Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Postgame Quotes vs. Missouri State - September 4, 2021
September 04, 2021 | Cowboy Football
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
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On the Cowboy defense:
"The defense obviously did a great job. We put them in terrible situations multiple times, and they continued to make play-after-play. They faced 83 plays, which is a lot, so they really stood tall and made a bunch of plays. I told them I was proud of them after the game and that I've been in games that were 61-59 and this one ended up the other way where the defense continued to make plays."
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On Shane Illingworth's performance:
"I thought he played pretty well. He doesn't have a lot of experience. He made some throws and missed a few, but with where he is at in his career with experience, he played fine. The issue was we couldn't rush the football. They ended up defending us a little more difficult for the pass game because we couldn't rush the football. We need to run the football better and make it easier on him."
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On the running back rotation:
"Those guys will still rotate. Dezmon Jackson looked good the few times he ran it, and then he fumbled. We have confidence in those guys. (Jaylen) Warren is a little bit heavier back, so down in the red zone he gives you a little more, but all those guys can run at any place. We just weren't very successful running the ball, but we need to find out why because we need to be able to do it."
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On Tay Martin:
I thought he played really well. He bummed his ankle up a little bit in the first quarter and that slowed him a little bit. I'm hoping he will be fine. A lot of times when you do what he did and play through it, it will be sore for a few days, so hopefully he will be fine. He played well and made some plays. He's had a great preseason and worked very hard the last six months."
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Oklahoma State's Kasey Dunn
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On the game:
"We ended up throwing a little bit more than we wanted to today, especially with some of the young receivers playing."
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On the younger players stepping up:
"Having those young guys step up the way they did, get those snaps the way they did, I think they're going to progress very well throughout the season."Â
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On the quarterback position:
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"When Shane was up we knew what he was all about. we knew what Ethan was all about. We felt more comfortable at the quarterback position."
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Oklahoma State's Jim Knowles
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On the defense:
"We want to be able to represent the culture and all the winning Coach Gundy has done here. At times you're going to have to have the defense step up and win the game."
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On the stops late in the game:
 "It doesn't matter what happens or where the ball is, we always say give us an inch and we'll defend it. It's a mentality it really is."
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Oklahoma State's Shane Illingworth
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On the team's depth:
"We're just recruiting guys as special off the field as they are on and I think that says a lot about our program and coaching staff. They're ready, they're prepared, they make big plays."
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On his play:
"I just run the play and I run the play when it's called. I try to do it to the best of my ability."
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On the defense:
"I thought they played their tails off today. I'm really proud of those guys. Pass pro was really good for the most part. I have got be better and I have got to make plays."
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 Oklahoma State's Tay Martin
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On how his ankle is:
"It's good, I rode it a little. I was concerned after the X-ray, but everything looked good. I'm just grateful it wasn't as bad as it felt on the field out there."
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On his impression of the young guys:
"My impression of them is they handled it really well. The attention to details was on point and they tried their best and competed. I actually was satisfied with what they did. I always try to guide the young guys because I know what shoes they're in right now. I've been there before. I always try to give them advice, as well."
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Oklahoma State's Devin Harper
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On what makes them good on third down:
"We preach third down and that's what we take pride in. That's make-or-break at that point. We look to get off the field and we want to make every play."
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On the depth of the team:
"That's a good thing. At practice we make sure that everyone gets reps, so no one goes out there and has no clue what's going on. Coach Knowles preaches making sure you're ready. Watch your man, take as many reps as you can, because you never know if you're going to go in or not."
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 Missouri State head coach Bobby Petrino
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Opening his team:
"I want to tell everyone that I'm proud of our football team and our assistant coaches. We battled really hard, fought really hard. We didn't make enough plays to win the game, but we were right there in a position to find a way to win it at the end. We just came up a little bit short."
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On Oklahoma State:
"They're a really good football team. When you watch them, when you prepare for them, we knew it was going to be hard. Our guys responded the right way, they practiced hard, they prepared hard, and we wanted to come out here and compete for four quarters. And I feel like they certainly did that."
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On the result over last few possessions:
"We're definitely disappointed because we did have some shots at it (the end). Not only late in the game, but in the first half. That hurt us just as much as anything. We're down there in the scoring zone twice and we only come away with three points. If we get 10, 14 or even six we have a lot better chance to win the game."
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On his feeling after recovering the kickoff in the fourth quarter:
"I thought we would go score and win the game. The first play we missed a block, they did a good job of seeing the play. We were going to go for two and go for the win if we scored there in the fourth quarter."
