Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: Noah Southard/OSU Athletics/Okla
Gundy Recaps Texas, Looks Ahead to Road Test Against Kansas State
October 24, 2022 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy met with members of the media at his weekly luncheon Monday. He recapped the Cowboys' 41-34 win over No. 20 Texas and looked forward to another ranked matchup with No. 22 Kansas State on Saturday. Here is some of what he had to say:
On the run game:
"We were better, we were averaging 4.3 yards per carry on running back runs. We were actually better in this game than we have been all year. In comparison of who we are, who we were, who they are in that game, it was better."
On stopping the run:
"There's two ways to look at that. We got out of position. We either had a blown call or miscommunication on three of the big plays. That's the good news. I'd like to think if we had the right call or the communication was better, we could've limited, maybe not have had 80 yards in the first half. The bad news is we didn't get the communication right. The good news is we should be able to fix that."
On Texas' counter plays:
"There's two things. First is that we played it differently technique wise in the second half than we did in the first half. We predicted inaccurately how we could effectively stop the counter. We figured out it wasn't working like everybody else, and we changed the technique and the way we were defending it for the second half. Kansas State is a big pull team. They like to block down and pull, powers, counters, a lot of things with quarterback read zones. In my opinion, they don't run a play that is just a run, it's got a quarterback read on it as well."
On John Paul Richardson's toughness:
"I started watching John Paul (Richardson) when he was a junior, saw the tape and then did a little research on him. Some kids are cut different than others. He's been around it all his life, he's been a gym rat. He likes to play the game, the physicality side of it and or what could happen doesn't concern him. It's really hard to play this game nowadays if you don't play that way, and he just plays and worries about the rest of it later."
On Collin Clay's play in his first career start:
"He got better as it went on. He got pushed around early, we got pushed around early, all of us did. We got out of gaps, got pushed around, that's the wrong team to do that against. Whatever All-American honors he gets, No. 5 (Bijan Robinson), we contributed to it. Collin got better as the game went on and he's going to have to play, he's going to have to play 40 snaps for us, he got a little better as the game went on."
On Jabbar Muhammad's move to the safety position mid-season:
"His effort was good, and he played hard, but it was new for him. There was times where it was difficult for him to figure out what was going on."
On Trace Ford's play against Texas:
"He was pretty effective. He showed up a lot. He was active and played within himself. Sometimes Trace is like an energizer bunny bouncing around, but he played within himself. When he is focused and playing within himself because he is very athletic and strong, he can be difficult to block because of the nature that he brings. He had a good game."
On Kansas State's game day atmosphere:
"It's full and they do a good job with their crowd and student section. It's a great college environment. Back then, they had the old turf field and the painted white Wildcat in the middle that would rip your skin off and it stayed that way for all four of my years. There was nobody at those games. They've made as big of a transition in college football as anybody in my opinion from where it was through the middle of the 90s because Bill Snyder came in in 1989. I don't think they got going up there until at least 1993, 94 or 95 before anybody started showing up. That transition has been big and it's been great for our conference."
On Stephon Johnson Jr. and Ollie Gordon playing as true freshmen:
"I would say six (Stephon Johnson Jr.) exceeded my expectations for how he was going to play in that particular situation, the moment didn't get too big for him. That doesn't mean he has arrived yet, he has to do it multiple times continuously and consistently. Zero (Ollie Gordon) has been fine. He plays well, competes and goes out and plays on special teams. He got lit up down there in Waco and fumbled and got that out of his system. It's not too big for him either. You don't want to hang your hat on too many of them doing it, but they're doing pretty well."
On young receivers getting significant playing time early in their careers:
"They're getting way more reps than they should be getting at this time in their career by default because we're beat up at that position and other guys have to play. Stephon Johnson Jr. played better in that game than I thought he would. I thought he would play ok but he made a lot of plays. If you were watching the game and you lived on the East Coast, you would not have thought he was a freshman. He's coming along. Unfortunately we've had to throw those guys into the fire. He should be playing like eight to 10 plays a game right now, but we don't have that luxury so they're learning on the run."
