Postgame Quotes: OSU vs. Kansas

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy on…

On the environment at Boone Pickens Stadium:
"Really good football game. Two pretty good college football teams playing, and a lot of excitement for everybody. The crowd was unbelievable again. The support, the crowd, students, the game day atmosphere here is better now than it ever has been, since I came here in 1986. This is three or four games in a row where it's been fantastic out there. Really loud. In the fourth quarter, when the defense is on the field, they're loud. Paddle people are working. And it looks good. Very impressed with the support of the people."

On the play of the defense:
"We played a really good game, other than giving up four or five big pass plays. The issue with him (Kansas QB Jason Bean) is he scrambles around and is tough to cover for an extended period of time. But, for the most part, we wanted to take away their ability to run the football. That's what they do best. And we did, right. 30 carries for 90 yards. So we held them to three yards-a-carry, and they had one pretty long run, which -- I know they all count -- but overall, if you take the number of attempts without that one and the yards-per-gain, we got them in good situations the majority of the game."

On how he's feeling overall:
"I told the players that they need to enjoy this tonight and tomorrow. We've got to come back Monday and go to work. It's the same-old, same-old… I thought the coaches coached well. I thought they had good game plans. I thought the players listened on the sideline. They were able to listen and absorb information and take it back to the field and execute it. Those are the things we talk about all the time, so they were very good in that area. So, it was a good win. (I'm) proud of the guys, proud of the coaches, It worked out well for us. Now we've got to move forward."

On the team's dramatic offensive improvement since the start of Big 12 play:
"We have to identify that (and) say, 'Okay, we were bad.' Then tell the players 'We were bad. We apologize. Let's start over. Give us a chance, and then we'll start to migrate in the direction we need to be on both sides of the ball, scheme wise. And that's what we've done. You guys have seen us. I thought we felt pretty good about what we're doing rushing the ball. Now we're going to stick with it and continue to do it. We think that's who we are, and that's what we've done the last month at practice and in these games."

On the defensive line's ability to generate pressure:
"The last three games we've played, we are covering guys up and blocking guys. See we sacked him (KU quarterback Jason Bean) four times today… I don't think anybody else has gotten that close to sacking those guys, their quarterbacks, four times in one game. That's not easy to do."

Oklahoma State Defensive Coordinator Bryan Nardo…

On the message the halftime message to the players:
"I think the first message to our players was not to panic. If you go back to the touchdowns they scored in the first half, they got a scramble drill running empty, after they got a first down. We lost eyes on the guy for a second and that's okay. They had the tempo after a third down where they hit the tight end. You've got to see it. We practiced it during the week, (but you) still have to (be able to) see it. Kendal (Daniels) got an eye violation on one, because he was fitting the run so aggressively. Everything that was happening to us in the first half that was negative was self-inflicted. It wasn't anything we needed to panic about, and I think we told our guys that. The biggest thing we wanted to adjust was to get off the field on third down. We have the coverage in our hands. We've got to make sure we're challenging people at the sticks. Every single touchdown, I feel like it was a third-and-long and they converted, which allowed them to go get a first down. We're in man coverage. Man coverage is a great call for us right now on third down. Very effective. We can activate Collin Oliver, we can rush the passer, we can do everything we need to do. We can't let that happen, and they knew it. Every adjustment we tried to make there; our kids knew they could cover these guys. We can do what we need to do, but we just got to come out and be ourselves in the second half.

On second-half defensive adjustments:
"One adjustment we did make was on early downs. I was a little bit shocked. I thought we stopped the run very well with what they wanted to do. I was a little bit shocked at the amount of times they tried to throw it early. Maybe that's a result of him feeling like he had success and could do that to us, but the run game wasn't nearly as established as I expected it to be. We had a game plan of, if they're going to run the option, you don't want to activate and blitz Collin Oliver, because then you're going to lose another guy who's standing up that could run after the quarterback. Second half, I said if they're going to line up and try to throw the ball at this personnel grouping, we are going to activate Collin Oliver and we'll adjust the coverage off that. It's stuff that we have in our game plan. It's stuff that we have in our playbook. It's something that was brought to our attention. Coach (Joe Bob) Clements did a great job of getting it communicated down to the linebackers. One thing I wish we would've done is to have more coverage variations off of it, but it worked out really well for us.

