Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes - OSU vs. Central Arkansas
September 02, 2023 | General
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
"Good win for us, we found out a little bit about our team. I'm excited about watching the tape tomorrow and really looking at details in certain players, how they played, where we're at, looking at our concepts/schemes. We dropped too many passes offensively, and we didn't rush the ball as well as we needed to in the first half. We made some adjustments and rushed the ball much better in the second half. We ended up averaging almost five yards a carry, and we still need to run the ball better. In the first quarter and first half, I could tell we didn't really have that many live practices because we didn't tackle well, but we got better as the game went on. I will say this, they have a few undersized guys who were pretty nifty, and not real easy to get down. But we need to tackle better. Obviously, we gave up one long pass at the end, we were up by three scores, the one thing we don't want to do is give up a deep throw so that's a good learning experience for us. Let them throw the ball underneath, rally up and make a tackle. We were decent on third down, need to be better. We had a few too many penalty yards for me. I like to stay in that 30-yard category; we were up to 41. Either way, we've got a lot of work ahead of us. I told the team each week the talent level will get better and better. We have a good starting point now, we've got to go to work this week and have a good week of practice."
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On the rushing game
"I need to watch the tape; it didn't look like we had holes or anywhere to run. We looked at a couple different things late in the game. We had some space where our guys could go out there and make plays and it got better, but that's got to start in the first quarter. It's going to be difficult as the season goes on if we're rushing for three yards a carry because then we can become one-dimensional. So we have to continue to work at that."
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On if the run game was frustrating after a good spring
"Yeah it was, until the middle of the third quarter, frustrating is a good word. We just got to keep working at it. We don't want to get out of our box, we've got to stay with what we're doing. We've got to believe in it. I really feel like we're better off now than we were, and I think we'll continue to get better at it each week. We need to."
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On the plan with the quarterbacks
"To be fair to them, we told them that we'd play them X amount of series, and we rolled with it. I thought they played pretty good, 30-of-48, so not bad. I thought they all played pretty good, each one of them missed a throw or so, but they also all made some throws. So I thought they all played pretty good."
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On if he's closer to naming a starting QB now:
"No, well you guys watched, you wouldn't be able to do it either. It'd be hard. I'll watch the tape and see the grades, you know? Where they were at mentally, listening on the headset, I thought they were all in it pretty good mentally. I didn't' feel like the quarterbacks were in the wrong spot, but we'll have to watch it and see where we're at."
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On what he thought about Bryan Nardo in his OSU coaching debut
"I thought he did fine, very calm, and had answers for certain things, other than what you just brought up. Other than that, we had answers for most everything. We were pretty vanilla in this game, we wanted to just line up in a lot of base and let the guys play."
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On Gunnar Gundy's performance
"I thought he played good. He was accurate with his throws. He looked a little nervous to me on his first throw, he was high on one. He was a little high on another one, Brennan (Presley) made a good catch. It looked like to me he had a little jitters, but after that I thought he was pretty good."
Central Arkansas head coach Nathan Brown
"Offense left some points out there. Had two scores called back on the first drive and missed a couple field goals. You can't do that and beat a Big 12 school."
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On OSU playing 3 QBsÂ
"I got to the point where I just quit paying attention. Obviously the defensive coaches knew, but they're all similar."
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On the team's performance
"Super proud of the way he handled the atmosphere. Crowd noise, I mean down on that end whew, it is loud, and we did a good job. Not many procedure penalties.
"You can see the talent we have. You just went toe to toe with a team that has more scholarships than you. They're a lot longer, maybe faster in some spots, and we were down four starters in the second half."
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On Kylin James
"I believe he is the most versatile special back at the FCS level so Oklahoma State in my opinion just played the most versatile back in the FCS."
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Central Arkansas quarterback Will McElvain
On the offensive line
"There was some pressure, you know. We had different guys and now the whole lineup that for the most part probably held up pretty well. I think I only got hit a few times. So I feel like we did a good job."
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Central Arkansas defensive end David Walker
On the game
"This is just a testament to see how far we could go down, you know, compete with a Big 12 team like this, and they're really good. It just show us we've got a lot of meat left on the bone, and we're excited."
On the defense
"This is what I kept telling our QB, like, 'We got you' and just tell him 'Just give the offense courage, motivation to go score,' and I feel like we've got the ability and were okay."
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Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn
On the play of his young quarterbacks
"You see what Gunnar and Garrett did. Both of them, I thought, played pretty well. You see the experience coming forward a year. We paid a little price last year for the young guys to get their experience, but now we're more mature there and we're certainly deeper at that position than we were a year ago. So it's kind of an exciting thing for me."
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On how his offense closed the game
"The second half, the third quarter, I think we had two series, the first one was kind of quick and done. Then we got the ball and got some drives going in the fourth and really, I'm so excited about how they closed the game. So there's a lot of positives about how they closed the game. I hope that carries over obviously for next week vs. Arizona State."
