OSU-Baylor Postgame Quotes

Baylor 45, Oklahoma State 27
Sep. 27, 2025 | Stillwater, Okla.
Postgame Quote Sheet

Doug Meacham, OSU Interim Head Coach / Offensive Coordinator…

Opening Statement:
"Beyond the schematics and things that went right or wrong… It's very impressive to me to watch these guys, under all the adversity, come out with all the energy… To me, they were the most excited team to play that game, and had no reason to be… It's a testament to Mike (Gundy), building the culture here, picking the right kind of guys that will fight through adversity and come together as a team… I had a lot of fun, and I know they had a lot of fun… (I'm) Proud of the guys and proud of the staff for preparing these guys…"

… On wideout Sam Jackson V's day:
"We just felt like it was a good time to let Sam have his time to do some of the stuff he can do… As y'all can see, that kid can throw the football… His arm talent is off the charts… Moving forward, as a defense, if that kid is on the field, I might back up a bit, because that kid is a weapon."

… On the OSU student section:
"In the day and age of being able to sit in your bedroom and play on your cellphone all day long, I just appreciate kids that come out and live a life, put their phones down and enjoy a sporting event… It's just awesome to watch them be kids like we were when we were in college… They were excited and it really got me pumped up."

… On coaching at his alma mater:
"Just coaching here, in general, is an honor. I played here and coached here before, so I don't think today was any different for me… It was fun being down on the sidelines."

… On the running back tandem of Howland and Fields:
"Trent's a load… Shoot, he runs hard and he runs behind his pads now a lot better… He can throw a football, he can catch. He's got as good a set of hands as anybody, and he's a big body – 235-240 pounds… That's a good one-two punch between him and (Rodney) Fields, because Fields is shifty and can slip through little creases, then Trent can just hammer you."

Todd Grantham, OSU Defensive Coordinator…

Opening Statement:
"I want to thank the fans that were at the walk and at the stadium… These guys work their tails off… I've been here since mid-December. We knew this was going to be a major overhaul, and I like the guys that we've brought in… We've just got to continue to work and continue to develop… I think the biggest thing about our defense is, we've got to continue to be harder to score on… If you went through every drive (Baylor) scored on, there were too many easy things that happened that we weren't hard to score on…"

… Biggest takeaways defensively:
"We have to start faster… In this game, we gave up a touchdown on the first drive… If you look at the scoring drives, we had them at second-and-third and 11-plus… Those are advantage situations for us, so we've got to learn to get off the field… My point is, I do see some good things, and look, if I was a fan, I would be frustrated… I totally get that, because the one thing I've been impressed with is the passion of the fanbase here… I do think these guys grind and they do take coaching, which I think is a product of the way we've played a few of these second, third and fourth quarters… We have to do a better job of situational defense and understand what's going to happen and attack you in those areas… We got two turnovers and a fourth-and-2 stop, which was our goal coming into this game was to go positive in the turnover differential…"

… On OSU's culture:
"I've been in a lot of programs and this is by far -- from a cultural standpoint -- one of the top programs I've ever been in… And if you look at some of the coaches, like Nick Saban and Frank Beamer that I've been around, this is as tops as there is…"

Zane Flores, redshirt freshman quarterback…

… On the offense:
"Overall, the offense played really well, especially in the first half. We moved the ball down the field, throwing it, running it. We stalled a little bit there in the second half, but I think the offense played solid today."

… On what stands out about wide receiver Sam Jackson V:
"Sam's a great athlete. Probably just the fact that he can do anything. He can throw the ball, as you guys saw today, he can catch the ball, he's fast, he's quick."

… On running back Trent Howland:
"He's stayed the course. He's gone through a lot of ups and downs, an injury the other week. But he's been right back. He's always stayed ready."

… On interim head coach Doug Meacham:
"Coach Meacham's always been a high-energy guy, always wants the offense to have fun. He's been himself, and it's been good for us so far."

… On dealing with adversity this week:
"I think when everything happened, right away the whole team was kind of in shock. So (Tuesday) was a little weird. But after that, the team realized we still have a whole season to play. So we've got to stay focused and keep our energy up."

Sam Jackson V, OSU senior wide receiver…

… On his increased involvement vs. Baylor...
"I hadn't really been involved, early on, so I knew this game was going to be a bit more for me; just knowing that they wanted to put the ball in my hands more, because we talked about that. I decided to stay focused and make sure I made the right reads and not try to be Superman and do too much. I think they put me in a great position to make plays, and when you do that with a playmaker, that's how it comes out. I felt great this week, though, just knowing that they wanted to involve me more in the offense."

