Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: OSU vs. Cincinnati
October 28, 2023 | Cowboy Football
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OSU head coach Mike Gundy…
Opening statement:
"I know it was a little rainy and chilly -- but it was awesome. The crowd got into the game and were very engaged with the team, and it helped us a lot. Offensively and defensively, we made really good adjustments at halftime. I was pleased with our coaching in this game. At halftime, I thought our plans were okay, not great. And then we made adjustments on both sides of the ball. There were really good adjustments by both staffs, and it worked well for us in the second half. We were able to pick up and rush the ball a little bit. They played run defense, a little bit like we used to see in the old days. Safeties were low -- one at 10 and one at eight -- everybody else playing run. Which is smart on their part. That's what we've done and done well lately. They came in with a plan to stop the run and see if we could throw it. We were able to get some throws. It was nice for Leon (Johnson III) to step up and make some plays. We're down some guys at the wide receiver position, and he came in to make some plays. The couple adjustments I mentioned helped us rush the ball better in the second half. We did a better job at tackling and condensing the running game from a defensive standpoint in the second half. It was a good win for us, and I told the team they can enjoy this one tonight, and (then) we have to go back to work. In college football, you celebrate a lot in the locker room, and sometimes it's not as happy. (But) then you have to go back the next day and get ready to keep rolling."
On halftime adjustments to boost the running game:
"We ran okay in the first half. We made a couple adjustments in our run-game concepts, and there were places for (Ollie Gordon) to run. His crease was two or three yards wide. They've done that now -- our offensive line has done that -- for four or five weeks now. We're blocking and covering guys up, creating some holes. He's running, and when he gets through there, he's running to be physical. He's running away. His vision is really good right now. That was a good run defense. Their team is a good run team… If somebody were to say (before the game) that we could run for 315 yards, I would have said 'not so fast.' We broke one in the end to Ollie (Gordon) there that pushed the numbers up. It's pretty safe that we've rushed consistently for 250, but we're blocking them. We're covering them up and we're blocking them."
On defensive adjustments after Cincinnati's strong first half:
"(We) made some adjustments in the way that we were handling the running game. They got us on the insides of the old school lead zone in the first half. We missed some tackles again. To me, it looked like we missed five or six tackles. We didn't really miss any in the second half. In the first half we did. Twice, we had a guy in position, and they just didn't make the play. But we made an adjustment on their lead zone concept, and it helped us out. We were able to pressure the quarterback in the second half, and it made a big difference."
On a breakout performance from wideout Leon Johnson III:
"I felt like he would play really good, but I'm not going to say that I thought he would step up for the first time and go for 150. So, I think we're pleasantly, kind of surprised. He's always practiced well. You have to give him credit. One thing that's difficult for college players to do to stay engaged and practice hard and compete, when you think 'Saturday, I might not get to play that much.' That's hard. We talk to the players about that all the time, so that you never know when you're going to get to play. But it's still hard to tell a guy 'I need you to run, bust it in practice, watch extra tape and all these things. Oh, and you might not play very much.' And he's done a good job at that. When we needed him at West Virginia, he stepped up and helped us. Then he practiced all week and played well today. That's a real challenge for young people nowadays to understand the commitment it takes, even though you might not think you're going to play very much on Saturday."
On where he sees the Cowboys within the conference entering November:
"It's week-to-week. I don't need to repeat myself (about) the parity across college football. This league is no different. You have to practice well, play well and try to minimize turnovers, play good on special teams and give yourself a chance to win. I think that college football is moving forward now, as we've turned into the NFL. It's going to be week-to-week. Fortunately, our guys have played good over the last four or five weeks. They believe in themselves. They're practicing very well. I don't have to say anything to them. They have a high level of enthusiasm and energy which has become contagious. Good things are happening. As long as they stay humble, stay hungry and not expect anything, they'll have a chance to compete and play well in all the games."
On OSU's recent dominance in the run game:
"Obviously we're able to run the ball effectively now over the last three or four weeks. Prior to that, we couldn't run it a lick. We're getting a little better at running the ball. We're covering people up and we're a little more physical, and the backs are running physical. It was nice to get Elijah (Collins) in there tonight. He did a nice job running. Success is contagious. Now they all think they can run good behind our line and get through some creases. When you start to do things like that, it works out well for you and helps you in the long run. It's only if we practice well this week. We're not good enough to not practice well and then perform well on Saturday. We're not that good."
Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo…
On first-quarter adjustments:
"I'm not going to sit here and say it's something that we did differently. The speed of their outside zone is very hard to simulate and I think our guys, in their first couple drives, it really got going. They're really good at it. It's their best play that they run, and the second drive -- the long run -- that's kind of a perfect storm of worst-case scenario. That was something they had shown, and we wanted to try and bring some pressure, move away from where the outside zone was going, and it just fell off. After that, I thought that, once we got used to the speed of how quick those linemen were going to go lateral, how their backs are going to stay on their path and hit it, I thought our kids did really well."
On taking the option away from Cincinnati:
"It's something they hadn't really done since BYU, so we were kind of unsure if that's who they were going to try and be against us. They've really only done that like eight times. So, we repped it, we had a plan for it and we were ready for it. Credit our kids for coming out and executing it as well as they did, because it was one of those where -- they do this, this and this, but they also might do this -- so we had to make sure we were ready for it. I was pretty pleased with them on that."
On how the defense responded after halftime:
"Our players have done that, for the most part, every game. You look at the Kansas game, our message to them was 'Don't panic, we're going to make some plays and just go be who you are.' They came back and did the exact same thing today. We're up 10-7 right now. We know fit the stuff better, we know we're in position to make plays and just to finish when you're there. Our kids have not flinched. I'm talking down to the coaches on the sidelines asking 'Hey, how are they handing this adjustment?' 'What about this adjustment?' and they say 'Coach, they are all locked in, all eyes on us.' There hasn't been one situation where it's 'What are we doing?' The mentality of our players, and I'm sure it's the exact same way on the offensive side of the ball, is positive. We can get through this together. We can compete and build. We're going to be in a position to win this football game."
Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn…
On Ollie Gordon's development from last season:
"If you stand behind him in practice, there is muscle everywhere, but he's still a long guy. I hate to say awkward, but he's got this awkwardness that it's hard to tackle, and he's got enough speed to put it in the endzone like we saw tonight. Right now, he's playing with a lot of confidence. The offensive line is playing with a lot of confidence. It was a battle, honest to God, it was a battle in August for the starting running back job. I think all of our backs did a great job. We had some guys nicked up through camp and that kind of delayed the decision we made for the starting back, and we said 'Hey, we need to make a decision that is best for us and moving us into a comfortable spot."
On Leon Johnson III's performance:
"Huge. Leon stepping up tonight was massive. We needed it. There were a lot of guys out. It's no secret, I've wanted to redshirt him, because I think he is a really good player with a lot of upside and having him back here in the Orange and Black next season is the best thing for us and would be the best chance for him. Moving forward, he's got a chance, and we saw that tonight. He stepped forward, made some plays for us, and now I'm stuck."
On getting Brennan Presley more involved:
"It's fun. We have a blast sitting in our staff room with the offensive coaches trying to design stuff and find stuff. We're raiders, just like everyone else in the country. We're raiders trying to find things that suit us offensively, and all the coaches go to work trying to find us plays that we can fit in. And we know BP can run. It's been fun, just watching ball, spending lots of hours going over tape and finding things that we think our guys can do, too. You can come up with some things out of air, which we do every week. There's a series of plays that we're just going to come up with, but there's also a series of plays that we're going to steal. That's just how it is, when you have a blueprint of how to run that play, it makes it a little bit easier to get it installed quickly, and that's what we've done."
Oklahoma State wide receiver Leon Johnson III…
On building chemistry with quarterback Alan Bowman:
"Since me and Bowman were new at the same time, it was kind of like we were all in the same boat. If you're a newcomer or a freshman, we all live together. We have a newcomer group. So, in that area, we have nothing to do but really talk to each other and get to know each other, so it was easy to get to know everybody because everybody is in the same situation."
On whether he saw tonight's performance coming:
"I knew I had the ability to, but I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. But I'm happy with the way everything happened."
The difference a month has made for OSU's outlook:
"I wouldn't say anybody on the team got down but, during the bye week, (Coach) Gundy came in here and we were watching past hype videos of us in the locker rooms when we were winning, and he said, 'I haven't seen much of this in this group yet.' So we all agreed our energy had been down in the locker room. It's not that we were all thinking that we were bad or anything, it's just that the energy wasn't there. After he showed us that, we were all ready. That's been the biggest change, just our energy."
OSU linebacker Nickolas Martin…
On second half adjustments by the defense:
"It was a few plays that we were there to make the tackle, but we just weren't wrapping up. It may have been a little wet, but no excuses. So, we just fixed that and made the plays, and it really showed up in the second half. We started executing."
