Aug. 30, 2010
STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy, defensive coordinator Bill Young and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen joined selected Cowboy players in meeting with members of the media at Boone Pickens Stadium on Monday. Some of the highlights of what they said:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
“It’s good to get into a game week. The players are really excited about backing off on practice against each other and are looking forward to getting in a game. It’s still a big week of preparation for us. It’s very important that we stay focused and have a good week of practice to get ready for Saturday. I like the attitude of our team. We’ve made some really good strides in the last four weeks. I’m excited about watching them play and seeing some of the new guys get out there and see how they perform. We also have a few players who’ve played quite a bit and we’re looking forward to them getting back out there. We’re just looking forward to this week of preparation.”
On what he will be doing during the game that’s different from last season:
“I will be listening to both sides of the ball and being involved with special teams. I thought the other day about how it would actually factor in on decisions. Because I was calling plays I was tied in pretty good with third and fourth down calls. I can contribute more to the special teams area and give me more time to think about that prior to a certain group going on the field.”
On Jamie Blatnick and Victor Johnson:
“From a legal standpoint Jamie’s situation has changed and I’m still gathering information on Victor’s situation. I am pretty up-to-date on where we’re at with Jamie. We will have discussions with Jamie this week and then make the decisions about his options for Saturday. I still want to gather all the information before I make a final decision on Victor.”
On Washington State:
“I think there is mystery about the teams on both sides. We have a pretty good feel for what we think they’ll do in all three phases. Usually 40-50 percent of that is correct going into that first game. It’s important that you’re good at what you think is important: your offensive scheme, your defensive scheme and your special teams. Take care of your own business and go out and play hard.”
On having a No. 1 receiver:
“I don’t think we have a No. 1 guy. We don’t have someone in the category of a Dez Bryant or a Rashaun Woods. We have a number of guys who we feel like are very capable of making plays. One of the advantages we have in this system is that we can spread them all out.”
On how different the offense will be with passing versus running:
“It’ll be different. We’ll just have to see how it plays out. I know that the offensive staff has a pretty good idea of how they want to handle it. I have a pretty good idea of how I think it should go. It’ll be somewhat of a learning phase on how we handle run/pass situations based on where we’re at in a game. It’ll be a little different in that area than it has in the past. We’ll play to our strengths depending on the personnel or the situation in the game.”
On Brandon Weeden’s decision making:
“He’s making good decisions at this point. We’ll know a lot more after he’s played in some games. The question came up this morning about how much we’ll know about our young players after they’ve played in the first game. We’ll know a little bit, but we’ll know a lot more a month from now after they’ve played several games and a little bit of fatigue sets in. When the guys get beat up a little bit you find out a lot more about your team.”
Defensive Coordinator Bill Young
On having depth at defensive tackle
"The first unit is going to come out really good. I think Chris Donaldson and Shane Jarka are the best they have ever been. The backup is where we have some issues. Anthony Rogers has shown some tremendous improvement and Nigel Nicholas has the potential to be pretty good. They are continuing to work and get better."
On Christian Littlehead...
"He missed 17-18 practices and came in a little overweight. It is real tough to come back and catch up, but we will continue to do that and work with him as an individual."
On the lack of experience...
"We are better than we were a year ago. We need to get more sacks and get more turnovers."
Offensive Coordinator Dana Holgorsen
On if the offense has eight solid receivers going into the opener
“It depends on which practice we look at. There’s been times when those guys have looked okay and there’s been times where they haven’t. We’re going to put them in a position to make plays and hopefully they will. We’ll find out on game day.”
On if the players are ready to play a fast-paced offense
“They’ve been doing that around here for quite some time. Maybe not quite to the extent that we’re going to do it, but they’ve been trained in the last few years to be able to work pretty fast. Getting lined up fast and being able to handle it at a very rapid pace, they can do that. Whether we make the plays all the time is yet to be seen.”
