, I just got to take it. If he lays me on my tail, I will take it. I just happened to, I got lucky, and I won that one, so it turned out good."

On the win by a large margin:
"It's really good for the young guys like I said, you know, they get to get in there in the second half and kind of just play and kind of get used to a game environment, you know. Say that's an OU game, and you throw them in there, you know, that's a lot tougher situation so it's just kind of getting them grasping, kind of feeling, you know that vibe of college football. It's just good for those guys, like I said, JP (Richardson) got his first catch and touchdown, so I was excited for him."

On getting to encourage his team in the second half:
"I mean it was great, you know, I watch these guys every week, you know, practice their tails off and you know, there's nothing more that I want, and you know, it sucks you can only play 11 at once. Just seeing those young guys go in, you could just see a smile, a lot of them, on their faces."

Oklahoma State's Kolby Harvell-Peel and Jason Taylor II

Harvell-Peel on letting Jason Taylor get the spotlight after his interception:
"We've been talking about it; we be roommates on the road and we've been talking about competing and see who at the end of the year can get the most picks. You know, he got his (interception), and before anything I'm excited for him."

Taylor on being successful on the defensive end:
"We just came off a game we let slip so we were just trying to focus on our game and do what we needed to do to be able to get a win."

Taylor on the relationship between Jim Knowles aggressiveness and their play:
"I think that mostly, it's him. I feel like we go out there and try to make a play every down. Try to not give anything on defense. He always says, 'they give us an inch, and we'll defend it.' So, I feel like, regardless of the down, regardless of the play, we got to defend."

Harvel-Peel on how Jim Knowles has evolved since arriving at OSU:
"He's just had more time with the guys that he's got, you know, he came in with us so we've been in the same system for four years now and now that you got guys like us two, Brock (Martin), all of the older guys, Jarrick (Bernard-Converse), all of the older guys that have played a lot, we can pass on some of the stuff, the intricate details of Coach Knowles' defense."

Taylor on how Jim Knowles has evolved since arriving at OSU:
"He saw a vision for this defense, to be something we weren't what he envisioned at first and every time we started to buy in and now this is what it is. Just like he said, as we've been here longer, he's been with us longer, he's been able to see what guys are good at and put guys in those spots."
Harvell-Peel
"You know one of the things that he says like, every Saturday in our meetings before the game is that buy in and trust that we can win games on defense. We got the talent, we got the scheme, for so long, you know, Oklahoma State, you know, offense, for so long has been scoring all the points and defense is just trying to survive."

Kansas Quotes

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold Quotes

Opening statement:
"That's a really fast and physical football team out there and we didn't come close to matching it. They have one of the better defenses in the country and it showed itself today. They stubbed their toe a week ago, but they got their guys to bounce back and play. And play well."

On starting quarterback Jason Bean:
"It appeared that they were able to rattle him. He rushed a couple throws and got intercepted. But if you watch their physicality up front and really as a defense, I mean their safeties are triggering as good as anyone I've seen. There's a lot of quickness there and we didn't react very well to it."

On the team's consistency:
"Absolutely it's frustrating, it's frustrating for them (the players), it's frustrating for the coaches but ultimately it's my responsibility to get this team to play more consistently and I haven't done that."

Kansas' Mike Novitsky

On the Kansas offense's first half:
"We started off slow and we could never really get into a groove. That kind of hurt and we just need to start faster."

On what they could've done better:
"There are a bunch of things that we could've done. We just need to execute better and be more confident around them. We have the ability and I think just getting into the groove. Letting our offense and quarterback go through the plays and making sure our defense gets some look to keep our advantage would help."

On how to move on from this:
"You have to keep your head up, own your mistakes, and like Kenny (Logan Jr.) said, we'll get back to the drawing board and keep chopping wood. We're going to be ready, and we just need to keep improving every day."

Kansas' Kenny Logan Jr.

On his fourth and one stop:
"It was just a call we had. I saw he checked to the side, and I looked at my linebacker and said, 'he's coming to my side.' I was in position because my guy's upfront and I was able to make the big play and get the stop."

On his biggest takeaway from tonight:
"We have to go back to the drawing board and clean some things up. We need to keep our heads up, keep moving and don't let this bring us down.

On the importance of keeping their heads up:
"I think it's very important. When we have our heads up, I feel like we can compete against anybody. We just have to continue to do that, day in and day out, Monday through Saturday and just keep executing at a high level."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Oklahoma State Postgame Quotes Vs. Kansas - October 30, 2021

Players Mentioned

Kolby Harvell-Peel

Zach Middleton

Jaden Nixon

Dominic Richardson

John Paul Richardson

Spencer Sanders

Jason Taylor II

Tylan Wallace

Jaylen Warren

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