Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy, Cowboys Talk Start of Season and Bye Week Goals During Media Availability
September 20, 2022 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – With the Oklahoma State football team having a bye this week, Mike Gundy and members of the Cowboys met with the media following Tuesday's practice. The Cowboys discussed the first three weeks of the season and preparation for their next opponent during the bye week. Here is some of what they had to say:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening statement:
"We have today's practice, tomorrow's practice, and Thursday's practice and then they're off for the weekend until Sunday evening. It gives us a chance to work out all the young guys. We had them run a scrimmage at the beginning of practice and they'll probably work 10-12 plays at the end, then work on the base fundamentals and then start to get into Baylor a little bit later on."
On how the team prepares for the first road-game:
"We work with sound year-round, all spring and all camp and I think that's the best way to simulate playing on the road. Maturity is an advantage of playing on the road. Hopefully we can instill the similarities of playing on the road and at home. Basically, it's about 120 of us versus 65,000 of them, so there's not a lot of it. We try to simulate sound and such in practice."
On how they take advantage of the bye week heading into Baylor next week:
"We study all of last year's game's and obviously this year's games. Same staff, same coordinators, a lot of similarities and the game will look pretty much the same for the most part. If you take those two games, the way it's played, they really haven't changed anything they do, and we haven't really changed anything we do for the most part."
On how the team played last week after watching film:
"Our guys played well, they were focused, and we were able to minimize some missed assignments. Our tackling was okay, not great, we still need to tackle better. It's one of the concerns I had mentioned before the first game because we didn't have scrimmages or anything at all. So, I'm really concerned about that and we have to work really hard at tackling the next two weeks. Overall, it was pretty much what I saw."
On Spencer Sanders' role in the offense:
"He can do whatever he wants in our offense, we don't back him off any. His first two years here, we were minimal with some of the plays we called, we wanted to put him in situations where he felt comfortable. He's had a lot of reps so he's comfortable with pretty much anything in this offense."
On Braydon Johnson's performance this year:
"He's mature, he's very appreciative of where he's at. He lost a year and sometimes when we lose things that we have and all take for granted, you learn to appreciate it and I think he feels that way and he's working really hard. Those veteran guys, Tyler Lacy, him (Braydon Johnson) Spencer (Sanders), Woody (Hunter Woodard), Preston (Wilson), (Braden) Cassity, etc., those mature guys are working really hard and that really helps come Saturday's."
Offensive Lineman Preston Wilson
On watching film:
"Film every week is something that's huge for me. Every Monday morning, I always go up in the film room for about two hours or so. I do a good scout's study for the week, bring a cheeseburger up there and get after it. I look for little hints and little keys such as where my guy is going to be lining up, what's their primary pass rush move, did they slant gaps, what kind of stunts can I key in on, just basic things that Coach will probably end up telling us, but I want to know going into the meeting exactly what they're going to do."
On the most challenging defense so far:
"Each week there's a different challenge. Like I was saying, depending on the people you're playing, some guys are good at certain things and they're not as good at others and you can learn and watch film and take advantage of the things they're not as good at. Some guys are good at not getting reached, keeping the outside contained, some guys are pass rush guys. Everybody is different so everybody each week is giving a different challenge. We face great opponents so it's a good in and out each week."
On watching Baylor this week:
"I'll probably watch the full game this week when they play. Come back in and you know, we have a bye week, so I came in yesterday, watched film and now we'll have another week to prep so I'll redo the same cycle again. We're not going to use this bye week as a disadvantage, we'll make it an advantage. Take as much time as we can and prep like any other team would. That's what we need to do to get the job done.
Safety Jason Taylor II
On how the first three games prepared him for conference play:
"I think it has prepared us well. I think that obviously there's more at stake now in conference play. All the teams we're about to play we're familiar with and we've been playing them for years before I was even here, they were playing the same teams, so you go out there in conference play and just buckle up."
On what he's learned about the defense so far:
"I learned that we are gradually getting better. I know that some teams you go 3-0 and some people plateau but I see us keep advancing. I think that we're going to be able to do that."
On how Kendal Daniels has improved:
"He's a great player so I think that he's going to advance at a faster pace than most people. He's doing a great job and we're going to keep counting on him to do a great job."
Wide Receiver Brennan Presley
On how well he thinks the team is doing right now:
"It was a fun three games, I'm glad we're undefeated. We learned a lot about some players on the team, especially the new people. As far as right now we're focused on playing clean football. We've made some of our goals, but we have to do it on a consistent basis."
On keeping the 2021 Big 12 Championship game out of his mind:
"Not really, it could either go two ways, you could use it to your advantage and let it motivate you on the field or it could be detrimental to you. If you use it to your advantage, it can be a good thing. You can use it to bring your team together because the whole team collectively was a part of it. Also, you have to go out there and not think it's a rematch but just that it's us versus them."