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Missouri State's Tyler Wiltz
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On if he is encouraged:
"Most definitely. I feel like there was a lot of people who came into this game saying, 'it's just Missouri State'. We came in knowing that we were going to trust coach's plan. We're going to play as hard as we can. We didn't get the outcome that we wanted, but like Coach Petrino said - he appreciates us doing the game. So now we go out every other game this season and do the exact same thing and do better. What are other teams going to do?"
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On the improvement he's seen in the past couple of months:
"I feel like the difference was, as everybody knows, this is a brand-new team on offense. So, when you see that the offense is moving the ball, like we should've been doing. Then we're like let's go out on the field, get them the ball really quick. If we don't, we'll get back on the field and get them the ball again and keep giving them more and more opportunities."
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On how the locker room is feeling:
"Everyone's hurt. You can see because when you walk in there. Everyone's like 15 games, we're winning 15. This game is behind us and now we have to look forward to the UCA game. So, I don't want to say happy, people are upset, but now we see we can play with anybody. So now we all just want to get better. You can see it in our eyes that we're like it's go time now. Now that we play teams that are in our division, honestly I feel like they won't be able to play with us."
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On playing Central Arkansas next week:
"We're going to be ready. We will be ready. It's going to be a game. I'm not saying that they're just going to be scoring. The times they did score last season, I'm not going to say it was flukes, but we messed up. We need no mistakes and it's going down."
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Missouri State's Jason Shelley
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On what the mood is with offense:
"The guys have mixed emotions. Obviously, we're disappointed, we wanted to come out and win. As 38-point underdogs, we can be satisfied with a seven-point loss. Proud of the guys for sure."
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On how comfortable he felt starting the game:
"The guy's trust in me. Coach Petrino trusts in me and that's really what it is. If everyone has confidence in me, I can have confidence in myself. I felt like I could play a better game, but I thought I did okay. I just need to shake off some rust and it's going to be all right."
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On coming into the game as an underdog:
"I didn't think much about. It felt good to come out here in front of a nice crowd and having the fans back. It was pretty good out there. I enjoyed my experience."
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On what they can take from this game:
"I believe in our defense, and I think that's going to be a really big thing for us. We've pretty much been doing camp all summer. We got our work in. I think we have a good chance to make something happen in this conference and this whole league. We're going to go back, look at the film on Sunday, and come back on Monday ready to work."
Â
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On the Cowboy defense:
"The defense obviously did a great job. We put them in terrible situations multiple times, and they continued to make play-after-play. They faced 83 plays, which is a lot, so they really stood tall and made a bunch of plays. I told them I was proud of them after the game and that I've been in games that were 61-59 and this one ended up the other way where the defense continued to make plays."
Â
On Shane Illingworth's performance:
"I thought he played pretty well. He doesn't have a lot of experience. He made some throws and missed a few, but with where he is at in his career with experience, he played fine. The issue was we couldn't rush the football. They ended up defending us a little more difficult for the pass game because we couldn't rush the football. We need to run the football better and make it easier on him."
Â
On the running back rotation:
"Those guys will still rotate. Dezmon Jackson looked good the few times he ran it, and then he fumbled. We have confidence in those guys. (Jaylen) Warren is a little bit heavier back, so down in the red zone he gives you a little more, but all those guys can run at any place. We just weren't very successful running the ball, but we need to find out why because we need to be able to do it."
Â
On Tay Martin:
I thought he played really well. He bummed his ankle up a little bit in the first quarter and that slowed him a little bit. I'm hoping he will be fine. A lot of times when you do what he did and play through it, it will be sore for a few days, so hopefully he will be fine. He played well and made some plays. He's had a great preseason and worked very hard the last six months."
Â
Oklahoma State's Kasey Dunn
Â
On the game:
"We ended up throwing a little bit more than we wanted to today, especially with some of the young receivers playing."
Â
On the younger players stepping up:
"Having those young guys step up the way they did, get those snaps the way they did, I think they're going to progress very well throughout the season."Â
Â
On the quarterback position:
Â
"When Shane was up we knew what he was all about. we knew what Ethan was all about. We felt more comfortable at the quarterback position."
Â
Oklahoma State's Jim Knowles
Â
On the defense:
"We want to be able to represent the culture and all the winning Coach Gundy has done here. At times you're going to have to have the defense step up and win the game."
Â
On the stops late in the game:
 "It doesn't matter what happens or where the ball is, we always say give us an inch and we'll defend it. It's a mentality it really is."
Â
Oklahoma State's Shane Illingworth
Â
On the team's depth:
"We're just recruiting guys as special off the field as they are on and I think that says a lot about our program and coaching staff. They're ready, they're prepared, they make big plays."