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Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo
On his defense's performance
"Once we settled in, I think Coach (Gundy) hit on it, we hadn't tackled for eight months. It was expected, not accepted, but expected. Those things you just have to deal with in the first game. I thought they rallied back and competed. I thought we started to finish some plays. That first drive, all of a sudden it was it's not tag-off anymore. It's not thud. We've got to get them to the ground. (Central Arkansas) did a few really good things to kind of get their good little running back out in space, but once we settled in, we did a pretty good job."
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On his hectic first drive as OSU's defensive coordinator
"It was kind of a rollercoaster of emotions. I think I stayed pretty calm. Even on the one that got called back, I knew immediately what was happening. So you're trying not to get caught up with the end result, but you know you've got to fix the end result because they're going to come back to it."
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Oklahoma State wide receiver Brennan PresleyÂ
On how the team reacted to putting the game away in crunch time
"I knew we had it in us, so it wasn't surprising to me how we reacted to adversity. It was nothing new to me about the team that I didn't already know."Â
On going in motion for run plays
"I get excited. It was something we talked about. So it was just one of those things where we're in the red zone, and they're calling my number so I have to make a play out there."Â
On the team staying level-headed while facing adversity
"When adversity and times like that hit, you can never panic. We all trusted each other to go out there and make plays. They're a great team so we knew we had to be locked in from the beginning. We were locked in, but just little mistakes as far as drops, missed assignments, not lining up correctly. We knew the talent we had, and we knew what we could do. It was just getting focused and locked in and on the same page, then doing that."Â
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Oklahoma State defensive back Korie Black Â
On blocking two kicks
"I think 'Just do the same thing I did the first time'. If they so happen to block me, then that allows someone else to free up, but they never did that. I just took it again."Â
On figuring out the defense's identity late in the game
"It was big for our defense. Just knowing we can actually get together and make this whole thing work. It was fun being able to break up passes, but you also have to give thanks to the whole defense." Â
Offensive lineman Cole BirminghamÂ
On playing with three quarterbacks
"Some have different tendencies so you've got to get used to one person. We've had so much work with all three quarterbacks that we feel confident with all of them. We trust them."Â
On making halftime adjustments
"We always have good halftime adjustments. I feel like we came out with more enthusiasm. We ran the ball a little better in the second half. It was just better. We were more confident in our schemes."
"Good win for us, we found out a little bit about our team. I'm excited about watching the tape tomorrow and really looking at details in certain players, how they played, where we're at, looking at our concepts/schemes. We dropped too many passes offensively, and we didn't rush the ball as well as we needed to in the first half. We made some adjustments and rushed the ball much better in the second half. We ended up averaging almost five yards a carry, and we still need to run the ball better. In the first quarter and first half, I could tell we didn't really have that many live practices because we didn't tackle well, but we got better as the game went on. I will say this, they have a few undersized guys who were pretty nifty, and not real easy to get down. But we need to tackle better. Obviously, we gave up one long pass at the end, we were up by three scores, the one thing we don't want to do is give up a deep throw so that's a good learning experience for us. Let them throw the ball underneath, rally up and make a tackle. We were decent on third down, need to be better. We had a few too many penalty yards for me. I like to stay in that 30-yard category; we were up to 41. Either way, we've got a lot of work ahead of us. I told the team each week the talent level will get better and better. We have a good starting point now, we've got to go to work this week and have a good week of practice."
Â
On the rushing game
"I need to watch the tape; it didn't look like we had holes or anywhere to run. We looked at a couple different things late in the game. We had some space where our guys could go out there and make plays and it got better, but that's got to start in the first quarter. It's going to be difficult as the season goes on if we're rushing for three yards a carry because then we can become one-dimensional. So we have to continue to work at that."
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On if the run game was frustrating after a good spring
"Yeah it was, until the middle of the third quarter, frustrating is a good word. We just got to keep working at it. We don't want to get out of our box, we've got to stay with what we're doing. We've got to believe in it. I really feel like we're better off now than we were, and I think we'll continue to get better at it each week. We need to."
Â
On the plan with the quarterbacks
"To be fair to them, we told them that we'd play them X amount of series, and we rolled with it. I thought they played pretty good, 30-of-48, so not bad. I thought they all played pretty good, each one of them missed a throw or so, but they also all made some throws. So I thought they all played pretty good."
Â
On if he's closer to naming a starting QB now:
"No, well you guys watched, you wouldn't be able to do it either. It'd be hard. I'll watch the tape and see the grades, you know? Where they were at mentally, listening on the headset, I thought they were all in it pretty good mentally. I didn't' feel like the quarterbacks were in the wrong spot, but we'll have to watch it and see where we're at."
