Oklahoma State-BYU Postgame Quotes

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
Opening statement
"We sure make it hard on ourselves to get to where we want to go. That was a really good win for our team. I'm very proud of them, and I told that to them in the locker room… (BYU) did a good job. They had a lot of different things. They could put all their chips out, no matter what their hand was. They could have a poor hand and put it all out. They did the right thing and were trying to win at all costs. It makes it difficult. We were concerned about that. We talked about them having several fakes in special teams, and we were right. We just couldn't defend them the way we should have.

"But the guys kept playing. Coaches did a great job of adjusting at halftime. The players grabbed the information and took it out there. That one wasn't an easy one to come back from. When you have to throw a few passes when it was raining pretty good out there, and we were able to throw and catch. I told them I was proud of them and that it was a good culture win for us. They're learning how to dig themselves out of a hole and not point fingers at each other. The coaches don't point fingers at each other. They absorb information on the sideline, make changes, take it back out on the field and go play.

"In the end, what can you say? A guy like (Trey) Rucker that's been around the program and decided to become a leader, works hard, plays hard and competes. We work on that drill all the time, stripping the ball out. At the last second, he gets it stripped out and ends the game. Couldn't be more proud of him and our accomplishments…

"Ollie (Gordon) was able to run for us in the second half, made big runs and a couple big ones that were somewhat on his own. He found a way to get it done. That last touchdown, that was a heck of a run.

"Guys rallied back. I was proud of our receivers. Guys competed and ignored the conditions and found a way to get it done. I told them to be with their friends and families and enjoy this. But they have to come back and go to work tomorrow. We have another one a week from now, no time off… We move forward. I'm proud of the organization and the coaches. I'm proud of the fans that came out in a somewhat miserable day to be a fan, and they were loud there at the end."

On defensive adjustments
"We had issues stopping the run game in the first half. We had to make some adjustments. They did a couple of things differently. They changed their style of offense a little bit against Oklahoma last week with this quarterback. They run a lot of triple option stuff so you have to man down and make sure you have everybody covered. It's not really easy. It can cause some issues. They got us in the first half on some things. In the middle of the second quarter and on, Bryan (Nardo) made some adjustments with the staff and they worked hard in here at halftime making a couple other adjustments and they worked. From that standpoint, there were good moves on our parts and good moves by the players for being able to understand and take it back out onto the field."

On digging out of holes when behind
"The game started really good for us, and we stalled out down there inside the 10-yard line a couple times. That generally concerns me because we should be able to punch it in. Then they hit a drive on us and started doing the fake stuff. That minimized and leveled everything out. We fizzled out a little bit offensively for about three series. We couldn't run the ball effectively enough. Which, when we're not balanced, we're pretty average on offense. The second half, we changed a couple things and the way we wanted to run the ball, which allowed us to throw more passes. I don't know why that happens sometimes. We went on a run for about four or five weeks where we were rolling early. Lately, we've been pretty average in the first quarter. I'd like to be able to get that going the other direction and not make it so hard on ourselves."

On having more success in the run-game in the second half
"They got ahead, and they started playing more pass defense. The safeties were higher. Two guys were floating back instead of one. In the first quarter, it was one guy, and they played the way we said they were going to play. Once they got ahead by multiple scores, they started playing more pass defense which allowed us to rush the ball a little more effectively."

On OSU representing the Big 12 as a team remaining in the conference next season
"I'm proud of the Big 12 Conference. I'm proud of the Big 12 Conference it'll be next year… The Big 12 Conference has shown a lot of strength. I'm proud to be in it and who's coming into it. I never really looked at it that way. I'm going to guess that the Big 12 Conference is excited about that. I think it's also good for us, the ones that are staying in the conference. I think it's a positive thing."

