Oklahoma State University Athletics
Saturday, October 11
Stillwater, OK
11 a.m. CT
Oklahoma State University
vs
Houston
Meacham, players meet with media ahead of home matchup with Houston
October 06, 2025 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State interim head coach Doug Meacham and several players met with the media ahead of Saturday's Big 12 conference matchup against Houston. Some of their comments:
Oklahoma State Interim Head Coach Doug Meacham
Opening Statement:
"Back to work. You have to have a short memory when things don't go well. My message to the kids is there's going to be a lot of things in your life that don't go your way, how are you going to respond to them? It's really easy to pull your hoodie over your face and put a towel over your face. It's really easy to go into the locker room with the other guys who are upset and playing. Our message is not to do that because you want to turn it around. You want to do what you want out of it."
On Zane Flores' injury:
"Zane is probably not going to participate this week. We are still kind of looking at it. We have Sam Jackson, who has recently gotten some reps. He's played quarterback before. Banks Bowen would be another option for us there; he's got a ton of reps. We need to have our first practice to have that determination, so we'll see. Obviously, I don't want to give the opponent a two-day advance on the game plan."
On having a normal Monday-Saturday week:
"It feels good, obviously, most of us are up here at 6:30 a.m., sitting up here, discussing, watching tape, trying to get some plays together. Clint has been doing the same thing, which feels normal. We are sitting here talking amongst ourselves, talking to players, talking to each other, which makes a lot of the other stuff disappear a bit because it does feel normal. I think a lot of the coaches and players probably appreciate that a lot of that stuff is behind us, and we can continue to move ahead."
On pieces of advice for Sam Jackson and Banks Bowen:
"It's about being simple, knowing where your eyes should be, knowing what your checks are, knowing how to communicate, and the signals. The normal things you would teach any quarterback. I don't think there's anything special other than you can create anxiety, or you just treat this as business as usual. You can have paralysis through analysis. And so, we're just trying to treat it like it's a three-foot putt and knock it in."
On Noah McKinney's postgame comments and finding "foxhole" guys:
"I would say him for sure. I've heard him at practice, being vocal at times. And in this day and age, kids, that's not really their thing. Everybody wants to kind of fade in the paint and just kind of not be that guy. So, when someone does become a leader, someone is vocal, and they step out; you really appreciate it. We need all that we can get. I've heard him do it at practice, so he's definitely one of those guys."
On what he liked about Sam Jackson as a quarterback at TCU:
"His high school film was unbelievable. He played receiver his tenth-grade year, then quarterback his junior year, then Covid happened, and they had no school and athletics his senior year. He reminded me on tape of Trevone Boykin. That's what really stuck to me. Unbelievable release, huge hands, throws a light ball, he can run, and he's pretty twitched up. He just kind of reminded me of the stuff Trevone had. We already have this package that fits a guy like that, so we just took that, and one of our graduate-assistant coaches went to high school where he came from... He can make plays when they break down, the reality of football is half of them do break down, run game or pass game, some guys make plays. He's a guy who can do some of that when some things don't go correctly."
On Banks Bowen's mentality being put into the game:
"He's pretty calm, he's a coach's kid, I don't think he really panicked at all. Seemed calm, like I said, he's had a million reps, and he's had dinner with a coach every night of his life growing up. So, I don't think there's a lot of panic in him, pretty even-keeled, and that's hard to do. When I was 18, there was no way I'd want to go into a football game; I was scared to death. He handled it pretty good."
On Houston's defense:
"They have a really good defensive line, they're really active, and they play super hard. I think they have ten transfers on defense, and 19 of their 22 starters are transfer guys, so they've played a lot of football at other schools, and they've done a good job galvanizing those guys. I think they're good at what they do. I don't think they try to fool you with a bunch of stuff. They're solid, they understand what they're doing, they're in the right spots, and they play really hard. Numerically, they're up there in a lot of categories."
On how the defense performed after watching tape:
"They played a lot of guys that haven't really played, and they performed pretty well. They had a kid that hasn't played much that had a pick-six, so that's good for all of those guys. It felt really good on the sidelines coming from that side of the football. It felt like those guys were playing hard for each other and having fun, and they were having some success. When was the last time we've had six sacks? That's pretty good, right? Plus 11 tackles-for-loss. Another thing they did well was they got some three-and-outs. That (Arizona) quarterback is hard to defend, he can run around pretty well."
On the offensive film:
"There were some guys who made some plays. I thought the offensive line played solid. I can give a lot of credit to them (Arizona) defensively. I think they're a pretty good defense, and their schemes are difficult. Obviously, we have to improve in all areas, particularly we have to be better with our skill players. We've got to put them in better positions, and hopefully we can do that this week. Get it started, get it going in the right direction, and have some positive stuff to occur."
