Postgame Quotes vs. Iowa State

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement
"Well that was more fun than the last few that I've been at, quite a game. As good as Iowa State's defense is, obviously we knew that going in, I told the team in the locker room that today our defense was better. That doesn't take anything away from them, obviously their defense is really good, but today our defense forced turnovers, stops, put the game away in the end and our guys were fantastic today on defense. I couldn't be more proud of them. Fortunately, I think we made it through the game without anybody getting injured that I know of so that's positive for us. It was good to see a few guys out there, we had a couple guys that were able to get back and contribute a little bit so that was nice. That was a good win for us. I had mentioned earlier in the week that we needed to get home, I think some of the younger guys and more experienced guys play better when we're at home. The crowd was fantastic, the blackout was fantastic and the Paddle People. It was good to be back home and give ourselves a chance to go out there to compete and play. It was a good win for our team."

On the defense in the fourth quarter
"The guys just made plays. We had a couple calls where we were getting single blocks on three guys so it gave us a chance to get somebody loose. There was some experience there, 52, nine, those guys are good at that, and obviously 30 has done a lot of it. We got them in a one-dimensional down, we knew they had to throw it so we could pin our ears back and come. The opposite of that is what happened to us offensively against their defense; they put us in a one-dimension pretty much the whole game so I was very proud of them. It gets to that point where we need one sack in the end, then the last game we lost a little of the position. I thought we had him, but then he got out and we got him again. It was really good by those guys."

On Spencer Sanders' impact on the team
"Spencer (Sanders) has played 50 games here. Sometimes when they know a guy is playing that's not 100%, they're like 'Okay I'll fight for that guy,' it's just human nature. You know when we brought him in at the end of the third, we said we're just going to throw it on every down, and we couldn't run the ball. From that point forward, we just felt like we were going to throw it on every down."

On if Spencer Sanders knew he might play
"We knew that he was available, but we had preferred to not put him out there for an extended period of time."

On if Spencer Sanders had practiced during the week
"Not much. I don't want to talk a lot about personnel decisions, injuries and things like that. To be fair to you guys, he's been in the same boat for about five weeks."

Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders
On coach Gundy putting him in late in the game
"It goes to show that he trusts me. I have to make sure I hold myself accountable and do my job. A lot of people have been saying that I came in and won the game. I didn't. I just did my role, and the other 10 players on the field did their roles as well."

On entering the game without much practice during the week
"It's my job not to think like that. It's my job to put myself in those comfortable positions because how can I make these younger guys feel as comfortable as possible when I'm on edge? I just try to focus on staying as comfortable as possible. I know the offense like the back of my hand."

Oklahoma State safety Kendal Daniels
On the impact of forcing turnovers
"Coach Mason said that somebody needs to make a play. We haven't had a big play in three weeks. Just to come out here in front of our fans and make plays, it's all we needed to get a win."

On the win
"We can celebrate the win tonight and be happy about it, but tomorrow we have to come in and work. We had a lot of busts today. We can be a whole lot better as a team on the offense, defense and special teams. They scored after a blocked punt. We just have to clean up everything."

On ISU receiver Xavier Hutchinson:
"Leading up to this weekend, we knew that he was a game changer. So we tried to keep the ball out of his hands as much as we can. We knew that he was going to make plays so we just tried to get him down when he had the ball. He's an NFL wide receiver. Approaching this game, we told our corners to lock down on him. He's going to make some plays; you're going to make some plays."

Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Derek Mason
On the defensive performance
"This was a defensive win. It was a total defensive performance that we hadn't had all year. First half to the second half. We put one together, and now that's the standard moving forward. That's what we have to work toward."

On how the team will improve from this game"You get back to work. Time goes fast. Tomorrow, we'll take a look at the film. That game's in the record books, and you get right back to it. It'll be about effort, technique and finishing tomorrow, on a Sunday. Because that's what we started with last Sunday. I think we found that elixir, that potion, and we can't move away from that. We still got young guys, but our veterans led. They led all week, and they led today."

Oklahoma State defensive end Collin Oliver
On his sack on the Cowboys' final defensive play
"It's a pretty cool moment. It's surreal, but I was really just happy we got the win."

On the upcoming matchup with Oklahoma
"It's a pretty big game. I've only been here one year and last year was a real fun game. It's pretty ironic, I got a game-winning sack in that one, too. That is pretty crazy I just now thought about that. But yeah, you know, big game. OU is a big rival, and I can't wait to get out there."

Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn
On the 83-yard touchdown catch and throw from Gunnar Gundy to John Paul Richardson
"For us to hit that huge one there, shot in the arm, all the way. We were going to take our shots and hopefully some of them connect to get a big play out of it."

On what they did in practice that made them feel more confident as a staff
"I think it's the next man up mentality. I think that coach (Gundy) doesn't beat anyone down. He's great, he's always positive with our guys even after a loss. There's constructive criticism, but there's also a part of him that says, 'Hey we're going to go ahead and win and move forward, and I'm not going to look back at the last game.' And as dismal as it may be, you know K-State wasn't good, but we went into Kansas with a pretty good vibe. We felt great going into that game, didn't turn out well. So then coming into this one, same thing. It's one of those things where the coaches kind of spun in into something positive. New guys up, new man in."