On Leon Johnson III
"It's been tough on Leon. He thought he could stay in the program with Rob Glass for another nine months and change his body even more and develop and become faster. We talked with him about this being a once in a lifetime experience and look at what he's done. Eleven (catches) for 132 (yards), and that's not counting what he's done in the other games. When he was playing several weeks ago, we didn't have anybody left that had any experience at all. That's how important he is. I'm hoping he can take this with him. OSU people need to be thankful for guys like him and what he did. He could have said he wanted to redshirt, and if he says that we really can't tell him 'No.' College football's not that way right now. I couldn't be more proud of him. He's fortunate, he's got a good mom and dad who raised him the right way. They've given him good values. In the end, his core values matched with ours and that's the result you get."

OSU defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo
On Trey Rucker
"So proud of him. Back-to-back weeks with huge plays that we needed to have. He changed the game for us down in Houston with the interception and changed the game for us today."

On taking pride in adjustments
"I take it into consideration, and that's our job. That's what our coaches do."

OSU offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn
On Ollie Gordon
"What surprised me tonight is when I walked off, somebody handed me the stat sheets and five touchdowns. Like really? Holy smokes. If that's not Doak (Award) worthy, I don't know what is."

On not dropping passes
"I think some of them were outstanding catches and guys stepped up huge, especially in the second half."

OSU safety Kendal Daniels
On Trey Rucker
"Leadership. I know I'm younger than him. But he's grown up in a lot of ways and just to be the leader aspect, and me and his relationship is crazy. I mean we make fun of each other every time we make a play or something. Or if we get an interception, we go back and forth. We should challenge always with me and him, and I know he'll go to war for me and I go to war for him no matter what."

OSU linebacker Collin Oliver
On heading to Arlington again
"I'm so glad we got the win today, and hopefully we do the same thing next week."

On the defense clicking
"It's always a good thing when we all know what we're doing, and we're all on the same page. Obviously, it takes a while for us. We're a young team."

OSU running back Ollie Gordon
On clinching a spot in Arlington
"It feels great. I'm pretty sure people counted us out after week three and week four."

On his five touchdown night
"Being put in the same category as a name like Barry Sanders around here? It's really cool."

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake
Opening statement
"At the end, mistakes cost us. The guys fought hard; I appreciate how hard they fought. We just didn't make enough plays, especially in the second half, that's where all three phases we did everything we could to the playbook, trying to find a way to get more possessions. But overall, just really happy with the way guys performed. The energy after the game is what we'll build on and now they know this is what's expected in the Big 12."

On the team falling apart in the second half
"Obviously, we'd like to see more points on the board because more production in the second half will help us out. Sustaining drives will get some relief to the defense. Defensively I thought we had a chance to get more turnovers and turnovers cost us; that is a problem. We have to take care of the football."

On BYU's offseason and changes
"Part of the next move is that change is inevitable. There are a bunch of things that we need to change and when I'm talking about changes it depends on what degree of change. We need guys to get bigger and stronger, we have seen it already. It is hard to tell the guys to get bigger and stronger when they haven't been through the fight, now they have been through it."

On Ollie Gordon and Oklahoma State
"This is the best (running back) in the country, and they kept feeding him the ball... He is so physical and such a great back and credit the offensive line and tight ends that block for him. It is a really good scheme that Coach Gundy and the offense have done and defensively they created turnovers as well."

BYU defensive back Eddie Heckard
On emotions in the locker room after the loss
"Upset. Everybody. To lose right there and when we had an opportunity. It was one of those games where we just didn't make the big plays at the end down the stretch, and I think everybody is hurt by that."

BYU wide receiver Cody Epps
On finishing the game in overtime against OSU
"I don't think you want the last regular season game to go any other way. Not the ending but to go into overtime like we did and having a fight to the end. You don't want it any other way as a competitor… Ebbs and flows are a product of a competitive game with two good teams battling to the end against each other.

BYU defensive lineman Tyler Batty
On running back Ollie Gordon
"He's a good back. He's a big, tall and physical back. He really went to work, and we knew that going into the game that he was a phenomenal back. We were just trying to do our best to shut him down and limit his touches and yards per attempt."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Kendal Daniels

Leon Johnson III

Collin Oliver

Trey Rucker

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