Oklahoma State University Athletics
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Gundy, Cowboys Preview Friday Night Matchup with Kansas State
October 02, 2023 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Mike Gundy and several players met with the media Monday in Stillwater to discuss the Cowboys' upcoming game against Kansas State. Here are some of their comments:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
On the bye week:
"We had good practices. Hopefully the guys got rested up a little bit. We were back at it last night and obviously a full practice today. This is the best team that we've played overall, so we'll really need to step up and compete in all three phases, but the players are excited about practicing and their attitudes have been great, so that's been encouraging as a coach."
On OSU's versatility in the secondary:
"(Cameron Epps) a big body. Obviously, Kendal (Daniels) is a big body. Lyrik (Rawls) was if he's in there. When guys go down like Lyrik, somebody's got to step up and play. Based on the personnel that we're playing each week, it could vary, whether it's a safety or maybe it's a third corner that's in for a nickel. It's just different things we have to do based on who we're playing."
On Dalton Cooper's impact at left tackle:
"He seems to be a little more comfortable. As I mentioned, if we can keep five guys in there healthy practicing, that helps with communication. He played pretty good at that spot in the last game and was one of the reasons that we were able to play well offensively."
On the team's leadership:
"We've got a number of guys. Each year, the team is different. Somebody's got to drive them and pull them along. Coaches can do so much, but to a certain extent the players have to do it themselves. Nickolas Martin, who I've mentioned, is doing a good job. Collin (Oliver) is coming around, he's not a real vocal guy, but his attitude and presence has been really good. They've done a nice job on that side of the ball. (Joe) Michalski is doing a good job offensively keeping the guys going. We always get good things from (Brennan) Presley. Again, he's not real vocal, but we get good leadership from him. As a group, they're practicing really hard and buying into competing like we did last week, which is a good sign."
On the Kansas State defense:
"They do some four-man (front) like we do. There are a lot of similarities in what we're doing. Coverage-wise they're doing a couple of things differently, but the concepts are all pretty much the same. Their safeties are good players, they tackle really well… Front-wise, a different group, but relentless. They play hard. They look very similar to what they did. They were a little more experienced in the box last year, but their backend is very experienced with those safeties."
Quarterback Alan Bowman
On what he sees from Kansas State:
"Definitely a disciplined football team. They will run kind of the same defense that we do at times, they'll also come down at times and play with a nickel. I think they're an extremely disciplined football team. They play well, they play within themselves, they're hard to beat and they don't let anything go over their head. I do think we got a really good game plan. t's going to be fun."
On giving back to the community:
"I actually had a company, Access Scholarships, reach out to me. So, we're going to do something really cool with that. We're basically creating a scholarship in my name to where anybody high school, college, post-grad, anyone that is in the education system that wants to apply can and it's just $1,000 to go towards talking about mental health and stuff like that. I thought that was really cool to work with them and do that. So, it's really cool what we're doing with the community."
Offensive lineman Dalton Cooper
On being versatile on the offensive line:
"I just play where coach puts me. One man goes down, it's the next man up. It's how I grew up. If you can't play, you better learn how to, because we got a lot of experience up here. All of our starters have played a lot of games at a bunch of different positions. It really helps that we're able to be versatile. When someone goes down, we just plug somebody in and have really no drop off in play at all."
On Kansas State's defensive line:
"They are pretty aggressive. They're very good. We just have to stay focused. No mental errors. We just have to know what our job is and communicate. That's a big thing for us, communication. Knowing where we are and where we're going, what gaps we have and what people we have. It's very important for us. We just have to communicate well and know what we're looking at, we'll be good."
Safety Cameron Epps
On the bye week:
"It was pretty good. Tried to stay in. Just watch film. Get ready for the next week… I have some things I need to clean up for sure, but this week I'm hoping I'm fixing that and playing better."
On his adjustment to safety:
"There's definitely a learning curve from (cornerback to safety), but I feel like I adjusted well… It's just a change of mentality. Corner you're outside. You're really on the island. You're man-to-man the whole game. Safety, you're in the box a lot and you're guarding a lot of receivers, a lot of different receivers."
Nose Tackle Collin Clay
On gaining perspective while sidelined with injuries:
"Those two years also let me figure out what I want to do after football. (In the past) I felt like I was putting my identity into football, so when I was asked what I'm going to do after football, I kind of froze a little bit. It let me figure out what I wanted to do after, so I'm getting my master's right now. It was a great deal, unfortunate that it happened, but it also gave me some opportunities to figure out what I wanted to do."
On moving forward after a tough loss in Ames:
"We can't have our heads down. It's unfortunate that we lost, but I felt like we played with great effort and that's one of the main things that we take out of games. It might not look like that on the score, but effort, discipline and toughness are what we live by… Do our 1/11, that's what they tell us. It might not have looked like that on the score, but playing with fanatical effort and just going out there playing, having fun is important."