On the play-call that resulted in the game-winning touchdown pass
"I think that they see that Spencer (Sanders) is a runner, I think that when you get down in the redzone certainly he becomes more of an option to run the football. Everything gets condensed when you're in the red zone. Score zone is a tighter field, throw lanes condense. It's just a much harder area to move the football. If you can run the quarterback, it's a huge asset for an offense and certainly we've ran Spencer down there a bunch."

Oklahoma State running back Jaden Nixon
On if the game-winning touchdown felt like special teams with the space he had to catch the ball
"I guess you could say that. I didn't think about that, but now that you say that it kind of is. Just like catching a ball on kickoff. You've just got to secure the catch before anything else."

On how much it helped having Spencer Sanders in on the late touchdown
"They bit because of Spencer (Sanders). Spencer being in there, it makes a big difference. When you gameplan (as a defense), you have to also gameplan for Spencer because he can run, he can throw, he can do it all. He's athletic. He's just a great football player.

On how much it helps having Sanders on the field
"One thing I love about Spencer (Sanders), no matter what it is or what happens, he's going to play his heart out, and he's going to fight for this team no matter how bad he's hurt."

Oklahoma State wide receiver John Paul Richardson
On the 83-yard touchdown reception
"It was a play we practiced a lot throughout the week, and Coach Dunn always talks about when your number is called, you've got to make the play so whenever I ran the wheel route, and I looked up and saw the ball, Gunnar [Gundy] couldn't have put it in a more perfect spot so I caught in in stride and ran as fast as I could to the endzone."

On Spencer Sanders' leadership
"Everybody I think rallies behind Spence (Sanders). He's a Grade A competitor and to see him go in and just be so calm and collected, and that's just how he usually is. It really, I think, instilled confidence in the team and to have a leader like him out there, we all definitely want to have his back and make as many plays and go hard for him."

Oklahoma State Safety Jason Taylor II
On Daniels' forced fumble
"That was huge. It sparked what came after that. A bunch of turnovers. He's a great player, and he's going to keep doing things like that and that's what we need. We're glad to have him."

On Daniels' experience
"He's a great player. Obviously young, but to me, he doesn't play young. There's a lot of people around the country that are young and play different than him, but I think that he's his own player and the big times don't phase him. I think that he just keeps getting experience, and he's going to get better and better each game."

On getting five turnovers and a win
"We were in a tough rut, a lot of injuries and a lot of things going on. To play a game like this and get turnovers and to come out with a win is very satisfying. We're going to try to build on this and continue to do this throughout the end of the season."

Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell
On the difference Spencer Sanders made for Oklahoma State
"Well, you get a guy that's a veteran. You get a guy that's very confident, and he makes some confident throws and plays. You saw his ability to consistently move the football, and you give him a lot of credit for that. He's a really talented football player. He's been a great competitor to compete against, and he's a guy that's played a lot of football. He's had to work through tough times, and he's a senior that is a guy that made plays."

On losing by small margins throughout the year
"The frustration is you sink your teeth into that. We practice, it's what we do, it's who we try to be in the offseason to who we try to be in the spring to who we try to be in fall camp. Those are things that we spend a lot of time with, and it comes down to growing through that."

On the dropped deep pass late in the game
"It goes with the theme of the day. You're right there to make the plays and we're, for whatever reason, our ball security, three of them in the red zone or inside the 50-yard-line when you drive the ball up and down the field. Man, a couple plays here and there, you've got to be able to make the plays."

On how he evaluates his offense's performance
"Well, you can't turn it over. What are you going to evaluate? Five turnovers? Evaluate that. It is what it is. You can't win football games that way. You move the ball up and down the field and you turn the ball over five times; you can't win football games that way. It's disappointing, obviously."

On his senior group and dealing with close losses
"I think the hard part for me is not for me or for coaches, it's for our seniors. And as I just said in there, next week is senior day and why we're even close is because of our senior class. I get it. I would understand why our fans are frustrated, I would understand why everybody would be frustrated, because we all want to win. What I also have seen behind the closed doors is that I look at our senior class, and you look at them again today. Could Xavier Hutchinson have done any more for this team? Could O'Rien Vance do any more for this team? Could Anthony Johnson do an ymore? Tayvonn Kyle stepped up in a big way today. Kendall Jackson steps up in a big way. And you look at these seniors and what I have seen and witnessed, they're the only reason we're right there."

Iowa State wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson
On if the offense is frustrated at the lack of points
"There's no frustration at all. We hurt ourselves, point blank and period. I feel like if you don't have those crucial turnovers like we had, even early in the game, personally I feel like you're looking at a whole different game. I don't really care how anybody else sees that, but everyone on the field, on this team. If you take away those, you're looking at a completely different game so there's no frustration levels because we hurt ourselves."

On what causes the turnovers
"Some of them we're just not taking care of the ball, I don't want to say doing too much, but knowing what's around you, knowing the scenario, I think that's the biggest thing. Just got to learn from it honestly, that's what I keep telling him."

Iowa State defensive lineman MJ Anderson
On if the losses are because of youth and inexperience
"Personally, I feel like we play complementary football at the end of the day, and you can't say it's youth because we have a lot of young guys that step up and make a lot of good plays on our team. We got a lot of older guys and when the time comes, you make mistakes, but at the end of the day football is about who capitalizes on them. Unfortunately, we made some mistakes that they capitalized on, and the rest is history."

On why the team never gave up
"I feel like if you know the group of guys in the locker room, and just the guys, coaches and staff in the building, we run 11 on offense, defense, special teams. Whatever we got going on, we are a locked in group, and we're going to ride until the wheels fall off."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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