On the physicality of the game:
"It definitely comes down to who wants it more. This is a violent game. You've got to play with aggression. It's based on war, so you've got to batten down the hatches and take it to them"
On if he is surprised by the team's recent success:
"Not really, because we expected it. We knew how good we could be, and I'm just really proud of my guys and how we attack every week [and] how we attack every team. We just keep showing up and keep getting better every week. This was our expectation. Our expectation is always Big 12 Championship, so we're working toward that and we're going to keep getting better every week."
OSU defensive end Anthony Goodlow…
On the confidence level of the defense
"I would say it's very high, especially with how we've been practicing each week. Since the beginning of the season, I would say it's definitely growing each week."
On if the defense made a statement:
"Definitely. I feel like with all the past games, it's been close games. But just us going out there and stopping them on defense and scoring very well on offense, that definitely made a statement."
On the feeling going into his first Bedlam:
"It means a lot. Growing up as a kid and watching this game and it being a big-time rivalry for my family. Some of my family are OU fans, some of my family are Oklahoma State fans. It's exciting to be able to play in it."
OSU running back Ollie Gordon II…
On his last touchdown run to go over 200 yards:
"I got the hand off and it was really the Red Sea parting. I saw our tight ends and fullbacks opening gaps and, once I saw all the green grass, I was like, 'I got to run. I got to run.' This was for the big guys up front, because they blocked their butts off, so I might as well run."
On being mentioned with Barry Sanders:
"Like I said, it's great to be in that talk with him, because you look at him: Heisman winner, just a great running back, all-together great guy. So, it's great."
On how far he's come since the beginning of the season:
"It's just the beginning of the season. It was non-conference play, so I wasn't really worried about it too much. And after that third game, I had a meeting with the coaches and they just told me get ready to carry more."
OSU quarterback Alan Bowman…
On how he handled early-season adversity:
"It's just been an up and down career for me. So something like this at the beginning of the season wasn't anything new to me. I didn't flinch in any way, just showed up every day and worked hard. That's all I know how to do and obviously we've rattled off four in a row."
On his thoughts going into Bedlam:
"It's going to be fun. I think the better both teams are, the better game is going to be, and the bigger the atmosphere. That's what we want, right? I think to pack out Boone Pickens Stadium is going to be unbelievable. I can't wait for it. It's going to be a lot of fun."
On the offense peaking at the right time:
"Just confidence, right? I think confidence breeds success, and I think the more confident we get, the better we'll play. And the more we win leading up to it, then the better we're going to feel. I think it's going to be good for us."
Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield…
Opening statement:
"I'm proud of the way our guys came out in the first half. We felt at halftime we were writing the game (with a score of) 10-7 we felt really good about it…. Disastrous third quarter… we came out and did not play very well at all… They go score, then we throw an interception, then they go score. We never could stop the momentum."
On OSU's performance:
"I give credit to those guys. (Ollie) Gordon got his carries in the second half and hit some big time runs. We were missing tackles, and he was bouncing off three to four guys getting big time runs. Obviously, he's a good player…Their quarterback (Alan Bowman) made some great throws, and their receivers had some great catches. I give credit to them. We had a bad second half and there is no other way to slice it."
On how he keeps the locker room together after losses:
"It's not easy. It's very difficult… We have had times this season where we played really good and thought we could compete with anyone out there. Other times, we don't look good. We have to work to get better and get players in the right positions."
Cincinnati defensive lineman Dontay Corleone…
On growing after a loss like this:
"I have got to play better as leader, so I want to take this game, as this is my fault. But I'm not going to quit on the season. I want people to show up to our games. We need to finish the season strong."
On the defense's second-half struggles against Ollie Gordon after bottling him up in the first half:
"He's a good player, but we did not execute at the end… We've got to work on finishing strongly, coming together as a collective unit -- all of us -- and just to keep going, finishing the game."
Cincinnati offensive lineman Gavin Gerhardt…
On staying together after a loss like this:
"I think we just need to, regardless. If we lose momentum, we've just got to stick together. I think, take that to heart and really embrace that."
On what OSU did to slow down the Bearcat offense:
"They didn't really do too much different but, I think, once we lost that momentum, it just kind of -- we need to be better. If it's a situation where we lose that, we've got to bounce back. We've got to bring the energy."