On the importance of first down success offensively:
"First and 10 is the most important down to me, because if you're outside of the sticks, there's probably a 50-1 chance you're going to get a first down. You have to keep it between the sticks to have a chance. When you're outside the chains, that's when turnovers occur, sacks, all that kind of stuff. Typically, teams on second down blitz the crap out of you because they want you to be at third and ten. That's another reason why you want some yards on first down so that you're not sitting at second and 10 with a hail mary blitz coming at you."
On Mordecai McDaniel's performance:
"He led the team in tackles, did he not? He played great. Ray (Raymond Gay II), the safety who hadn't played much, I thought he played well. There were a lot of guys who stepped up who hadn't played much, and good for them. Strength in numbers, you get your moment, get in there and make it happen, and some of those guys did that."
Cornerback LaDainian Fields
On how it felt to get out there this weekend:
"When they called my number, I was nothing but excited. It was great, I wanted to go out there and show what I can do, prove to my teammates that I had their back, and just wanted to win."
On his confidence after returning the 55-yard pick six:
"It does give me a lot of confidence heading into this week, we have a home game, so now I hopefully get to showcase back at home what I can do. So, it definitely gives me a lot of confidence heading into this week."
On how things changed with interim defensive coordinator Clint Bowen:
"Nothing changed super dramatically. We still have eight games in front of us, so the main thing was just playing throughout the season, no matter who coaches us. Just staying loyal and true to whoever comes."
Kicker Logan Ward
On new long snapper Aiden Davenport:
"Aidan's stepped up really well. I'm really proud of him. He's taken on the new role and nothing's changed."
On kicker Gabe Panikowski:
"He's a really good kicker, and I think he's going to do really, really well next year. He's pushed me to the best of my abilities, so I'm happy for him."
On special teams coaches Sean Snyder and Joseph Foteh:
"There's not enough that you can say about [Coach Snyder]. He's done awesome things for us. I'm really thankful for him; he's pushed my kicking career in a positive direction. And Coach Foteh, he doesn't know as much of the kicking aspects of it, but that's kind of where Coach Snyder has stepped in and pushed that."
On the special teams' stability:
"I think we've produced pretty well for the most part over the last five years, which kind of goes back to why Coach Foteh has been here for four or five seasons now, his results and obviously Coach Snyder's results through an entire coaching change two times now. I've had four or five different defensive coordinators in my time [at Oklahoma State], so the fact that special teams has stayed pretty consistent is indicative of what we're doing on the field."
Oklahoma State Interim Head Coach Doug Meacham
Opening Statement:
"Back to work. You have to have a short memory when things don't go well. My message to the kids is there's going to be a lot of things in your life that don't go your way, how are you going to respond to them? It's really easy to pull your hoodie over your face and put a towel over your face. It's really easy to go into the locker room with the other guys who are upset and playing. Our message is not to do that because you want to turn it around. You want to do what you want out of it."
On Zane Flores' injury:
"Zane is probably not going to participate this week. We are still kind of looking at it. We have Sam Jackson, who has recently gotten some reps. He's played quarterback before. Banks Bowen would be another option for us there; he's got a ton of reps. We need to have our first practice to have that determination, so we'll see. Obviously, I don't want to give the opponent a two-day advance on the game plan."
On having a normal Monday-Saturday week:
"It feels good, obviously, most of us are up here at 6:30 a.m., sitting up here, discussing, watching tape, trying to get some plays together. Clint has been doing the same thing, which feels normal. We are sitting here talking amongst ourselves, talking to players, talking to each other, which makes a lot of the other stuff disappear a bit because it does feel normal. I think a lot of the coaches and players probably appreciate that a lot of that stuff is behind us, and we can continue to move ahead."
On pieces of advice for Sam Jackson and Banks Bowen:
"It's about being simple, knowing where your eyes should be, knowing what your checks are, knowing how to communicate, and the signals. The normal things you would teach any quarterback. I don't think there's anything special other than you can create anxiety, or you just treat this as business as usual. You can have paralysis through analysis. And so, we're just trying to treat it like it's a three-foot putt and knock it in."
On Noah McKinney's postgame comments and finding "foxhole" guys:
"I would say him for sure. I've heard him at practice, being vocal at times. And in this day and age, kids, that's not really their thing. Everybody wants to kind of fade in the paint and just kind of not be that guy. So, when someone does become a leader, someone is vocal, and they step out; you really appreciate it. We need all that we can get. I've heard him do it at practice, so he's definitely one of those guys."
