Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Turn Attention to Boise State
September 14, 2021 | Cowboy Football
Defensive Lineman Tyler LacyÂ
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On how the defensive line played Saturday:
"We did phenomenal in the first half of the game. In the second half of the game we dozed off a little bit. Going out there today and getting prepared, being forced to finish and running to the ball every snap I feel like will make us a better defense."
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On freshman playing key snaps:Â
"Colin Oliver has really come out and done well especially with the outing of Trace Ford. Colin Oliver has been doing a great job taking the place for him. Aiden Kelly has been doing a good job, he's been doing his thing. I've been telling him, 'hey I know you're a freshman, but you can't play like a freshman right now, we really need you.' We've been trying to get him to see he's not a freshman anymore. He's now played in the game, so he's not a freshman anymore."
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On building on his energy throughout the game:
"This last week I felt like I needed to step up and be more of a leader and run to the ball and get there. The game plan I had in my head was to get to the ball and be disruptive all over the field and it paid off. I have to keep it up and run to the ball some more."
Quarterback Spencer Sanders
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On knocking the rust off in his season debut:
"It comes with it, you can ask LD. He asked me if I was good before the game, and I said 'yeah I'm good.' I did a lot of studying, just trying to focus on not overly preparing or overthinking. I kept telling myself it's never too much you can't handle. I'm surrounded by a great group of guys. We have a great defense on the other side, I always know that. It's always fun to get out there. It was more excited than jitters."
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On approach from Tulsa to Boise State:
"I have to be better in all aspects of my game. The way I can better myself is the way I can better my team. As long as we keep working together and moving as a team we can get a lot better. Especially with all the young guys stepping up to the plate. We have a great defense on the other side, and we are always confident in our defense and it's time for us to start paying them back."
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On building relationships with new teammates:Â
"Building confidence in young guys it makes them feel better. The better you can make them feel, the more the game slows down for them. We have a bunch of young guys out there. When they make a mistake the first thing they do is drop their head and my job is to pick them up. So what if it's third down and we have to punt? We have a great defense. We have Tyler Lacy, that's one of the best defensive tackles in the NCAA. We have Kolby, and we have a great defense. I tell them it's okay to punt, or if we drop a pass we just have to be better about coming back the next time, fixing it and driving down the field."
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Safety Kolby Harvell-Peel
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On the defense in the clutch:
"Obviously, it feels great. We got a lot of confidence in what we can do as a defense. Coach Knowles tells us every Saturday before the game 'We can only control what we can control,' so it doesn't matter how many chances we get to go out there, how many times we got to defend, if we got to go out there, the goal is to get a stop. To be able to do that and help contribute to wins, it feels great."
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On Boise State:
"They got a lot of talent at their skill positions. We just started practice today and we're just trying to work in our game plans. We've only been really looking at them for a couple days. Across the board at receiver, they're really skilled. [Offensive] line does a great job of mixing run and pass looks. They're real disciplined, and they run a lot of things that are going to force you to be disciplined. A lot of motions. A lot of bunches. Just things that you don't typically see, so we're going to have to be sound. We're going to have to do our jobs well and hopefully if we do that we'll play well."
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Offensive Lineman Cole Birmingham
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On moving from RG to LT:
"It was good. It's not too much difference, just going from right to left. The leveraging is just a little different. It wasn't too bad."
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On the process of rehab last year:
"I still went to the meetings and everything, so I was trying to still be around it as much as possible so I didn't get out of the loop. The process, it was hard, but it was good. I was glad when I got back to practice and got to play."
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On the offensive line and run game:
"We're rallying together. We're sticking with it. We believe we're going to be a great offensive line. We are a great offensive line. That's what we think."