- OSU players
OSU head coach Mike Gundy…
Opening statement:
"I know it was a little rainy and chilly -- but it was awesome. The crowd got into the game and were very engaged with the team, and it helped us a lot. Offensively and defensively, we made really good adjustments at halftime. I was pleased with our coaching in this game. At halftime, I thought our plans were okay, not great. And then we made adjustments on both sides of the ball. There were really good adjustments by both staffs, and it worked well for us in the second half. We were able to pick up and rush the ball a little bit. They played run defense, a little bit like we used to see in the old days. Safeties were low -- one at 10 and one at eight -- everybody else playing run. Which is smart on their part. That's what we've done and done well lately. They came in with a plan to stop the run and see if we could throw it. We were able to get some throws. It was nice for Leon (Johnson III) to step up and make some plays. We're down some guys at the wide receiver position, and he came in to make some plays. The couple adjustments I mentioned helped us rush the ball better in the second half. We did a better job at tackling and condensing the running game from a defensive standpoint in the second half. It was a good win for us, and I told the team they can enjoy this one tonight, and (then) we have to go back to work. In college football, you celebrate a lot in the locker room, and sometimes it's not as happy. (But) then you have to go back the next day and get ready to keep rolling."
On halftime adjustments to boost the running game:
"We ran okay in the first half. We made a couple adjustments in our run-game concepts, and there were places for (Ollie Gordon) to run. His crease was two or three yards wide. They've done that now -- our offensive line has done that -- for four or five weeks now. We're blocking and covering guys up, creating some holes. He's running, and when he gets through there, he's running to be physical. He's running away. His vision is really good right now. That was a good run defense. Their team is a good run team… If somebody were to say (before the game) that we could run for 315 yards, I would have said 'not so fast.' We broke one in the end to Ollie (Gordon) there that pushed the numbers up. It's pretty safe that we've rushed consistently for 250, but we're blocking them. We're covering them up and we're blocking them."
On defensive adjustments after Cincinnati's strong first half:
"(We) made some adjustments in the way that we were handling the running game. They got us on the insides of the old school lead zone in the first half. We missed some tackles again. To me, it looked like we missed five or six tackles. We didn't really miss any in the second half. In the first half we did. Twice, we had a guy in position, and they just didn't make the play. But we made an adjustment on their lead zone concept, and it helped us out. We were able to pressure the quarterback in the second half, and it made a big difference."
On a breakout performance from wideout Leon Johnson III:
"I felt like he would play really good, but I'm not going to say that I thought he would step up for the first time and go for 150. So, I think we're pleasantly, kind of surprised. He's always practiced well. You have to give him credit. One thing that's difficult for college players to do to stay engaged and practice hard and compete, when you think 'Saturday, I might not get to play that much.' That's hard. We talk to the players about that all the time, so that you never know when you're going to get to play. But it's still hard to tell a guy 'I need you to run, bust it in practice, watch extra tape and all these things. Oh, and you might not play very much.' And he's done a good job at that. When we needed him at West Virginia, he stepped up and helped us. Then he practiced all week and played well today. That's a real challenge for young people nowadays to understand the commitment it takes, even though you might not think you're going to play very much on Saturday."
On where he sees the Cowboys within the conference entering November:
"It's week-to-week. I don't need to repeat myself (about) the parity across college football. This league is no different. You have to practice well, play well and try to minimize turnovers, play good on special teams and give yourself a chance to win. I think that college football is moving forward now, as we've turned into the NFL. It's going to be week-to-week. Fortunately, our guys have played good over the last four or five weeks. They believe in themselves. They're practicing very well. I don't have to say anything to them. They have a high level of enthusiasm and energy which has become contagious. Good things are happening. As long as they stay humble, stay hungry and not expect anything, they'll have a chance to compete and play well in all the games."
On OSU's recent dominance in the run game:
"Obviously we're able to run the ball effectively now over the last three or four weeks. Prior to that, we couldn't run it a lick. We're getting a little better at running the ball. We're covering people up and we're a little more physical, and the backs are running physical. It was nice to get Elijah (Collins) in there tonight. He did a nice job running. Success is contagious. Now they all think they can run good behind our line and get through some creases. When you start to do things like that, it works out well for you and helps you in the long run. It's only if we practice well this week. We're not good enough to not practice well and then perform well on Saturday. We're not that good."
Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo…
On first-quarter adjustments:
"I'm not going to sit here and say it's something that we did differently. The speed of their outside zone is very hard to simulate and I think our guys, in their first couple drives, it really got going. They're really good at it. It's their best play that they run, and the second drive -- the long run -- that's kind of a perfect storm of worst-case scenario. That was something they had shown, and we wanted to try and bring some pressure, move away from where the outside zone was going, and it just fell off. After that, I thought that, once we got used to the speed of how quick those linemen were going to go lateral, how their backs are going to stay on their path and hit it, I thought our kids did really well."
On taking the option away from Cincinnati:
"It's something they hadn't really done since BYU, so we were kind of unsure if that's who they were going to try and be against us. They've really only done that like eight times. So, we repped it, we had a plan for it and we were ready for it. Credit our kids for coming out and executing it as well as they did, because it was one of those where -- they do this, this and this, but they also might do this -- so we had to make sure we were ready for it. I was pretty pleased with them on that."
On how the defense responded after halftime:
"Our players have done that, for the most part, every game. You look at the Kansas game, our message to them was 'Don't panic, we're going to make some plays and just go be who you are.' They came back and did the exact same thing today. We're up 10-7 right now. We know fit the stuff better, we know we're in position to make plays and just to finish when you're there. Our kids have not flinched. I'm talking down to the coaches on the sidelines asking 'Hey, how are they handing this adjustment?' 'What about this adjustment?' and they say 'Coach, they are all locked in, all eyes on us.' There hasn't been one situation where it's 'What are we doing?' The mentality of our players, and I'm sure it's the exact same way on the offensive side of the ball, is positive. We can get through this together. We can compete and build. We're going to be in a position to win this football game."
Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn…
On Ollie Gordon's development from last season:
"If you stand behind him in practice, there is muscle everywhere, but he's still a long guy. I hate to say awkward, but he's got this awkwardness that it's hard to tackle, and he's got enough speed to put it in the endzone like we saw tonight. Right now, he's playing with a lot of confidence. The offensive line is playing with a lot of confidence. It was a battle, honest to God, it was a battle in August for the starting running back job. I think all of our backs did a great job. We had some guys nicked up through camp and that kind of delayed the decision we made for the starting back, and we said 'Hey, we need to make a decision that is best for us and moving us into a comfortable spot."
On Leon Johnson III's performance:
"Huge. Leon stepping up tonight was massive. We needed it. There were a lot of guys out. It's no secret, I've wanted to redshirt him, because I think he is a really good player with a lot of upside and having him back here in the Orange and Black next season is the best thing for us and would be the best chance for him. Moving forward, he's got a chance, and we saw that tonight. He stepped forward, made some plays for us, and now I'm stuck."
On getting Brennan Presley more involved:
"It's fun. We have a blast sitting in our staff room with the offensive coaches trying to design stuff and find stuff. We're raiders, just like everyone else in the country. We're raiders trying to find things that suit us offensively, and all the coaches go to work trying to find us plays that we can fit in. And we know BP can run. It's been fun, just watching ball, spending lots of hours going over tape and finding things that we think our guys can do, too. You can come up with some things out of air, which we do every week. There's a series of plays that we're just going to come up with, but there's also a series of plays that we're going to steal. That's just how it is, when you have a blueprint of how to run that play, it makes it a little bit easier to get it installed quickly, and that's what we've done."
Oklahoma State wide receiver Leon Johnson III…
On building chemistry with quarterback Alan Bowman:
"Since me and Bowman were new at the same time, it was kind of like we were all in the same boat. If you're a newcomer or a freshman, we all live together. We have a newcomer group. So, in that area, we have nothing to do but really talk to each other and get to know each other, so it was easy to get to know everybody because everybody is in the same situation."
On whether he saw tonight's performance coming:
"I knew I had the ability to, but I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. But I'm happy with the way everything happened."
The difference a month has made for OSU's outlook:
"I wouldn't say anybody on the team got down but, during the bye week, (Coach) Gundy came in here and we were watching past hype videos of us in the locker rooms when we were winning, and he said, 'I haven't seen much of this in this group yet.' So we all agreed our energy had been down in the locker room. It's not that we were all thinking that we were bad or anything, it's just that the energy wasn't there. After he showed us that, we were all ready. That's been the biggest change, just our energy."
OSU linebacker Nickolas Martin…
On second half adjustments by the defense:
"It was a few plays that we were there to make the tackle, but we just weren't wrapping up. It may have been a little wet, but no excuses. So, we just fixed that and made the plays, and it really showed up in the second half. We started executing."
