Postgame Quotes: OSU vs. Arizona State

Postgame Quote Sheet
Arizona State 42, Oklahoma State 21
Nov. 2, 2024 | Stillwater, Okla. | Boone Pickens Stadium

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State head coach…

Opening statement:
"On defense, we gave them opportunity after opportunity and couldn't get off the field. In the second half, we couldn't put anything together offensively and couldn't put anything together in the throwing game. We gave up four and a half yards a carry rushing, and we only averaged three, which that's always going to be a big factor, unless there's a considerable difference in turnovers. If the other teams are out rushing you by one yard, yard and a half per carry, it's going to be a tough day."

… Potential areas of improvement for next week:
"We're playing one next Saturday, and I expect guys to come out and fight their butts off in practice. They practiced well last week. We need to a better job of coaching, in my opinion. I need to evaluate the video tonight. I'm not so sure that I've agreed with our schemes. I don't think it was awful, but there were some things I don't really agree with that I probably could have done better. We needed a better job of coaching, and we need to make a few plays. They made some plays. Their quarterback made some good plays. In the second half we got down two scores. They caught us in a lot of man coverage and got us picked and made big plays on us. We were in a little bit of desperation to try to get the ball back, based on the clock, and that didn't help us. So, I wish we could have played better and I wish we could have coached better, but you've got to move on to the next one."

… His team's effort level:
"If you want to play the games, you play with great effort. I think they did. I think they did 'til the end. Offensively, they're still fighting. It didn't look good, but they were fighting. They didn't give up when (ASU) scored the last time. Special teams was playing their butt off right 'til the end. So, I thought that was better."

… Having a would-be touchdown taken off the board in the second quarter due to a late injury timeout:
"I'm guessing that if they knew there was an injured player, they usually don't run over the ball. So, I don't know the all the details of it, and I don't know what that rule is, because I don't know that's an odd situation, but when the ball is snapped, the ball is snapped. Period, can't go back. We don't get do overs."

… Potentially switching to a 3-man front on defense:
"We've had some injuries in both spots. So, we don't really have enough linebackers to do three down (linemen), and we're a little more in position to do four-down from a defensive line depth standpoint, than we are at the backer. Then you've got to play four linebackers, for the most part... That's another good question, because that's gone across the table. But we're rotating three guys in at linebacker, so if somebody goes down now, you've got to take all that and trash it and go back to something else."

Joe Michalski, OSU redshirt senior linebacker…

… On what the offense was missing:
"The entire running game, which opens up everything. I think that really started to show its face a little bit more in the second half just because we were not running the ball how we needed to be and how we wanted to."

… On the mood of the locker room:
"Everyone is still sticking together as a team, and we're all trying to work together towards one goal: winning games. Backs against the wall. No one's quitting. No one's giving up. I don't think that's something we have to worry about. Just ready to fight back and ready to get back to work next week."

… Justin Kirkland, OSU junior nose tackle…

… On Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo:
"I've played (against) Cam Skattebo for three years and even played him at Sacramento State, and he's been the same guy all three years. It was good. All week on defense we were running around, really game planning for him. I don't know how many yards he ended up having, but I feel like we were hitting him really hard. Kudos to him, he's a really good player. He's going to run through some tackles and we game-planned for him really hard."

… On the morale of the team:
"Truly everybody is a winner and so it's frustrating to see how these past six weeks have gone, because in practice we attack it. We truly do. [In] games, we attack it, so everybody goes into games fully believing we are going to be successful, so it's kind of frustrating going through these weeks."

… On how he stays positive:
"My thing is just control what you can control. I'm going to be the biggest fan on the team. When the offense is on the field, I'm going to be cheering for them. When the defense is on the field, whether I'm on or off the field, I'm going to be cheering for them. There's lots of stuff to clean up. Everybody has that mentality on this team."

