Gundy Meets With Media After KSU, Talks Preparation for Kansas

STILLWATER - Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy met with members of the media at his weekly luncheon to discuss how the Cowboys get back to work after Saturday's performance against Kansas State and refocus on Kansas. Here is some of what he had to say:

Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
"I was pretty accurate afterwards about what I said about the game. I didn't want to commit to a lot. They outcoached us. They outplayed us. They were more physical than us. We weren't ready to play. I didn't do a very good job getting our guys ready. We finished all that yesterday. We went through all the plays and tape and such at practice last night. Back at it today to get ready to roll for this week."

On how to handle practice this week with a number of injuries coming off the loss at Kansas State:
"We'll practice like we've always practiced."

On changes made to practice plans leading up to Kansas State:
"We altered several things. I had concerns about – as I mentioned up there [in Manhattan, Kansas] – who we have left. There's a lot of different ways to handle this as a coach, a lot of different philosophies. One consistent philosophy for a lot of coaches is when you show up Saturday, you want to have as many guys as you can have. I was little more concerned than maybe I should've been about where we were at from an injury standpoint."

On coaches rebounding from a loss:
"The coaches are a bigger problem than the players because there's more of an emotional strain on them. It's their life, it's their every day, it's their kids. More so than the players, they kind of get through stuff quicker based on the way the world is. I've seen a bunch of them [players] in the office today watching tape. I expect them to come back and practice really well tomorrow. We practiced good last week, we just didn't do some of the same stuff."

On the running game:
"Our running backs averaged 4.4 yards per carry against Texas, which I was thrilled about. It was better than what it had been. So, we've shown some glimpses getting better at it, but if I had to say what is causing it it'd be that we just haven't had the five guys consistent there working together."

On trying to improve the run offense:
"We can't change what we do. We're going to run the plays we run. In midstream, you don't change who you are and what you do. So, you continue to try and do that anyway. One of the issues I was just talking about is when you fall behind by multiple scores like that, you almost become one-dimensional so it's even more difficult."

On Deondre Jackson seeing his first significant action:
"He ran the ball well, played hard, competed. He's a guy that we were excited about what he brought to the table in that game."

On Kansas:
"He (Lance Leipold) has done well everywhere he has been, he's a good football coach. I told you guys last year before we played them that I liked their concepts, their schemes and they were in games and had something go wrong at the end but had something go wrong. They could've beat OU last year at home, but (Caleb Williams) made a play on 4^th-down and three and scores. If they would've gotten him down in the backfield, they could've run the clock out and beat them. They had progressed as they went on. Their quarterback is really active, he's done a good job of throwing, running it and running RPO's. They are motioning and getting to what I call a triple option with an RPO off of it. They're playing hard and we're going to have to play well to beat them."

On the status of Spencer Sanders:
"I hope he's doing good. We're going to rest him some this week and try to get him back and get him going just like we have been doing."

On the Big 12 conference securing a television deal with ESPN and FOX:
"That's one thing I was right on, I said (Brett Yormark) would do it. I said this conference would be fine, Oklahoma State would be fine from day one. I didn't know anything about the new teams coming in, but I knew we were in good shape. Once the new teams came in, I knew we were in great shape and then once we hired him I felt even better. He secured however much more for six years, which I felt like we would be a short-term media deal because they usually try to grab a 10, 12 or 15-year deal, but because it's new and there is new teams it makes sense for ESPN and FOX to not want to buy a longer deal and do a shorter deal with more money. He's a big time negotiator and from the first time I talked to him I knew we were in great hands. He's secured us all the way through 2031 and I'm going to guess in 2028ish that he's going to go in again and do it even better."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Gundy Meets With Media After KSU, Talks Preparation for Kansas

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