On moving Collin Oliver to a pass-rusher in the middle of the game:
"It's very difficult. And he's very good at it. He's a natural at it. We're very blessed to have him. The thing that people don't think about is, when you want to do that, you're taking one peg and moving them to the line of scrimmage, how does that affect the other 10?

Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn…

On Brennan Presley's flea flicker touchdown reception:
"He's a late check-down, so if it was covered up for any reason, which (Jaden) Bray was coming across the formation and they completely hugged Bray all the way across. He (Presley) is going to be wide open, just sitting on the backside. The backside defender grabbed him, but (we're) fortunate that (Alan) Bowman had the awareness, Presley had the awareness to shuffle off to the side. It's not something you practice all the time. We don't drop a flea flicker to throw it to the flat, but they remembered it was rolling and it was good."

On the redzone production:
"We spent, certainly, a lot of time working on it, but our guys just made plays in that area. Sometimes you make them, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you come in afterwards and are mad you almost had it, just break a shoe-string tackle or call this play at that time, instead of the other way around where you walk off feeling like crap. This week, we hit the one to Presley at the end, on the little sweep, if you will, and it creased. If they rolled a backer around there and knocked him (Presley) off the field, you guys would be calling me dumb. But it didn't work out like that. So, yay, this week it worked. That's kind of the way it goes for coaches and players."

On if the decisions to kick field goals when it's a close fourth down upsets him:
"It seems like we're always short by one or two (yards). Yes and no. We have a tremendous kicking game, so I'm good with piecing some of that together. Do I want to go for it sometimes? For sure, roll the dice and all that. But, I trust what Coach Gundy believes in our kicking game. I do, too, all the way. It's worked out for us, so we'll just keep on doing it."

OSU safety Kendall Daniels on…

On the defense's day:
"It wasn't a rollercoaster type day. I would put the first half, some of the plays, on me, because I had bad eyes. Everyone else had been playing good. Those big ones were on me. So, I felt like, as long as I had my eyes in the right spot that we would be in a good position to win."

On what changed in the second half...
"The energy was great. Everyone was hyped up by the fans and Terry Miller being honored. Everyone just needed to have time to sit and calm down and figure out how to quit beating ourselves. I had to tell everyone that it was on me, the plays they hit big on. As a leader, I can't go out there and let my team down. So, I had to go out there and get them back. Once you get those stops in a row, it's relieving."

On his Interception...
"It was man coverage, and he (Bean) had trusted his guys. They had made big plays all day. I respect him for that. He just threw it up. It was a 50-50 ball, and I had to come down with it. We started playing our brand of football. Once we started getting off the field on third down the game changed."

OSU quarterback Alan Bowman…

On the offensive line injuries...
"We have had a lot of guys play on the line this year, obviously. We didn't blink at all when someone went down. Those guys have played together a lot, and they have had to, because of all the injuries up front. We practice that way, so when it happens like it did today, we are ready for the moment."

On Ollie Gordon making defenses mad...
"That's how he plays and what gets him going and makes him such a great player. It gives him fuel as well as jumpstarts the rest of us. Specifically, the screen call in the fourth quarter was huge for us and him. It was a great play call. I loved it. A play action fake with a screen out the backside. I needed to put some air on it and hope he made a play. I didn't even see it. I just knew he made the play by the sound of the crowd. Great play by him that fueled all of us."

On the state of the team...
"Oklahoma State football is going to take care of the ball on offense and run the ball and will dink and dunk off of that all the way down the field. On defense, we're going to create turnovers. We haven't turned the ball over in two games and our defense has forced like seven or eight. We are going to win games doing that."

OSU running back Ollie Gordon…

On celebrating with the fans after the game…
"We talked to (former Cowboy and current director of player development) Richetti Jones. He works with the staff. He talked to us about how, after the alma mater, how players used to jump in the stands, but I have never seen that since I have been here. I liked it. It was pretty lit. You know, the fans showed love. We love and appreciate them for always being loud for us. So, shoutout to them. I like it when they chant my name. That's pretty cool too."

