Gundy, Cowboys Preview Iowa State Game Oklahoma State coach, players look ahead to Saturday's contest in Ames.

Nov. 2, 2009

STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy and selected members of the team visited with members of the media at Boone Pickens Stadium on Monday to put a cap on last week’s game against Texas and to look ahead to this week’s contest at Iowa State. Some of the highlights:

 

Coach Mike Gundy
On the Texas game
“To finish up on the Texas game, it was pretty accurate in the postgame that, obviously if we turn the ball over that many times then it’s extremely difficult to win, much less against a team of the caliber of Texas. Defensively, they have great speed in the secondary. They run very well. They tackle very well. Offensively, they’ve got guys that can get the ball to on the perimeter and keep you spread out. The quarterback’s very mature. He’s got a lot of experience. He’s a good football player. They are very good in the kicking game with their speed. Give them credit. They made plays. Their coaches made good decisions. They had good game plans. We’ve put that one behind us now.”

On Kendall Hunter
“We expect him to practice this week and move forward. Essentially it’s the same thing he’s done the last few weeks. When he went into the game, he felt okay. He didn’t feel great, so we weren’t comfortable in putting him back out there and that’s why he didn’t get back out there in the Texas game. Plans from that standpoint will be to continue and move forward and hopefully we’ll get him for some more plays this week.”

On Iowa State
“Iowa State, I think they are leading the league in rushing. I know they were way up there when I checked a week ago. A big read zone team. Obviously, they are playing two quarterbacks. They’ve got a big guy on the perimeter that makes plays for them. Defensively, they’re somewhat similar to what they were last year, even though it’s a different coaching staff. They’ve done a good job of keeping things in front of them and tackling in space. They’ve had some junior college players come in and contribute to their success. So we’re back at it this week and our challenge will be a good week of practice and preparation and travel up there and have a good game on Saturday.”

On beating teams you are supposed to beat
“Each week it’s a challenge for all of us. I think our football team understands the importance of preparation and I don’t know that there are teams out there anymore that you necessarily say you should just beat with what’s going on in college football. The only part that we can control as a staff and as a football team is to practice hard and put in the work during the week and let the guys go play on Saturday and have some fun and then ask them to give great effort. I really believe that. Winning and losing is very, very important, but also the improvement, how they’re playing the game and what we’re getting out of them are also very important. Each week is a challenge for us. We just have to continue to move forward.”

On Iowa State playing hard to earn bowl eligibility
“I don’t think there’s any question they’re going to be ready to play and they’re an improved football team. They’re playing much better this year. They’ve got guys that are making plays on both sides of the ball. I would think their approach would be very similar to ours. They’re going to practice hard and try to come out and play and that’s the good thing about college football. That’s going to happen. What motivates teams? I’m not sure. I just know that in order to play the game for the right reasons, you’ve got to practice each day and prepare and go play hard. That’s why we do this. No matter how many wins or losses you have, you need to compete every Saturday.”

On Zac Robinson
“Zac will be fine. Zac pressed. I’ve done that myself so I have a pretty good feel for what he did. We have complete confidence in his ability. When you’re a good player at any level and you don’t play well, there will always be a question come up, but he’s a proven player for us. Zac’s very stable and I would expect him to practice well and go compete. He just pressed. He tried to do a little bit too much and it cost him at times. The flip side of that, the guys that made those plays (for Texas) were good players.”

On figuring out the Big 12 North
“I’m not sure I can figure anybody out. College football has changed in the last couple years and I think it’s great for the fans and everybody and it’s tough on the coaches because there’s so much parity out there that you have to really work hard to keep your players focused and in preparation for the next game. We’ve seen a lot of cross over tape and teams seem to play different each week.”

 

Defensive coordinator Bill Young

On defense’s performance against Texas

“I thought, at times, we really played outstanding and other times, we didn’t play up to par. When you play a team like Texas, you’d better be playing solid football every snap or they will take advantage of it.”

 

On the defense’s progress this season

“We’re excited about the direction we’re headed, but we’re certainly not there yet. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get where we want to get to. We’re proud of the effort the players have put forth. The down linemen have made a lot of progress. They’re a very talented group. The good thing for us is we have several players. We’re playing about 10 people. We’re building a lot of depth and getting a lot of experience for the future.”

 

On improvements in national rankings on defense this season

“When you consider who we’re playing, I think that’s really good. You look at how many yards and points Houston has put on the board and Texas and A&M is awfully good offensively. We’ve played some really good offensive football teams.”