On the offensive consistency since the last scrimmage
“It’s up and down with specific people. What we’re trying to do right now is get only the guys in position to make plays that are going to be relied on to make plays, so a lot of people that were in that scrimmage are not going to be the guys that you see out there. We try to narrow it in on the good ones and the ones that are actually going to play. When we did that it tended to look a lot better.”
Quarterback Brandon Weeden
On the increased number of plays on offense this season
"We want to stay on the field and keep our defense off the field and score points and get first downs. I think that's going to be fun. We're going to move fast and I'm sure Saturday night I'll be exhausted when it's all said and done."
On if he's nervous for his first start
"No, not really. I'm sure I'll get a little nervous towards Saturday. I'm just enjoying it, having fun, and if I don't have butterflies on Saturday I'll get real nervous, so I'm sure I'll have some butterflies."
On his biggest concern for the Washington State game
"I just want everybody to go out and have fun. Just go out and do what we've been working on all camp, and I think good things are going to happen."
Receiver Justin Blackmon
On being anxious about the first game
“I’m ready to get it started. A lot of things happened in the offseason and there’s been a lot of talk about the changes and I’m just ready to get out there and show people what we can do; show them what our offense is capable of doing”
On if the team will be better than people are expecting
“I think we could surprise people if we come out and do what I know we can do. If we show up and play we will surprise a lot of people.”
On the offense
“It’s different because a lot of people are going to get the ball. A lot of people are going to get their names out there. There’s just going to be a bunch of different people that are called to make plays and hopefully we can make them.”
On if the offense will see instant success
“I think we will. We’ve prepared hard. If we go out there and everybody does their part then we will have that success.”
Defensive End Ugo Chinasa
On the freshmen handling Bill Young’s defense
"They are handling it well. They are out there making plays. They are all fast and they know what to do. They should be good and ready to go."
On watching game film of Washington State's offense
"They have a lot of good schemes they run. They have a lot of motion that tries to confuse defenses. But we are good at communicating so it should be good."
On getting to tackle someone besides his own teammates
"I'm tired of hitting our own offensive guys. We get into it during practice a lot because we are hitting the same guys every day. They know our moves so it will be good to get a game in."
Safety Markelle Martin
On the freshmen in the secondary
"Justin Gilbert and Devin Hedgepeth, they're great guys. They have real nice feet. We kid around with them a lot about being corners and not wanting to tackle, but those guys are coming up to make plays. Lavocheya Cooper, Deion Imade, Zack Craig, those guys are just ready to come up and hit, so I'm kind of anxious to see what they'll do for the first game, because I remember what it was like for me as a freshman, so I'm anxious to see what those guys can bring and what those guys are going to do."
On how many times he's watched the clip of himself hitting Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead:
"A couple times because people will send me e-mails or things like that. I would like to get more highlights than one."
Cornerback Andrew McGee
On Ugo Chinasa
"He's a big, skilled player. He'll be able to go in and get the quarterback, or he'll be able to drop back and do whatever he needs to do. We've seen Ugo get some interceptions and take them all the way to the house,so he's going to be a great factor on the defense."
On how far the defense has come:
"From the spring, we've made huge strides. I was watching in the spring because I was injured, so I was sitting out, and I got to look in. Just to see now, the strides we've taken and all the guys grow up, all the freshmen, like Devin Hedgepeth, who's going to get a lot of action. He's grown up and he's playing hard and he'll be a factor for us. Different guys like Shaun Lewis and all those guys have taken a role and they know they have to play and they've grown up. We actually play as a team and I think that's a great thing, it's going to be a great year,"
Defensive Tackle Shane Jarka
On the upcoming game vs. Washington State
"The closer you get to game time the more you get excited, and your adrenaline gets pumping. So there is definitely a lot more excitement and a lot more focus on the team. So even though it may not look like we are totally enthusiastic, we are just focused and getting ready to hit somebody else instead of each other."
On the team bonding during preseason...
"During the summer it is our bonding time as a team because we go through so much. All the running, all the heat, and then the two-a-days during preseason, we just bond because we are together 24-7. There is a cohesion between the players because we have spent so much time together and went through so much together.