Â
On what he thought about Bryan Nardo in his OSU coaching debut
"I thought he did fine, very calm, and had answers for certain things, other than what you just brought up. Other than that, we had answers for most everything. We were pretty vanilla in this game, we wanted to just line up in a lot of base and let the guys play."
Â
On Gunnar Gundy's performance
"I thought he played good. He was accurate with his throws. He looked a little nervous to me on his first throw, he was high on one. He was a little high on another one, Brennan (Presley) made a good catch. It looked like to me he had a little jitters, but after that I thought he was pretty good."
Central Arkansas head coach Nathan Brown
"Offense left some points out there. Had two scores called back on the first drive and missed a couple field goals. You can't do that and beat a Big 12 school."
Â
On OSU playing 3 QBsÂ
"I got to the point where I just quit paying attention. Obviously the defensive coaches knew, but they're all similar."
Â
On the team's performance
"Super proud of the way he handled the atmosphere. Crowd noise, I mean down on that end whew, it is loud, and we did a good job. Not many procedure penalties.
"You can see the talent we have. You just went toe to toe with a team that has more scholarships than you. They're a lot longer, maybe faster in some spots, and we were down four starters in the second half."
Â
On Kylin James
"I believe he is the most versatile special back at the FCS level so Oklahoma State in my opinion just played the most versatile back in the FCS."
Â
Central Arkansas quarterback Will McElvain
On the offensive line
"There was some pressure, you know. We had different guys and now the whole lineup that for the most part probably held up pretty well. I think I only got hit a few times. So I feel like we did a good job."
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Central Arkansas defensive end David Walker
On the game
"This is just a testament to see how far we could go down, you know, compete with a Big 12 team like this, and they're really good. It just show us we've got a lot of meat left on the bone, and we're excited."
On the defense
"This is what I kept telling our QB, like, 'We got you' and just tell him 'Just give the offense courage, motivation to go score,' and I feel like we've got the ability and were okay."
Â
Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn
On the play of his young quarterbacks
"You see what Gunnar and Garrett did. Both of them, I thought, played pretty well. You see the experience coming forward a year. We paid a little price last year for the young guys to get their experience, but now we're more mature there and we're certainly deeper at that position than we were a year ago. So it's kind of an exciting thing for me."
Â
On how his offense closed the game
"The second half, the third quarter, I think we had two series, the first one was kind of quick and done. Then we got the ball and got some drives going in the fourth and really, I'm so excited about how they closed the game. So there's a lot of positives about how they closed the game. I hope that carries over obviously for next week vs. Arizona State."
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Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo
On his defense's performance
"Once we settled in, I think Coach (Gundy) hit on it, we hadn't tackled for eight months. It was expected, not accepted, but expected. Those things you just have to deal with in the first game. I thought they rallied back and competed. I thought we started to finish some plays. That first drive, all of a sudden it was it's not tag-off anymore. It's not thud. We've got to get them to the ground. (Central Arkansas) did a few really good things to kind of get their good little running back out in space, but once we settled in, we did a pretty good job."
Â
On his hectic first drive as OSU's defensive coordinator
"It was kind of a rollercoaster of emotions. I think I stayed pretty calm. Even on the one that got called back, I knew immediately what was happening. So you're trying not to get caught up with the end result, but you know you've got to fix the end result because they're going to come back to it."
Â
Oklahoma State wide receiver Brennan PresleyÂ
On how the team reacted to putting the game away in crunch time
"I knew we had it in us, so it wasn't surprising to me how we reacted to adversity. It was nothing new to me about the team that I didn't already know."Â
On going in motion for run plays
"I get excited. It was something we talked about. So it was just one of those things where we're in the red zone, and they're calling my number so I have to make a play out there."Â
On the team staying level-headed while facing adversity
"When adversity and times like that hit, you can never panic. We all trusted each other to go out there and make plays. They're a great team so we knew we had to be locked in from the beginning. We were locked in, but just little mistakes as far as drops, missed assignments, not lining up correctly. We knew the talent we had, and we knew what we could do. It was just getting focused and locked in and on the same page, then doing that."Â
Â
Oklahoma State defensive back Korie Black Â
On blocking two kicks
"I think 'Just do the same thing I did the first time'. If they so happen to block me, then that allows someone else to free up, but they never did that. I just took it again."Â
On figuring out the defense's identity late in the game
"It was big for our defense. Just knowing we can actually get together and make this whole thing work. It was fun being able to break up passes, but you also have to give thanks to the whole defense." Â
Offensive lineman Cole BirminghamÂ
On playing with three quarterbacks
"Some have different tendencies so you've got to get used to one person. We've had so much work with all three quarterbacks that we feel confident with all of them. We trust them."Â
On making halftime adjustments
"We always have good halftime adjustments. I feel like we came out with more enthusiasm. We ran the ball a little better in the second half. It was just better. We were more confident in our schemes."
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