Oklahoma State University Athletics
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Gundy, Cowboys Preview Road Test at Kansas State
September 23, 2024 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Head coach Mike Gundy and several players met with the media Monday in Stillwater to preview Oklahoma State's upcoming road game at Kansas State. Here are some of their comments:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
On the Kansas State offense:
"You've got to control the quarterback. You can't let him take off and run. He's really good. You've got to be careful when you're pass rushing him. If not, he can take off and run. They do a good job on their quarterback run game and then they've been good the last few years on flooding the zones, four and five people getting out eligible to one side of the field and the quarterback keeping the ball and running the other way where the numbers aren't good for the defense. You've got to be able to stop the quarterback run."
On first-year punters and kickers coach Sean Snyder:
"You haven't seen a lot of results, statistically or point wise, but I like the transition we're making in the special teams categories based on his philosophies that we brought into what we were doing. Some of what we were doing, he was already doing, because we stole it from him while he was (at Kansas State), but then there's about 50% of what we're doing that he brought with him. The fundamental side, the execution, there's a real art to special teams. It's pretty interesting when you get into it… I'm very pleased with the transformation we're making scheme wise and fundamentally with the players understanding the concepts at this point, and I think that we'll start to see results."
On Trey Rucker's strong start to the season:
"He's playing awesome, great leadership. Fourteen tackles, two interceptions and an IV (against Utah), the guy had a full day's work. He just keeps playing and keeps hitting. You run him in there and you watch him, the violence of the game that he plays just makes you cringe. Thrilled to have him, and he's been a great leader for us."
On the defense against Utah:
"The defense played good. You look at 42 minutes (on the field), which is 70% of the game. The air temperature is 103, the field temperature is 157… But, they improved. We were better against the run. You're going to say, 'Well, they rushed 256 yards,' but we gave up two plays and 110 yards and missed five tackles on those two plays, both of which would've been behind the line. Now it still counts, but the majority of the percentage of the runs, our fits were better. We played better against the run."
On how the run game can improve:
"When we've had equal numbers in the box or a half-man disadvantage, we've run the ball effectively. When we've had one or two extra people in the box, we haven't been as effective, which is kind of the way it's going to be. So, there's not anything we need to change from a scheme standpoint. We need to continue to improve a little bit in fundamentals and technique and things we would work on every year."
Quarterback Alan Bowman
On his mentality:
"The one plus of playing seven years is that I've been through a lot. I wouldn't be here right now if I was a five-star recruit and being in the NFL three-and-done. That's not my story, I would not be here if I was that guy. So, to say with the situation that we were in (last week) I've been there before, I really have multiple times. It's nothing that's going to change my perspective, nothing that's going to change my mentality. That's just kind of my outlook on life and everything, football aside."
On Kansas State:
"They're obviously a similar program to us, hard-nosed and it's kind of what we just saw with Utah. But, I feel really good about this week, I really do. There's a fire lit underneath all of us, myself included. We'll see how it goes on Saturday, but I'm excited. Those guys are obviously a really good team. They have a great culture and they've been doing the same thing for a long time, just as we have."
Offensive Lineman Preston Wilson
On Kansas State's presence up front:
"They have a great program. Kansas State has always done well on their offensive and defensive lines, just like us. They run their program the same way as us, I'd say. They're taught a lot of the same things, a lot of the same core values. I'd say we're very similar. So, it'll be a very good matchup, and it always is when we're playing them."
On the success in pass blocking:
"We've worked it a lot. Obviously, we have a lot of experienced guys and a lot of guys who've done pass blocking quite a bit before. We have a great coach. We worked at it all offseason because we wanted to get better at it too. We finished really high last year in pass protection, we did really well at it, but we knew that we could be better. Ultimately, we wanted to keep the quarterback off the ground, so we worked it all summer, worked it all winter and really spent time working on key little things. Coach Dickey even incorporated new drills and new techniques for some of us and worked specific moves to try and help us improve our pass blocking."
Linebacker Kendal Daniels
On continuing to adjust to linebacker:
"It's definitely going to be fun with the weeks coming forward, so I could just grow as a person, as a player, as a leader. Just being out there with the guys and just learning from everybody, and just coming in the day after the game, learning and seeing what I can do better."
On the defense against Utah:
"There's some things that we need to fix and there's some points in the game where we could have done better. There are some points of the game that we did really well. I just felt like this team stayed together through the whole game, being able to come back at the end."
Safety Dylan Smith
On having a large role as a freshman and sophomore:
"It was kind of crazy but coming in, I just told myself be ready for anything. You never know what could happen. I just wanted to stay prepared for the moment, so I just applied that every day. I wanted to practice hard, build good habits so that way when my time did come, I was prepared."
On playing alongside his brother, Cam:
"It is great to have my brother up here, just like a home away from my home in Texas... I think it's made my transition a lot easier than maybe a lot of other college kids just having someone here that is family. It just makes me a lot more comfortable."
Punter Hudson Kaak
On changes under punters and kickers coach Sean Snyder:
"To be completely honest with you, he's ramped up our workload a lot. He's been huge in terms of the amount of reps we get every week. I don't want to say old-school, but (his philosophy) is from the 20-plus years he's been coaching. He's brought it all the way along and he's gotten results at every school he's gone to. So, from my perspective, I love it because we get more reps during the week. It was tough on the body initially, but once everybody gets used to it, it's huge."
On sharing punting duties with Wes Pahl:
"Wes and I are good friends. We get along really well. It's like any position really, you try to help each other and you're working with each other during the week. At the end of the day, we both want to be the punter, but we both want what's best for the team as well. If what's best for the team is us both being used, then we're happy with that."