… On his passing touchdown:
"It felt like (my) quarterback days. We practiced that play like 10 times this week, so I was pretty comfortable with it, and I saw [Josh Ford] wide open, and I was like 'Wow, he's going to score that for sure.' It felt good."

… On the team's attitude:
"Obviously, we're frustrated with how we're playing. We're not really playing complementary football on both sides. Sometimes it's the defense playing good and the offense that's not doing well, then the offense is doing well and the defense isn't doing well. So I feel like once we get that together, we're going to be able to build on it. We were frustrated, but we'd also seen some guys like 'we're good, we can build off that game.'

On wide receiver Royal Capell...
"Since the spring, Royal's one of those guys who, because he came in early, he's just a pretty smart guy. He loves football. That's all he knows is football -- sleep, eat, football. Even from the beginning, you could tell if he had it or not -- and he had it, for sure. And I think that's why DG [Coach David Glidden] feels comfortable with putting Royal out there any time of the game. And I feel comfortable with him, too, because I know he's going to go out there and block. He knows his assignments and alignments, and he's going to do that every time."

Trent Howland, OSU senior running back…

… On the fun of running trick plays and their impact on the offense:
"Absolutely. I got to throw it, obviously Sam Jackson V, he's out there throwing it around. We pass the ball very well, in my opinion. I think the more that we build on that and get better, it will open up the run game for us, because we had a lot of big runs today, too."

… On if he feels like he has turned a corner as a running back:
"Yeah, absolutely. The first couple of games, that wasn't how they went, just with different situations, but now I have my opportunity. It's not about me, it's about the people around me, my teammates, my coaches, the fans. The support means a lot, so every time I step out on the field, I want to showcase what I can do and what I'm capable of."

… On whether his mindset was any different today, compared to previous games:
"No, not really. It was a career-high, but I've been there before. Back at Indiana, I got around that 15-16 carry mark, and I tried to think back on those times. What could I bring from those times to now and build on that and get even more. It felt good. I felt like I left a lot out there, but that's what we have next week and the rest of the season for -- to build on."

On the energy interim head coach (Doug) Meacham brings:
"He brings a lot of energy. Like you guys said, he wants us to have fun. All throughout the week, we were playing music at practice, and we felt loose and felt like a football team again. Even today, with him stepping up in the head coach role, he has to talk to both sides of the ball, and I felt like he brought the juice to the defense as well. He gave us the best opportunity out there."

Dylan Smith, OSU junior safety…

… On the outside noise going into kickoff:
"There was a lot of energy this week, because we made it intentional to block out everything that was going on and to make the best out of what we have."

… On the coaching change and how it affected the game:
"It was hard, obviously, because we love Coach (Mike) Gundy. He's been here for so long. He meant a lot to everyone on the team, so that was hard, but we just tried not to let it seep into the week. Because at the end of the day, we still have a game. We've just got to focus on the task at hand."

… On turning the Bears over:
"It's something that we drill every day. Just getting the ball back to the offense, and we're intentional about it. It helps to swing the momentum of the game, so that was big."

… On Coach Meachum's impact:
"One of the first things he taught us was that he just wanted us to go out and have fun. Play for each other and play with energy, so I feel like that showed up today. He was intentional about us playing with energy, about us playing loose and having fun."

Bryan McCoy Jr., OSU senior linebacker…

… The teams performance at the end of an emotional week:
"I'm super proud of the guys. They responded really well — super proud. We went to work… Adversity hits for everybody, but you can't fall away from it. You've just got to look at it dead in the eye and just keep going. We've got to keep working… have integrity and keep doing things the right way, no matter what happens."

… The defensive performance against Baylor:
"I think we communicated very well today, but we've got to stop giving up the easy things — go up more and make guys earn touchdowns. I feel like a lot of the scores were just given to them… and that's just not good enough."

… On how the defense can improve:
"That's the great thing about it — it's all fixable. It'd be different if it was just things that we couldn't get over, but we can overcome anything. I feel like we've just got to keep going, keep working, watch the tape and look back at everything and capitalize off of that."

… On the message coming from him and the other leaders to their teammates this week:
"We kept being encouraging, kept being positive. That's all it takes. When things go bad, you can't turn face and look down or look sad — you'vr just got to keep going, keep working and keep your head high, because there's always hope. Everybody has a lot of ability. We've got a lot of ability on this team. So we've just got to keep going. You can never stop."

Dave Aranda, Baylor Head Coach…

… On the team's performance:
"Happy for the win. It's the first time that I've won here. It's a very difficult place to play, you know. The crowd is right on you, and the crowd has energy. It's a loud spot, even with the circumstances of today; it was loud. (There were) negatives, for sure, but the positives are the finish, care factor and the guys fighting through. We've got a bunch of young guys that are playing."

