Everything Mike Gundy said after Oklahoma State's win vs. Arizona State
By CODY NAGEL
STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State head coach
Mike Gundy felt his defense was much improved compared to a dismal performance in the opener last week. The Cowboys held Arizona State to just three scoring drives
in a 34-17 win inside Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday night. Oklahoma State's offense found its footing in the fourth quarter with a pair of touchdown drives. Gundy said the coaches made some adjustments to the rushing attack at halftime, which led to success on the ground and allowed the Pokes to put the game away.
After the game, Gundy shared his thoughts and reactions to the big non-conference win. Here is everything Gundy said during his postgame press conference:
OPENING STATEMENT:
"So, that was a better game for us overall as a team. We minimized missed assignments from the last game. So, I told the team and the coaches in the locker room that I was proud of them. We're responsible for improving every game. We still had mistakes, but we cut our missed assignments considerably, in my opinion, and we were able to rush the ball. We ran the ball for 4.3 a carry, 4.5 is what we're looking for, but much, much better rushing the football, and were much, much more physical in the second half. Our running backs broke some tackles in key third downs and situations to keep us going, keep the drive alive. When you know 6, 8, 10 minutes to go in the game, could have stopped us a couple of times and our backs ran through and made plays.
"And, obviously Spencer (Sanders) played good again. He got caught in a disguise coverage and threw an interception, but other than that obviously ran well, handled things well. Did a really good job of the screen game, avoiding the rush, pressure, man-coverage, hard to do. Played well. And we defended and we got pass rush. In the second half, we were physical running the ball and we were able to — it kind of looked like our team last year a little bit and putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback and making plays.
"I was pleased with our our special teams. Arizona State (is) a really good punt rush team, and we worked hard on it this week and challenged our team, and protection was good. [Tom Hutton] was good. Did a did a really nice job with that. So, overall, we improved we got better. We still have a long ways to go. We know that. Thought through some adversity at times, and you know, just gotta keep moving. Look forward to another good week of practice and improvement in areas. Had some guys get reps that hadn't had a lot. They're young, immature, but they got another game under their belt. So, just got to keep plugging away."
ON IF ARIZONA STATE SCORING EARLY WAS BECAUSE OF SCHEMES OKLAHOMA STATE WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH:
"Not really. A little bit, but not so much. We just had mistakes in communication. I mean, I wish I could tell you something else, but that's the truth. We got to get through that. And then they started the second half, they shifted to empty, and we had one guy that was halfway doing the right thing and one guy (that) got lost and that's what happens. So they're young, and they'll get that, but really other than that play the defense was really good and second half. They caught us on the one pass where we we didn't cover down."
ON DOMINIC RICHARDSON AND THE RUNNING BACKS:
"He did, he really ran physical. And then Ollie (Gordon) came in and broke some tackles. But, you know, we need Dominic (Richardson) to do that. That's the type of back he is, you know, he averaged 4.9 (yards) a carry, ran through some tackles and did a good job of taking care of the football. They're well coached in tackling and stripping the ball. I was concerned about that. But, they did a nice job and Dominic played well in the second half particularly."
ON THE FORCED FUMBLE BY BROCK MARTIN:
"I mean, obviously turnovers are big. We had an interception and, well, I would call two turnovers, because we forced a fumble and then had an 18-yard punt, which is basically a turnover. But at that time, they went back to the weak side and we had a nice mesh charge, blew the thing up and the ball got on the ground and (we) recovered it. Early in the season, right, it's special teams, penalties and turnovers, in most cases across the country."
ON THE PASS RUSH UP FRONT FOR OKLAHOMA STATE:
"That's what we have to have. Those guys have to do it. We have to rotate them. Collin Oliver is going to show up. [Tyler Lacy] is going to show up. Brock (Martin) is going to show up. [Samuela Tuihalamaka] and [Sione Asi] did a good job inside. Obviously you don't see them as much because they're right down in the middle of the trenches. But, those guys have got to continue to make plays like that. That's what we need."
ON HOW MUCH THE DEFENSE AS A WHOLE IMPROVED FROM LAST WEEK:
"I mean, we're better obviously. I mean, you could tell by watching the game, it was clean. You know, we'd had two or three mental errors in the first half and they had big gains. And then in the second half, we had the big throw. One other time, we got out of position. They got the run around the left side going this way. And then the other ones, they made plays. I mean, you know, the other team is going to make some plays, too. So, I'm gonna say that we — I'm pleased, let's put it that way. I'm pleased with where we are. We got aways to go, but I'm pleased with the strides we made from that game to this game."
ON THE ADJUSTMENTS IN RUN-BLOCKING IN THE SECOND HALF:
"Yeah, so we made a couple adjustments at halftime, and allowed us to hit the crease. In the first half, and I would have to watch tape, but I have a pretty good idea on that side of the ball. I thought we were really average run blocking. And we challenged them at halftime. I say we — coach (Kasey) Dunn and coach (Charlie) Dickey and coach (Jason) McEndoo and I just kind of sit behind and cheer them on. But, we challenged them. We gonna have to rush football. And we were much better at it. The average of 4.3 (yards a carry) is good. They played a lot of really deep safeties and played a lot of five across back. And then they were inverting last, which means you have to rush the ball. It becomes a numbers game. We challenged them and were able to run the football effectively. I was particularly pleased with the last 10 minutes of the game when they knew we were going to run it and we could still run it. That's a good way to close a game out."