On if it's different when prepping for a road game:
"Not really because you always want to attack practice the same way. Everyone knows it's Baylor so there is that extra oomph to practice well, but I think we're just trying to attack this week since it is a bye week. You can get unfocused because you don't have a game, but I think we're just extra focused in terms of going hard and working harder on the bye week."
Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening statement:
"We have today's practice, tomorrow's practice, and Thursday's practice and then they're off for the weekend until Sunday evening. It gives us a chance to work out all the young guys. We had them run a scrimmage at the beginning of practice and they'll probably work 10-12 plays at the end, then work on the base fundamentals and then start to get into Baylor a little bit later on."
On how the team prepares for the first road-game:
"We work with sound year-round, all spring and all camp and I think that's the best way to simulate playing on the road. Maturity is an advantage of playing on the road. Hopefully we can instill the similarities of playing on the road and at home. Basically, it's about 120 of us versus 65,000 of them, so there's not a lot of it. We try to simulate sound and such in practice."
On how they take advantage of the bye week heading into Baylor next week:
"We study all of last year's game's and obviously this year's games. Same staff, same coordinators, a lot of similarities and the game will look pretty much the same for the most part. If you take those two games, the way it's played, they really haven't changed anything they do, and we haven't really changed anything we do for the most part."
On how the team played last week after watching film:
"Our guys played well, they were focused, and we were able to minimize some missed assignments. Our tackling was okay, not great, we still need to tackle better. It's one of the concerns I had mentioned before the first game because we didn't have scrimmages or anything at all. So, I'm really concerned about that and we have to work really hard at tackling the next two weeks. Overall, it was pretty much what I saw."
On Spencer Sanders' role in the offense:
"He can do whatever he wants in our offense, we don't back him off any. His first two years here, we were minimal with some of the plays we called, we wanted to put him in situations where he felt comfortable. He's had a lot of reps so he's comfortable with pretty much anything in this offense."
On Braydon Johnson's performance this year:
"He's mature, he's very appreciative of where he's at. He lost a year and sometimes when we lose things that we have and all take for granted, you learn to appreciate it and I think he feels that way and he's working really hard. Those veteran guys, Tyler Lacy, him (Braydon Johnson) Spencer (Sanders), Woody (Hunter Woodard), Preston (Wilson), (Braden) Cassity, etc., those mature guys are working really hard and that really helps come Saturday's."
Offensive Lineman Preston Wilson
On watching film:
"Film every week is something that's huge for me. Every Monday morning, I always go up in the film room for about two hours or so. I do a good scout's study for the week, bring a cheeseburger up there and get after it. I look for little hints and little keys such as where my guy is going to be lining up, what's their primary pass rush move, did they slant gaps, what kind of stunts can I key in on, just basic things that Coach will probably end up telling us, but I want to know going into the meeting exactly what they're going to do."
On the most challenging defense so far:
"Each week there's a different challenge. Like I was saying, depending on the people you're playing, some guys are good at certain things and they're not as good at others and you can learn and watch film and take advantage of the things they're not as good at. Some guys are good at not getting reached, keeping the outside contained, some guys are pass rush guys. Everybody is different so everybody each week is giving a different challenge. We face great opponents so it's a good in and out each week."
On watching Baylor this week:
"I'll probably watch the full game this week when they play. Come back in and you know, we have a bye week, so I came in yesterday, watched film and now we'll have another week to prep so I'll redo the same cycle again. We're not going to use this bye week as a disadvantage, we'll make it an advantage. Take as much time as we can and prep like any other team would. That's what we need to do to get the job done.
Safety Jason Taylor II
On how the first three games prepared him for conference play:
"I think it has prepared us well. I think that obviously there's more at stake now in conference play. All the teams we're about to play we're familiar with and we've been playing them for years before I was even here, they were playing the same teams, so you go out there in conference play and just buckle up."
On what he's learned about the defense so far:
"I learned that we are gradually getting better. I know that some teams you go 3-0 and some people plateau but I see us keep advancing. I think that we're going to be able to do that."
On how Kendal Daniels has improved:
"He's a great player so I think that he's going to advance at a faster pace than most people. He's doing a great job and we're going to keep counting on him to do a great job."
Wide Receiver Brennan Presley
On how well he thinks the team is doing right now:
"It was a fun three games, I'm glad we're undefeated. We learned a lot about some players on the team, especially the new people. As far as right now we're focused on playing clean football. We've made some of our goals, but we have to do it on a consistent basis."
On keeping the 2021 Big 12 Championship game out of his mind:
"Not really, it could either go two ways, you could use it to your advantage and let it motivate you on the field or it could be detrimental to you. If you use it to your advantage, it can be a good thing. You can use it to bring your team together because the whole team collectively was a part of it. Also, you have to go out there and not think it's a rematch but just that it's us versus them."
On if it's different when prepping for a road game:
"Not really because you always want to attack practice the same way. Everyone knows it's Baylor so there is that extra oomph to practice well, but I think we're just trying to attack this week since it is a bye week. You can get unfocused because you don't have a game, but I think we're just extra focused in terms of going hard and working harder on the bye week."
Players Mentioned
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OL
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