On what he liked about Sam Jackson as a quarterback at TCU:
"His high school film was unbelievable. He played receiver his tenth-grade year, then quarterback his junior year, then Covid happened, and they had no school and athletics his senior year. He reminded me on tape of Trevone Boykin. That's what really stuck to me. Unbelievable release, huge hands, throws a light ball, he can run, and he's pretty twitched up. He just kind of reminded me of the stuff Trevone had. We already have this package that fits a guy like that, so we just took that, and one of our graduate-assistant coaches went to high school where he came from... He can make plays when they break down, the reality of football is half of them do break down, run game or pass game, some guys make plays. He's a guy who can do some of that when some things don't go correctly."
On Banks Bowen's mentality being put into the game:
"He's pretty calm, he's a coach's kid, I don't think he really panicked at all. Seemed calm, like I said, he's had a million reps, and he's had dinner with a coach every night of his life growing up. So, I don't think there's a lot of panic in him, pretty even-keeled, and that's hard to do. When I was 18, there was no way I'd want to go into a football game; I was scared to death. He handled it pretty good."
On Houston's defense:
"They have a really good defensive line, they're really active, and they play super hard. I think they have ten transfers on defense, and 19 of their 22 starters are transfer guys, so they've played a lot of football at other schools, and they've done a good job galvanizing those guys. I think they're good at what they do. I don't think they try to fool you with a bunch of stuff. They're solid, they understand what they're doing, they're in the right spots, and they play really hard. Numerically, they're up there in a lot of categories."
On how the defense performed after watching tape:
"They played a lot of guys that haven't really played, and they performed pretty well. They had a kid that hasn't played much that had a pick-six, so that's good for all of those guys. It felt really good on the sidelines coming from that side of the football. It felt like those guys were playing hard for each other and having fun, and they were having some success. When was the last time we've had six sacks? That's pretty good, right? Plus 11 tackles-for-loss. Another thing they did well was they got some three-and-outs. That (Arizona) quarterback is hard to defend, he can run around pretty well."
On the offensive film:
"There were some guys who made some plays. I thought the offensive line played solid. I can give a lot of credit to them (Arizona) defensively. I think they're a pretty good defense, and their schemes are difficult. Obviously, we have to improve in all areas, particularly we have to be better with our skill players. We've got to put them in better positions, and hopefully we can do that this week. Get it started, get it going in the right direction, and have some positive stuff to occur."
On the importance of first down success offensively:
"First and 10 is the most important down to me, because if you're outside of the sticks, there's probably a 50-1 chance you're going to get a first down. You have to keep it between the sticks to have a chance. When you're outside the chains, that's when turnovers occur, sacks, all that kind of stuff. Typically, teams on second down blitz the crap out of you because they want you to be at third and ten. That's another reason why you want some yards on first down so that you're not sitting at second and 10 with a hail mary blitz coming at you."
On Mordecai McDaniel's performance:
"He led the team in tackles, did he not? He played great. Ray (Raymond Gay II), the safety who hadn't played much, I thought he played well. There were a lot of guys who stepped up who hadn't played much, and good for them. Strength in numbers, you get your moment, get in there and make it happen, and some of those guys did that."
Cornerback LaDainian Fields
On how it felt to get out there this weekend:
"When they called my number, I was nothing but excited. It was great, I wanted to go out there and show what I can do, prove to my teammates that I had their back, and just wanted to win."
On his confidence after returning the 55-yard pick six:
"It does give me a lot of confidence heading into this week, we have a home game, so now I hopefully get to showcase back at home what I can do. So, it definitely gives me a lot of confidence heading into this week."
On how things changed with interim defensive coordinator Clint Bowen:
"Nothing changed super dramatically. We still have eight games in front of us, so the main thing was just playing throughout the season, no matter who coaches us. Just staying loyal and true to whoever comes."
Kicker Logan Ward
On new long snapper Aiden Davenport:
"Aidan's stepped up really well. I'm really proud of him. He's taken on the new role and nothing's changed."
On kicker Gabe Panikowski:
"He's a really good kicker, and I think he's going to do really, really well next year. He's pushed me to the best of my abilities, so I'm happy for him."
On special teams coaches Sean Snyder and Joseph Foteh:
"There's not enough that you can say about [Coach Snyder]. He's done awesome things for us. I'm really thankful for him; he's pushed my kicking career in a positive direction. And Coach Foteh, he doesn't know as much of the kicking aspects of it, but that's kind of where Coach Snyder has stepped in and pushed that."
On the special teams' stability:
"I think we've produced pretty well for the most part over the last five years, which kind of goes back to why Coach Foteh has been here for four or five seasons now, his results and obviously Coach Snyder's results through an entire coaching change two times now. I've had four or five different defensive coordinators in my time [at Oklahoma State], so the fact that special teams has stayed pretty consistent is indicative of what we're doing on the field."
Players Mentioned
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