Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Football Prepared for Start of Big 12 Play
September 22, 2021 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER - After a 3-0 start to the 2021 season, the Oklahoma State football team opens conference play against Kansas State on Saturday. The Pokes are coming off a 21-20 victory on the road at Boise State last weekend. Here is some of what they had to say:
Receiver Rashad Owens
On the position change and what it was like
"I believe it was the Wednesday before we went to Boise (State), we found out two of our receivers weren't traveling. They ended up moving me to the one Z position and that's when I found out. I played Z all last year. It felt good coming back to that and just getting back into the system. Me knowing the plays personally it helps our offensive line. We come together and study together. Being able to do what I can do to help my team out felt pretty good."
On shifting to Big 12 play
"The mindset is to play physical, fast and play our football and play clean. We want to play to our level, not to theirs. Don't underestimate them because everybody is good in college football. We need to play to our level, do what we can do, play fast and play clean."
On Kasey Dunn's PatienceÂ
"It's been pretty good. He has been patient and going step by step making sure we are playing clean football. He's making sure all the young guys know what to do. He has trust in us and makes sure we have our timing right with plays and makes sure everything is good."
Safety Jason Taylor
On the blocked kick at Boise State
"There wasn't too much to it. Earlier in the game, I saw that he had kicked it kind of low. I knew I had a shot. The game was on the line and I just went to try to go get it."
On seeing things ahead in games
"I don't try to think about it too much. Like I said, you just play football. It's like playing in the backyard. You can't worry about if a guy does this or this, you just go play football."
On being a starter now
"My first thought was that's a tough loss for us. We really like Tre (Sterling). He's been a great player for years. After that, I have to clear my mind and go play and be the next man up."
Defensive Lineman Brock Martin
On the pass rush vs. Boise State
"I felt like it was one of our better games. Hank Bachmeier, that kid's tough. He took a lot of licks. We were putting a lot of pressure on him and he was still throwing good balls. We actually may have ended up hurting him on the last time when Devin (Harper) split him in half. I think he actually had to go in and get checked on. But I thought our pass rush was really good. The linebackers were good. It paid off, getting him off his spot and not letting him just sit there all happy and throwing good balls all day."
On walk-on guys making plays
"As a scholarship guy, I have all the respect for those walk-on guys. They really go through hell. I'm not saying they get treated any different than anybody else, but they still have to go through everything that we go through without the stipend. Without the college getting paid for. They're really paying to get their ass kicked, and that's what they do. This culture here, it's always been the next guy up. I don't know if somebody went down against Boise. I don't tend to pay too much attention to who's getting hurt during games. But somebody went down and it's the next man up. That's part of the culture here. It's always been next man up and he we out there and made a play."
On his approach as a pass rusher
"You always got to have a plan. You come up with your plan from watching film all week. Offensive linemen have different tendencies every week. It's just like offense versus defense, everybody has a scheme and you work out of those schemes. Offensive lineman, they watch [defensive] ends and stuff all the time, too, to see what they like to do and they try to counter it. At the end of the day, you've got to do what you know you're good at and what you know is going to work. I have three moves I really like to use. You've got your fastball, your changeup, and your slider. Your go-to's. And you've got to stick to them and work on them every day and that's what I've done a lot of. Back when I was younger, I always wanted to do something cool and flashy. Spin moves and all that stuff. It's nothing like that. When you win, a sack looks really good on film."
Offensive Lineman Josh Sills
On the offensive line's performance against Boise State
"We played pretty well upfront. I thought we really beat their inside guys up pretty well. We got good movement on double teams. We were able to reach their edge guys on our outside mid-zones. That helped a lot. But big props to Jaylen [Warren] and all the running backs. Those guys are good enough, once they get a yard past the line of scrimmage, they can just make a guy miss and obviously run forever, as Jaylen did. Having good guys behind us that can do that really helps us and makes our job a lot easier upfront."
On running the ball well as a team vs. Boise State and Kansas State
"It was very nice. I think it kind of gave everybody a little bit of confidence, which is something we really need. Kansas State is a heck of a defense. I think they're in the top 15, somewhere right around there, in the country, as far as rushing yards go. So having that game going into this game is huge for us. It's a big confidence booster. But at the same time, we've been putting in work in practice and it was good to finally see that pay off for us."
On having stability and health on the offensive line
"It's huge. It lets us build more chemistry, and kind of get a sense of what the person next to you thinks, how they feel, and how they play. And that will build more chemistry so you're kind of on the same page and stuff. You know how they block a certain play or what they're thinking on this play, or you know you're going to get a little help on a certain play more than another play. And that chemistry is huge on an offensive line."