 

Co-Offensive Coordinator Gunter Brewer

On Zac Robinson closing in on coach Mike Gundy’s career passing yards record

“I think anytime you have a chance to do something it’s pretty special. Especially if it’s a guy who is not only coaching you, but the head coach and they’re still here at the same time, it’s pretty unique. They have formed a relationship since he’s been here. It’s kind of a different situation with all the things he’s been through this year both personally and emotionally. I think it will be an excellent opportunity for him to kind of gig his coach a little bit when he does it.”

 

On Iowa State’s ability to force turnovers this season

“They’ve been very opportunistic. They had a game on the flip side such as we had against Texas, they had that against Nebraska. I think sometimes that tends to skew it a little bit when you have one that the bottom falls out one way or the other. They are a very opportunistic team and we’re going to have to hold on to the ball. Something that enables us to be successful is not turning it over and don’t penalize yourself. That’s something we didn’t do very well the other night.”

 

On Zac Robinson’s interceptions against Texas

“Every play was a little different. Either the receiver was a little out of place or their guy made a great play like on the first one. Their guy made a tremendous play. Zac threw it in the right spot, the receiver is trying to get there and there are a couple things we could change technique-wise, but you’ve got to give them credit. It was man coverage and everybody has a right to the ball and their guy got to it before we did, unfortunately. On one of them, the guy had a great coverage and came off his guy and stepped underneath one. That was a different one. We tried to throw a ball in the middle of the field and probably threw it a little bit too late and it was one of those situations.”

 

DL Swanson Miller

On getting back to work after loss

“Even after the outcome of not winning the game, on Monday, you have to come back and go back to work and get prepared for the next week.”

 

On difficulties of coming off a loss

“We still have a lot of stuff to play for. Our season is not over. We’re not going to play or practice as if our season is over. We’re going to keep playing and keep practicing and get prepared for Iowa State.”

 

On comparing the last two losses to Texas

“I think this one hurt a little bit more because we knew what it was going to take to win. We did what we had to do to win. But, obviously, we didn’t come up with the win. It hurt a little bit, but we know our season is not over.”

 

S Lucien Antoine

On what the defense could have differently against Texas

“Anytime you lose a game, there are a lot of things you could have done better to win the game. We should have gotten some turnovers. In a game, the team that gets the most turnovers usually ends up winning the game.”

 

On finding positives from the loss to Texas

“In the game, there are a lot of positive things and a lot of negative things. There are some areas that we did well. Overall, we lost and we lost as a team. As a team, I think we could have played better because I know we are a better team than that. They came in ready to play. They are a good team and you’ve got to give them credit for that.”

 

WR Justin Blackmon

On how turnovers against Texas plagued the offense

“It hurt a lot because I think on about every one of our turnovers, they went down and scored. It hurts a lot. If you take those away, we have a good ballgame.”

 

On getting ready to play Iowa State

“You get ready just like any other week. We’re going to work hard and practice hard this week and go up and play just like we’ve been playing any other team and just play hard. You can’t look past anyone. There are a lot of upsets that happen in football. You don’t ever want to be that team that gets upset, so you really can’t overlook anyone.”

 

OL Lane Taylor

On trying to gain confidence from Saturday’s loss

“It’s hard to tell because we all make mistakes. You get a little better from each game, so it’s just hard to tell.”

 

OL Brady Bond

On moving on after loss to Texas

“The first thing we’re going to do is put this one behind us. It’s not how we wanted it to turn out, but I let it go yesterday and we’re going to have to move on. If we worry about it too much, it’s going to affect us against Iowa State. We’re going to put that one to the past and start looking toward Iowa State today. Texas beat us once, we can’t let them beat us twice.”

 

On what this team still has to play for this season

“There’s still a chance at a Big 12 title. The way the Big 12 has been played this year, there’s still a chance. We’re just going to play one week at a time and worry about what we can worry about. We can’t control how Texas plays. We’ll take it one game a week and we’ve got Iowa State this week so we’ll go from there.”

 

On what type of loss is tougher to get over

“That probably varies from person to person. To me, a loss is a loss and a win is a win. We’re going to have to bounce back and get prepared for this Iowa State team that knocked off a pretty good Nebraska team earlier in the year.”

 

DL Shane Jarka

On stopping Iowa State’s rushing attack

“We just have to prepare for that this week and go from there. Hopefully, we’ll have a great game.”

 

On coming back from loss

“It’s what we have to do. That’s basically it. We feel we can win out the rest of the season and we just have to do it. We have to prepare this week. We have to prepare hard. The coaches are going to be on us of course and I don’t expect anything less from them. Losing to Texas, they were ranked No. 3. We didn’t lose to horrible team; we lost to the No. 3-ranked team in the nation, but we lost to them horribly because of a bunch of mistakes and mental mistakes and turnovers. Bouncing back is going to be hard, but we can do it because we’ve done it before.”