On the run game:
"We were better, we were averaging 4.3 yards per carry on running back runs. We were actually better in this game than we have been all year. In comparison of who we are, who we were, who they are in that game, it was better."
On stopping the run:
"There's two ways to look at that. We got out of position. We either had a blown call or miscommunication on three of the big plays. That's the good news. I'd like to think if we had the right call or the communication was better, we could've limited, maybe not have had 80 yards in the first half. The bad news is we didn't get the communication right. The good news is we should be able to fix that."
On Texas' counter plays:
"There's two things. First is that we played it differently technique wise in the second half than we did in the first half. We predicted inaccurately how we could effectively stop the counter. We figured out it wasn't working like everybody else, and we changed the technique and the way we were defending it for the second half. Kansas State is a big pull team. They like to block down and pull, powers, counters, a lot of things with quarterback read zones. In my opinion, they don't run a play that is just a run, it's got a quarterback read on it as well."
On John Paul Richardson's toughness:
"I started watching John Paul (Richardson) when he was a junior, saw the tape and then did a little research on him. Some kids are cut different than others. He's been around it all his life, he's been a gym rat. He likes to play the game, the physicality side of it and or what could happen doesn't concern him. It's really hard to play this game nowadays if you don't play that way, and he just plays and worries about the rest of it later."
On Collin Clay's play in his first career start:
"He got better as it went on. He got pushed around early, we got pushed around early, all of us did. We got out of gaps, got pushed around, that's the wrong team to do that against. Whatever All-American honors he gets, No. 5 (Bijan Robinson), we contributed to it. Collin got better as the game went on and he's going to have to play, he's going to have to play 40 snaps for us, he got a little better as the game went on."
On Jabbar Muhammad's move to the safety position mid-season:
"His effort was good, and he played hard, but it was new for him. There was times where it was difficult for him to figure out what was going on."
On Trace Ford's play against Texas:
"He was pretty effective. He showed up a lot. He was active and played within himself. Sometimes Trace is like an energizer bunny bouncing around, but he played within himself. When he is focused and playing within himself because he is very athletic and strong, he can be difficult to block because of the nature that he brings. He had a good game."
On Kansas State's game day atmosphere:
"It's full and they do a good job with their crowd and student section. It's a great college environment. Back then, they had the old turf field and the painted white Wildcat in the middle that would rip your skin off and it stayed that way for all four of my years. There was nobody at those games. They've made as big of a transition in college football as anybody in my opinion from where it was through the middle of the 90s because Bill Snyder came in in 1989. I don't think they got going up there until at least 1993, 94 or 95 before anybody started showing up. That transition has been big and it's been great for our conference."
On Stephon Johnson Jr. and Ollie Gordon playing as true freshmen:
"I would say six (Stephon Johnson Jr.) exceeded my expectations for how he was going to play in that particular situation, the moment didn't get too big for him. That doesn't mean he has arrived yet, he has to do it multiple times continuously and consistently. Zero (Ollie Gordon) has been fine. He plays well, competes and goes out and plays on special teams. He got lit up down there in Waco and fumbled and got that out of his system. It's not too big for him either. You don't want to hang your hat on too many of them doing it, but they're doing pretty well."
On young receivers getting significant playing time early in their careers:
"They're getting way more reps than they should be getting at this time in their career by default because we're beat up at that position and other guys have to play. Stephon Johnson Jr. played better in that game than I thought he would. I thought he would play ok but he made a lot of plays. If you were watching the game and you lived on the East Coast, you would not have thought he was a freshman. He's coming along. Unfortunately we've had to throw those guys into the fire. He should be playing like eight to 10 plays a game right now, but we don't have that luxury so they're learning on the run."
Players Mentioned
DT
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DE
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WR
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CB
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WR
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