… On Caleb Burns stepping into a larger role:
"Yeah, he's playing a lot right now. Caleb is very talented and very smart. He has a mind for football, and so football comes easy to him. It's a language, and his appetite is strong; he eats it up. It's a base play and he shoots his gun and gets a tackle for loss. We have had a bunch of other guys play that spot, and we haven't gotten that. Caleb goes in and is able to get that. He brings us a great playmaking ability and gives us great care factor, too."

… On the challenge of preparing for an OSU team four days after a coaching change:
"Yeah, I mean, we tried to practice some of the stuff we saw. We looked at a lot of quarterback running plays, Wildcat was something we prepped, and we saw that too. We prepped that one time this year, and we saw much more than that today. There was this feeling that everything was kind of self-contained, everything was kind of keep it simple, so we tried our best to wrap those things up."

… On a bounceback performance from Josh Cameron:
"Yeah, he spoke to the team, it was real emotional. Josh is someone who usually kind of keeps things composed and tries to find the right words and say them in an eloquent way. And, I think he was pretty raw and emotional. I am thankful for that. I think it was good for the guys to hear that. His care factor is out of this world, and for the rest of the guys to hear what they see every day, I think it puts it into a different perspective. It was a personal game for him, I think. The last game really stunk, and so I think this was a game he was going to show out regardless of who we were playing."

… The defensive performance:
"Eye control would be the thing. I mean, all those double passes and fake reverses and gadget plays. They test your eyes. They try to draw you somewhere else and pull you, and then do something else where your eyes should be."

Sawyer Robertson, Baylor senior quarterback…

… On keeping his focus away from the Baylor football record book:
"I definitely try to put the blinders on. It's hard. It's a struggle. It's hard not to pay attention to it, to be honest. I feel like anybody can fall into that, where it's like 'Hey, if we don't go and play in a Big 12 Championship or if I don't throw for X amount of yards or X amount of touchdowns then I'm a failure, the season's a failure. So there's that perspective of it."

… On the Oklahoma State defense:
"They did a good job of keeping me on my toes. I mean, they got back there a couple times. I thought their DBs were good, you know, their scheme was good. I'm just proud of the playmakers we had and what they did."

… On if the pressure to score more points when the defense is struggling:
"No, I mean, and the reason why is look at last week. The defense has had our back all year. We had their back, and sometimes it doesn't fit together in four quarters. I think we're still looking to do that. But whenever they're struggling, it's our job to pick them up. Just like last week, whenever we're struggling, we're stalling out, they picked us up."

Matthew Klopfenstein, Baylor junior tight end…

… On Baylor's running game:
"It felt good. We've got backs back there that we know we can trust. As long as we can fit up and get it to the right guys that we're supposed to, we know that they can make things happen. And so to kind of see it all come together and work out, it feels good. It's definitely a confidence builder going into the next few weeks."

… On bouncing back from last week and getting a road win:
"We had to handle what we had to handle, and we did. And so, it's a confidence builder, kind of like I said earlier. We established the run game. Sawyer over here threw for four touchdowns and just under 400 [yards] I think, so this offense has a lot to build on. We do, and I think the biggest thing is that we played collectively all three parts of the game. There's a lot of things we can clean up, but I think overall we played a very good game.

Kyland Reed, Baylor sophomore linebacker…

… On dialing up the pressure in the second half:
"We kind of stuck to the game plan. It's just, the second half, we kind of got past the tricks and played the things we wanted to play and go against the plays we actually practiced. So, I guess it was all part of the game plan, it was just delayed."

… On seeing younger players, like Caleb Burns, make plays:
"It's definitely a joyful feeling. Just the time he put in. Just seeing him be successful at a young age and come in and have some toughness to him, and want to get out there and wanna be out there and not afraid is truly just, I get joy from it."

Kyler Jordan, Baylor junior linebacker…

… On giving up points to OSU:
"Yes sir. There's definitely a lot to learn from. I think going into this game it was kind of hard to know what we we're gonna get (from OSU). Obviously, we got a few things that we didn't really practice. I feel like in the second half we did a good job adjusting, but there is definitely going to be some stuff that we put on tape that we're going to have to go through."

… On the success of the younger players:
"You can just tell how much those guys care, you know. And I think, believe it or not, they can be hard to get sometimes, you know, and that's probably 90% of football, so that's been really cool to see. Just like, these guys wanna be here, they want to learn, they want to get better. So that's really encouraging."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Royal Capell

Zane Flores

Josh Ford

Trent Howland

Sam Jackson V

Bryan McCoy Jr.

Dylan Smith

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