On his big day…
"I couldn't do it without my guys up front (and) my quarterback being so great. I feel great. We are firing on all cylinders. I have been playing with swag. We are working together better than we have before. Everyone is handling their 1/11^th. My versatility -- to catch the ball, run it and block -- has been huge for me. With more carries, I have been able to analyze the defense more."

On the team's recent surge following a slow start:
"We have come a long way. We never panicked. We knew that, when we handled business, this would be how things would go.

On Terry Miller joining the OSU Ring of Honor:
"That's my guy. On media day we took a couple pictures. He told me before the game I needed to go out and do my thing, so I went out and did it for him. That's my guy. Oklahoma State is RBU."

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold…

Overall thoughts on the game:
"They were the more physical team today, but at the same time, I thought we answered that at times. When we got stops, we didn't move the ball. We allowed explosive plays, and I think we showed, at times offensively, our ability to be balanced. What I mean by that is, we can move the ball a lot of different ways. The consistency wasn't there. We had trouble slowing them down, but we battled back and took the lead. Again, [Oklahoma State] is playing with confidence now. You could see they were going to try to create some things, right off the bat, to create some momentum. And they did."

On the play of quarterback Jason Bean:
"I think he struggled a little bit there late in the fourth, obviously, but before that, I thought he played outstanding. I thought he made some really nice throws and created some things with his feet. But there are some plays we wish we all had back. I can't tell you, on the tips, if there is a window or somewhere else."

On his message to the team after the loss:
"I'm still proud of them. We've got a lot of ball to play. We played better, especially in the third quarter, than we did in the first half, but we have to own some things. Like I say to them every week, ultimately it was my fault that we went for it on fourth and five. It was my decision. So, if we look at it that way, and if that's one that it is, then it's my responsibility as a head coach."

On the play of his defense:
"I mean, you give up 30-whatever points it is and 500-something yards, I don't know, we've got to be better in some areas…. We played decent at times, and then there's other things we've got to be better at. Last week, for you guys that were here, I talked about how well we played in all three phases. I don't know if I can say that today. And give credit to Oklahoma State. Just like I said at the beginning of the week, [Oklahoma State] has found some confidence. They've found a rhythm, and what they can do well and how to make it work. Credit to them. I'm not going to say that everything was something else. You've got to give credit to the opponent, too."

Kansas Quarterback Jason Bean…

On his initial postgame thoughts:
"Days like these are tough, but I feel like this day is something we are going to look back on and say it made us better and opened our eyes to the things we need to correct. We also played pretty well. We just missed out on a couple of opportunities."

On if OSU's second-half adjustments affected his game:
"No, not really. They were making plays, but, once again, it falls back on me trusting my reads and making sure I'm throwing it to the right guys. (We) just have to get back to the film room and continue to get better."

Kansas Tight End Mason Fairchild…

On his own performance and what positives he can carry forward:
"We have a tendency to look at the things we did wrong, and I'm my biggest critic, so I'm not going to pay attention to what I did right at all. I'm going to pay attention to what I did wrong and work to fix those problems with my game."

On Coach Leipold's postgame message:
"Stick together. We can't let this loss turn into another one. We have a bye week to get things straight, but again, we can't let one loss turn into two."

On the decision to go for it on 4th and 5:
"I was glad the decision was made to go for it. We all have full confidence in what we can do, but we have to get open and we have to execute in those moments. We have to validate Coach's belief in us."

Kansas Defensive Lineman Austin Booker…

On what the defense needs to work on during the bye next week:
"Definitely, run stop. They had way too many yards on the ground. And then it was comebacks, quick passes, and screens. So we have to use this next week to redirect those things and be ready for the following week."

On if the bye week is coming at a good time or not:
"I feel like it is coming at the perfect time. We're also on fall break, so we'll have less distractions, and we'll really be able to zone in on next week."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Alan Bowman

Collin Oliver

Brennan Presley

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