Head Coach Mike Gundy
On the bye week:
"We had good practices. Hopefully the guys got rested up a little bit. We were back at it last night and obviously a full practice today. This is the best team that we've played overall, so we'll really need to step up and compete in all three phases, but the players are excited about practicing and their attitudes have been great, so that's been encouraging as a coach."
On OSU's versatility in the secondary:
"(Cameron Epps) a big body. Obviously, Kendal (Daniels) is a big body. Lyrik (Rawls) was if he's in there. When guys go down like Lyrik, somebody's got to step up and play. Based on the personnel that we're playing each week, it could vary, whether it's a safety or maybe it's a third corner that's in for a nickel. It's just different things we have to do based on who we're playing."
On Dalton Cooper's impact at left tackle:
"He seems to be a little more comfortable. As I mentioned, if we can keep five guys in there healthy practicing, that helps with communication. He played pretty good at that spot in the last game and was one of the reasons that we were able to play well offensively."
On the team's leadership:
"We've got a number of guys. Each year, the team is different. Somebody's got to drive them and pull them along. Coaches can do so much, but to a certain extent the players have to do it themselves. Nickolas Martin, who I've mentioned, is doing a good job. Collin (Oliver) is coming around, he's not a real vocal guy, but his attitude and presence has been really good. They've done a nice job on that side of the ball. (Joe) Michalski is doing a good job offensively keeping the guys going. We always get good things from (Brennan) Presley. Again, he's not real vocal, but we get good leadership from him. As a group, they're practicing really hard and buying into competing like we did last week, which is a good sign."
On the Kansas State defense:
"They do some four-man (front) like we do. There are a lot of similarities in what we're doing. Coverage-wise they're doing a couple of things differently, but the concepts are all pretty much the same. Their safeties are good players, they tackle really well… Front-wise, a different group, but relentless. They play hard. They look very similar to what they did. They were a little more experienced in the box last year, but their backend is very experienced with those safeties."
Quarterback Alan Bowman
On what he sees from Kansas State:
"Definitely a disciplined football team. They will run kind of the same defense that we do at times, they'll also come down at times and play with a nickel. I think they're an extremely disciplined football team. They play well, they play within themselves, they're hard to beat and they don't let anything go over their head. I do think we got a really good game plan. t's going to be fun."
On giving back to the community:
"I actually had a company, Access Scholarships, reach out to me. So, we're going to do something really cool with that. We're basically creating a scholarship in my name to where anybody high school, college, post-grad, anyone that is in the education system that wants to apply can and it's just $1,000 to go towards talking about mental health and stuff like that. I thought that was really cool to work with them and do that. So, it's really cool what we're doing with the community."
Offensive lineman Dalton Cooper
On being versatile on the offensive line:
"I just play where coach puts me. One man goes down, it's the next man up. It's how I grew up. If you can't play, you better learn how to, because we got a lot of experience up here. All of our starters have played a lot of games at a bunch of different positions. It really helps that we're able to be versatile. When someone goes down, we just plug somebody in and have really no drop off in play at all."
On Kansas State's defensive line:
"They are pretty aggressive. They're very good. We just have to stay focused. No mental errors. We just have to know what our job is and communicate. That's a big thing for us, communication. Knowing where we are and where we're going, what gaps we have and what people we have. It's very important for us. We just have to communicate well and know what we're looking at, we'll be good."
Safety Cameron Epps
On the bye week:
"It was pretty good. Tried to stay in. Just watch film. Get ready for the next week… I have some things I need to clean up for sure, but this week I'm hoping I'm fixing that and playing better."
On his adjustment to safety:
"There's definitely a learning curve from (cornerback to safety), but I feel like I adjusted well… It's just a change of mentality. Corner you're outside. You're really on the island. You're man-to-man the whole game. Safety, you're in the box a lot and you're guarding a lot of receivers, a lot of different receivers."
Nose Tackle Collin Clay
On gaining perspective while sidelined with injuries:
"Those two years also let me figure out what I want to do after football. (In the past) I felt like I was putting my identity into football, so when I was asked what I'm going to do after football, I kind of froze a little bit. It let me figure out what I wanted to do after, so I'm getting my master's right now. It was a great deal, unfortunate that it happened, but it also gave me some opportunities to figure out what I wanted to do."
On moving forward after a tough loss in Ames:
"We can't have our heads down. It's unfortunate that we lost, but I felt like we played with great effort and that's one of the main things that we take out of games. It might not look like that on the score, but effort, discipline and toughness are what we live by… Do our 1/11, that's what they tell us. It might not have looked like that on the score, but playing with fanatical effort and just going out there playing, having fun is important."
Players Mentioned
QB
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NT
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OL
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S
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LB
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