On the physicality of the game:
"It definitely comes down to who wants it more. This is a violent game. You've got to play with aggression. It's based on war, so you've got to batten down the hatches and take it to them"
On if he is surprised by the team's recent success:
"Not really, because we expected it. We knew how good we could be, and I'm just really proud of my guys and how we attack every week [and] how we attack every team. We just keep showing up and keep getting better every week. This was our expectation. Our expectation is always Big 12 Championship, so we're working toward that and we're going to keep getting better every week."
OSU defensive end Anthony Goodlow…
On the confidence level of the defense
"I would say it's very high, especially with how we've been practicing each week. Since the beginning of the season, I would say it's definitely growing each week."
On if the defense made a statement:
"Definitely. I feel like with all the past games, it's been close games. But just us going out there and stopping them on defense and scoring very well on offense, that definitely made a statement."
On the feeling going into his first Bedlam:
"It means a lot. Growing up as a kid and watching this game and it being a big-time rivalry for my family. Some of my family are OU fans, some of my family are Oklahoma State fans. It's exciting to be able to play in it."
OSU running back Ollie Gordon II…
On his last touchdown run to go over 200 yards:
"I got the hand off and it was really the Red Sea parting. I saw our tight ends and fullbacks opening gaps and, once I saw all the green grass, I was like, 'I got to run. I got to run.' This was for the big guys up front, because they blocked their butts off, so I might as well run."
On being mentioned with Barry Sanders:
"Like I said, it's great to be in that talk with him, because you look at him: Heisman winner, just a great running back, all-together great guy. So, it's great."
On how far he's come since the beginning of the season:
"It's just the beginning of the season. It was non-conference play, so I wasn't really worried about it too much. And after that third game, I had a meeting with the coaches and they just told me get ready to carry more."
OSU quarterback Alan Bowman…
On how he handled early-season adversity:
"It's just been an up and down career for me. So something like this at the beginning of the season wasn't anything new to me. I didn't flinch in any way, just showed up every day and worked hard. That's all I know how to do and obviously we've rattled off four in a row."
On his thoughts going into Bedlam:
"It's going to be fun. I think the better both teams are, the better game is going to be, and the bigger the atmosphere. That's what we want, right? I think to pack out Boone Pickens Stadium is going to be unbelievable. I can't wait for it. It's going to be a lot of fun."
On the offense peaking at the right time:
"Just confidence, right? I think confidence breeds success, and I think the more confident we get, the better we'll play. And the more we win leading up to it, then the better we're going to feel. I think it's going to be good for us."
Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield…
Opening statement:
"I'm proud of the way our guys came out in the first half. We felt at halftime we were writing the game (with a score of) 10-7 we felt really good about it…. Disastrous third quarter… we came out and did not play very well at all… They go score, then we throw an interception, then they go score. We never could stop the momentum."
On OSU's performance:
"I give credit to those guys. (Ollie) Gordon got his carries in the second half and hit some big time runs. We were missing tackles, and he was bouncing off three to four guys getting big time runs. Obviously, he's a good player…Their quarterback (Alan Bowman) made some great throws, and their receivers had some great catches. I give credit to them. We had a bad second half and there is no other way to slice it."
On how he keeps the locker room together after losses:
"It's not easy. It's very difficult… We have had times this season where we played really good and thought we could compete with anyone out there. Other times, we don't look good. We have to work to get better and get players in the right positions."
Cincinnati defensive lineman Dontay Corleone…
On growing after a loss like this:
"I have got to play better as leader, so I want to take this game, as this is my fault. But I'm not going to quit on the season. I want people to show up to our games. We need to finish the season strong."
On the defense's second-half struggles against Ollie Gordon after bottling him up in the first half:
"He's a good player, but we did not execute at the end… We've got to work on finishing strongly, coming together as a collective unit -- all of us -- and just to keep going, finishing the game."
Cincinnati offensive lineman Gavin Gerhardt…
On staying together after a loss like this:
"I think we just need to, regardless. If we lose momentum, we've just got to stick together. I think, take that to heart and really embrace that."
On what OSU did to slow down the Bearcat offense:
"They didn't really do too much different but, I think, once we lost that momentum, it just kind of -- we need to be better. If it's a situation where we lose that, we've got to bounce back. We've got to bring the energy."
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Cowboy Football
DE
/ Cowboy Football
RB
/ Cowboy Football
WR
/ Cowboy Football
LB
/ Cowboy Football
WR
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