Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy Recaps Big 12 Opener and Previews Matchup with No. 21 Baylor
September 27, 2021 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – A 4-0 start to the season has the Oklahoma State football team ranked in both sets of major polls for the first time this season. The Cowboys opened Big 12 play on Saturday with a 31-20 victory over No. 25 Kansas State and will welcome their second-consecutive ranked opponent into Boone Pickens Stadium when they kickoff against No. 21 Baylor who is also 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. This weekend will also serve as a tribute to the 2011 Cowboy football team who will be honored during the game. Here is some of what OSU head coach Mike Gundy said during his time with the media earlier today:
Opening Statement:
"The guys played well last week like I mentioned after the game. Defense played well. Special teams played well with the exception of giving up the one return. Offensively, we made some improvements. We got a few guys back that helped us a little bit on the perimeter and obviously helped us balance our offense. The team we're playing is the best team we've played up to this point. They're balanced on offense. They have a fast, very aggressive, blitzing style of defense. They've had a lot of success. We'll have to have a great week of practice and I would expect another fourth-quarter game."
On offensive schemes vs Kansas State:
"We had some different schemes and concepts and alignments and such based on the front we were seeing. Kansas State was three down and they were doing a few things scheme-wise. Hopefully we're learning more as we've gone through years three and four of what has become the new trend defensively, which is this three-down look. I thought our schemes were good in my opinion."
On Spencer Sanders:
"He's matured considerably. He was better last year, and he's even better this year. That comes with experience. He's at a position that takes and deals with a lot from different angles. What I was referring to with him is you have a very competitive, humble and unselfish person who loves to play football. I've never heard him say a bad word about anyone on our team. I never heard him complain about not having healthy linemen last year and I've never heard him complain about not having healthy receivers this year. He just goes and plays. He's first-class and he's got character; he's humble and unselfish. Generally, good things happen to people like that and that's what's happened so far."
On the offensive line:
"They played well. We're not to the level we need to play, but we're getting better each week. The talent level we faced last game was better, and the group we'll face this week will be really good. They're active and strong. They have a nose guard, No. 62, I don't know what he weighs, maybe 360, but he's tough to deal with. He plays low, flatbacks and drives you back. They have some speed. This will be a really good feel for them. No. 8 is back again doing all his blitzing and things he's good at and that factors into the offensive line. We'll see where we're at after this game."
On the 2011 team:
"For them to be able to accomplish what they did, they very well that year could've been the best team in the country. We'll never know, but they very well could have been. So those things are always special and important, no question.
On having a strong defense:
"You've been watching us forever. One of my buddies texted me after the game and said, 'I've never seen a defense like this in Stillwater.' I mean I don't think back that far. I just know that to a certain extent the game is kind of revolving back to where it used to be. You have to be able to rush the ball and play defense. I think it's more evident now in our game than it has been in 15 years when we were looking at all these video game scores with the way games were being played."
On Spencer Sanders' and Jaylen Warren's leadership:
"Well, it affects everybody. Your team is going to rally around your quarterback. Spencer has had times in his career where he didn't play as well as he would've wanted to and there's been times where he was fantastic. So, there's give and take, that's who he is. But there is no doubt the team loves him because of who he is. They want to play hard for him because of the type of person he is. Jaylen falls in the same category, so that makes my job a lot easier."
On Collin Oliver:
"I like what I'm seeing from him. I see a young player that's learning on the run. He gets fatigued quickly in games at times because he hasn't become calloused to play at this level yet because he's so new. He's a hard worker and he seems to be physically tough and mentally tough enough to continue to compete. We'll see where he is a month from now because sometimes those guys hit a wall. He's another young man who fits in our culture. I don't ever see him say anything, he doesn't miss anything, he's always in class, he runs hard and trains hard. He loves to play, and he just competes."
Opening Statement:
"The guys played well last week like I mentioned after the game. Defense played well. Special teams played well with the exception of giving up the one return. Offensively, we made some improvements. We got a few guys back that helped us a little bit on the perimeter and obviously helped us balance our offense. The team we're playing is the best team we've played up to this point. They're balanced on offense. They have a fast, very aggressive, blitzing style of defense. They've had a lot of success. We'll have to have a great week of practice and I would expect another fourth-quarter game."
On offensive schemes vs Kansas State:
"We had some different schemes and concepts and alignments and such based on the front we were seeing. Kansas State was three down and they were doing a few things scheme-wise. Hopefully we're learning more as we've gone through years three and four of what has become the new trend defensively, which is this three-down look. I thought our schemes were good in my opinion."
On Spencer Sanders:
"He's matured considerably. He was better last year, and he's even better this year. That comes with experience. He's at a position that takes and deals with a lot from different angles. What I was referring to with him is you have a very competitive, humble and unselfish person who loves to play football. I've never heard him say a bad word about anyone on our team. I never heard him complain about not having healthy linemen last year and I've never heard him complain about not having healthy receivers this year. He just goes and plays. He's first-class and he's got character; he's humble and unselfish. Generally, good things happen to people like that and that's what's happened so far."
On the offensive line:
"They played well. We're not to the level we need to play, but we're getting better each week. The talent level we faced last game was better, and the group we'll face this week will be really good. They're active and strong. They have a nose guard, No. 62, I don't know what he weighs, maybe 360, but he's tough to deal with. He plays low, flatbacks and drives you back. They have some speed. This will be a really good feel for them. No. 8 is back again doing all his blitzing and things he's good at and that factors into the offensive line. We'll see where we're at after this game."
On the 2011 team:
"For them to be able to accomplish what they did, they very well that year could've been the best team in the country. We'll never know, but they very well could have been. So those things are always special and important, no question.
On having a strong defense:
"You've been watching us forever. One of my buddies texted me after the game and said, 'I've never seen a defense like this in Stillwater.' I mean I don't think back that far. I just know that to a certain extent the game is kind of revolving back to where it used to be. You have to be able to rush the ball and play defense. I think it's more evident now in our game than it has been in 15 years when we were looking at all these video game scores with the way games were being played."
On Spencer Sanders' and Jaylen Warren's leadership:
"Well, it affects everybody. Your team is going to rally around your quarterback. Spencer has had times in his career where he didn't play as well as he would've wanted to and there's been times where he was fantastic. So, there's give and take, that's who he is. But there is no doubt the team loves him because of who he is. They want to play hard for him because of the type of person he is. Jaylen falls in the same category, so that makes my job a lot easier."
On Collin Oliver:
"I like what I'm seeing from him. I see a young player that's learning on the run. He gets fatigued quickly in games at times because he hasn't become calloused to play at this level yet because he's so new. He's a hard worker and he seems to be physically tough and mentally tough enough to continue to compete. We'll see where he is a month from now because sometimes those guys hit a wall. He's another young man who fits in our culture. I don't ever see him say anything, he doesn't miss anything, he's always in class, he runs hard and trains hard. He loves to play, and he just competes."
Players Mentioned
DE
/ Cowboy Football
QB
/ Cowboy Football
RB
/ Cowboy FootballCount 'em! 9️⃣ strikeouts for Ruby Meylan vs Oklahoma 🔥 #okstate #softball #collegesoftball
Friday, April 17
Cowboy Football Spring Game Preview - Inside OSU Athletics with Eric Morris
Thursday, April 16
All of Ruby Meylan's 9 Strikeouts vs No. 1 Oklahoma
Thursday, April 16
EPIC GAME: Oklahoma State vs Oklahoma | Condensed Game Highlights 4-15-26
Thursday, April 16