Â
On his play:
"I just run the play and I run the play when it's called. I try to do it to the best of my ability."
Â
On the defense:
"I thought they played their tails off today. I'm really proud of those guys. Pass pro was really good for the most part. I have got be better and I have got to make plays."
Â
 Oklahoma State's Tay Martin
Â
On how his ankle is:
"It's good, I rode it a little. I was concerned after the X-ray, but everything looked good. I'm just grateful it wasn't as bad as it felt on the field out there."
Â
On his impression of the young guys:
"My impression of them is they handled it really well. The attention to details was on point and they tried their best and competed. I actually was satisfied with what they did. I always try to guide the young guys because I know what shoes they're in right now. I've been there before. I always try to give them advice, as well."
Â
Oklahoma State's Devin Harper
Â
On what makes them good on third down:
"We preach third down and that's what we take pride in. That's make-or-break at that point. We look to get off the field and we want to make every play."
Â
On the depth of the team:
"That's a good thing. At practice we make sure that everyone gets reps, so no one goes out there and has no clue what's going on. Coach Knowles preaches making sure you're ready. Watch your man, take as many reps as you can, because you never know if you're going to go in or not."
Â
 Missouri State head coach Bobby Petrino
Â
Opening his team:
"I want to tell everyone that I'm proud of our football team and our assistant coaches. We battled really hard, fought really hard. We didn't make enough plays to win the game, but we were right there in a position to find a way to win it at the end. We just came up a little bit short."
Â
On Oklahoma State:
"They're a really good football team. When you watch them, when you prepare for them, we knew it was going to be hard. Our guys responded the right way, they practiced hard, they prepared hard, and we wanted to come out here and compete for four quarters. And I feel like they certainly did that."
Â
On the result over last few possessions:
"We're definitely disappointed because we did have some shots at it (the end). Not only late in the game, but in the first half. That hurt us just as much as anything. We're down there in the scoring zone twice and we only come away with three points. If we get 10, 14 or even six we have a lot better chance to win the game."
Â
On his feeling after recovering the kickoff in the fourth quarter:
"I thought we would go score and win the game. The first play we missed a block, they did a good job of seeing the play. We were going to go for two and go for the win if we scored there in the fourth quarter."
Â
Missouri State's Tyler Wiltz
Â
On if he is encouraged:
"Most definitely. I feel like there was a lot of people who came into this game saying, 'it's just Missouri State'. We came in knowing that we were going to trust coach's plan. We're going to play as hard as we can. We didn't get the outcome that we wanted, but like Coach Petrino said - he appreciates us doing the game. So now we go out every other game this season and do the exact same thing and do better. What are other teams going to do?"
Â
On the improvement he's seen in the past couple of months:
"I feel like the difference was, as everybody knows, this is a brand-new team on offense. So, when you see that the offense is moving the ball, like we should've been doing. Then we're like let's go out on the field, get them the ball really quick. If we don't, we'll get back on the field and get them the ball again and keep giving them more and more opportunities."
Â
On how the locker room is feeling:
"Everyone's hurt. You can see because when you walk in there. Everyone's like 15 games, we're winning 15. This game is behind us and now we have to look forward to the UCA game. So, I don't want to say happy, people are upset, but now we see we can play with anybody. So now we all just want to get better. You can see it in our eyes that we're like it's go time now. Now that we play teams that are in our division, honestly I feel like they won't be able to play with us."
Â
On playing Central Arkansas next week:
"We're going to be ready. We will be ready. It's going to be a game. I'm not saying that they're just going to be scoring. The times they did score last season, I'm not going to say it was flukes, but we messed up. We need no mistakes and it's going down."
Â
Missouri State's Jason Shelley
Â
On what the mood is with offense:
"The guys have mixed emotions. Obviously, we're disappointed, we wanted to come out and win. As 38-point underdogs, we can be satisfied with a seven-point loss. Proud of the guys for sure."
Â
On how comfortable he felt starting the game:
"The guy's trust in me. Coach Petrino trusts in me and that's really what it is. If everyone has confidence in me, I can have confidence in myself. I felt like I could play a better game, but I thought I did okay. I just need to shake off some rust and it's going to be all right."
Â
On coming into the game as an underdog:
"I didn't think much about. It felt good to come out here in front of a nice crowd and having the fans back. It was pretty good out there. I enjoyed my experience."
Â
On what they can take from this game:
"I believe in our defense, and I think that's going to be a really big thing for us. We've pretty much been doing camp all summer. We got our work in. I think we have a good chance to make something happen in this conference and this whole league. We're going to go back, look at the film on Sunday, and come back on Monday ready to work."
Â
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