Brennan Presley, OSU senior wide receiver:

… On Kyler Pearson's kick returns:
"Kyler did amazing. I knew he would do amazing on punt and kick returns. He's fearless and I love him back there. That won't be the only one he gets in his career here and honestly the rest of the season."

… On practicing hard during the week:
"You look at the work you did, and I'm proud of the work. I'm proud of how we came out there and played. You can't get too focused on making this play and making that play, because sometimes plays just don't go your way. But look at the play: Did I play hard? Did I run hard? Did I put in the effort? That's the thing coach Gundy brought up all this week."

Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State head coach…

… On how it feels to be bowl-eligible:
"Yeah, it's nice. You'd be lying if you said it doesn't feel good. We never talk about stuff like this, but when you reach a milestone because of putting in the work every day, you've got to cherish it, you've got to embrace it. Like I told the guys in the locker room, they have changed the culture of this program in 22 months. The leadership council, the guys we chose to be here, they took a program, and they completely flipped it from where it was. It has nothing to do with the staff, nothing to do with the coaches, it has to do with the guys in that locker room. They've done such an unbelievable job with the work ethic, the mindset, with their belief. Kudos to those guys, they're special young men in there and they deserve a sellout next week."

… On the offense's third and fourth-down success:
"We got simpler on offense; it was fairly simple on third down this week. On defense, I think we did a really good job mixing up the calls. I think coach had a good plan, and I think the guys executed that plan. We didn't have many max pressures; we just played some coverage this week. That was a good mix-up from a self-scout perspective, we wanted to show that we could max looks, and then just play some base defense behind it and not have to sell out every time on third down."

… On running back Kyson Brown's performance:
"Awesome. Like I told him, we're getting him more touches. 15 touches later, two touchdowns later and he got those touches. He finished some runs like a 200-pound running back should, and that's the part I was most impressed with. We all know he's fast and can make some explosive plays, but he's also big. Sometimes, the bigger and faster guys don't want to finish runs, they want to be elusive. The fact that he lowered his shoulder and finished some runs there was awesome to see. Especially from a young guy, and especially from a kid who just works the way he works. You want to see guys who put in the work like that succeed, you love to see guys like that come in and make plays."

… On quarterback Sam Leavitt's play:
"Yeah, he balled out. 20-for-29, 304 yards and three touchdowns, and one of the craziest little scrambles. I've coached some athletic quarterbacks in my career, and that was one of the most impressive plays I've seen from us. Breaking three tackles, he didn't get a first down but he got us to a situation to go for a fourth down, which we were good at tonight, which is a positive."

Sam Leavitt, Arizona State quarterback….

… On a season-high 529 total yards of offense:
"Everybody is getting more confident in the plays and being impactful when you get the opportunity. It's us understanding who we are as a team, coming to play for one another, playing for the brother next to you and really understanding how you work with each other. It's just time, we're really young in this offense, so there is a lot of growth to have."

… On being bowl eligible:
"It's really cool. Bowl game, I wouldn't say that was my main priority. I'm trying to go to the playoffs, that's what I've said from the jump. It's cool to have that solidified and locked down now. Just bigger dreams and aspirations from now on."

… On converting 10 of their 16 third downs:
"We did a good job on overall communication with the O-line and then talking through all the different looks that we have throughout the week."

Myles Rowser, Arizona State defensive back…

… Getting third-down stops:
"Third down has been a real hurt for us, especially the beginning games this season. I feel like during practice third down has been a really big sequence for us, so we have been keeping them in front of us. We kept it simple and kept it to what we knew and what we were comfortable with."

… On staying focused through the rain delay:
"Second half, we really turned it up. We didn't come out here for nothing. We just stayed focused, and no matter what time we had to go back out there, we knew we had to stay focused when we went out there."

… On being bowl eligible:
"It feels great, honestly. It feels amazing, especially coming from the team that we were with last year. It's just a great feeling."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Justin Kirkland

Joe Michalski

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Brennan Presley

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