Head Coach Mike Gundy
On the Kansas State offense:
"You've got to control the quarterback. You can't let him take off and run. He's really good. You've got to be careful when you're pass rushing him. If not, he can take off and run. They do a good job on their quarterback run game and then they've been good the last few years on flooding the zones, four and five people getting out eligible to one side of the field and the quarterback keeping the ball and running the other way where the numbers aren't good for the defense. You've got to be able to stop the quarterback run."
On first-year punters and kickers coach Sean Snyder:
"You haven't seen a lot of results, statistically or point wise, but I like the transition we're making in the special teams categories based on his philosophies that we brought into what we were doing. Some of what we were doing, he was already doing, because we stole it from him while he was (at Kansas State), but then there's about 50% of what we're doing that he brought with him. The fundamental side, the execution, there's a real art to special teams. It's pretty interesting when you get into it… I'm very pleased with the transformation we're making scheme wise and fundamentally with the players understanding the concepts at this point, and I think that we'll start to see results."
On Trey Rucker's strong start to the season:
"He's playing awesome, great leadership. Fourteen tackles, two interceptions and an IV (against Utah), the guy had a full day's work. He just keeps playing and keeps hitting. You run him in there and you watch him, the violence of the game that he plays just makes you cringe. Thrilled to have him, and he's been a great leader for us."
On the defense against Utah:
"The defense played good. You look at 42 minutes (on the field), which is 70% of the game. The air temperature is 103, the field temperature is 157… But, they improved. We were better against the run. You're going to say, 'Well, they rushed 256 yards,' but we gave up two plays and 110 yards and missed five tackles on those two plays, both of which would've been behind the line. Now it still counts, but the majority of the percentage of the runs, our fits were better. We played better against the run."
On how the run game can improve:
"When we've had equal numbers in the box or a half-man disadvantage, we've run the ball effectively. When we've had one or two extra people in the box, we haven't been as effective, which is kind of the way it's going to be. So, there's not anything we need to change from a scheme standpoint. We need to continue to improve a little bit in fundamentals and technique and things we would work on every year."
Quarterback Alan Bowman
On his mentality:
"The one plus of playing seven years is that I've been through a lot. I wouldn't be here right now if I was a five-star recruit and being in the NFL three-and-done. That's not my story, I would not be here if I was that guy. So, to say with the situation that we were in (last week) I've been there before, I really have multiple times. It's nothing that's going to change my perspective, nothing that's going to change my mentality. That's just kind of my outlook on life and everything, football aside."
On Kansas State:
"They're obviously a similar program to us, hard-nosed and it's kind of what we just saw with Utah. But, I feel really good about this week, I really do. There's a fire lit underneath all of us, myself included. We'll see how it goes on Saturday, but I'm excited. Those guys are obviously a really good team. They have a great culture and they've been doing the same thing for a long time, just as we have."
Offensive Lineman Preston Wilson
On Kansas State's presence up front:
"They have a great program. Kansas State has always done well on their offensive and defensive lines, just like us. They run their program the same way as us, I'd say. They're taught a lot of the same things, a lot of the same core values. I'd say we're very similar. So, it'll be a very good matchup, and it always is when we're playing them."
On the success in pass blocking:
"We've worked it a lot. Obviously, we have a lot of experienced guys and a lot of guys who've done pass blocking quite a bit before. We have a great coach. We worked at it all offseason because we wanted to get better at it too. We finished really high last year in pass protection, we did really well at it, but we knew that we could be better. Ultimately, we wanted to keep the quarterback off the ground, so we worked it all summer, worked it all winter and really spent time working on key little things. Coach Dickey even incorporated new drills and new techniques for some of us and worked specific moves to try and help us improve our pass blocking."
Linebacker Kendal Daniels
On continuing to adjust to linebacker:
"It's definitely going to be fun with the weeks coming forward, so I could just grow as a person, as a player, as a leader. Just being out there with the guys and just learning from everybody, and just coming in the day after the game, learning and seeing what I can do better."
On the defense against Utah:
"There's some things that we need to fix and there's some points in the game where we could have done better. There are some points of the game that we did really well. I just felt like this team stayed together through the whole game, being able to come back at the end."
Safety Dylan Smith
On having a large role as a freshman and sophomore:
"It was kind of crazy but coming in, I just told myself be ready for anything. You never know what could happen. I just wanted to stay prepared for the moment, so I just applied that every day. I wanted to practice hard, build good habits so that way when my time did come, I was prepared."
On playing alongside his brother, Cam:
"It is great to have my brother up here, just like a home away from my home in Texas... I think it's made my transition a lot easier than maybe a lot of other college kids just having someone here that is family. It just makes me a lot more comfortable."
Punter Hudson Kaak
On changes under punters and kickers coach Sean Snyder:
"To be completely honest with you, he's ramped up our workload a lot. He's been huge in terms of the amount of reps we get every week. I don't want to say old-school, but (his philosophy) is from the 20-plus years he's been coaching. He's brought it all the way along and he's gotten results at every school he's gone to. So, from my perspective, I love it because we get more reps during the week. It was tough on the body initially, but once everybody gets used to it, it's huge."
On sharing punting duties with Wes Pahl:
"Wes and I are good friends. We get along really well. It's like any position really, you try to help each other and you're working with each other during the week. At the end of the day, we both want to be the punter, but we both want what's best for the team as well. If what's best for the team is us both being used, then we're happy with that."
Players Mentioned
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