Everything Mike Gundy said after Oklahoma State's 36-25 win at Baylor
ByCODY NAGEL 15 hours ago
WACO, Tex. — Oklahoma State head coach
Mike Gundy said the matchup against Baylor on Saturday was as even of a game as it gets in the box score with the difference being the Cowboys' special teams. The Pokes held on for a 36-25 win over the Bears inside McLane Stadium, getting revenge after a heartbreaking loss in the 2021 Big 12 Championship Game last December. Oklahoma State quarterback
Spencer Sanders had just one interception and was responsible for two total touchdowns — one on an 8-yard pass to
Bryson Green and another from a QB sneak on the goal line.
After the game, Gundy shared his thoughts and reactions to the Cowboys' win, as well as the overall bounce-back performance Sanders had 10 months after throwing four interceptions against Baylor in the conference title game. Here is everything Gundy said during his postgame press conference on Saturday:
OPENING STATEMENT:
"So, this was really a very, very evenly played game. If you look at the stats, we averaged, I think, 3.5 (yards) a carry rushing the ball. I think they averaged 3.6 (yards). Third downs and fourth downs together, we were 7-for-16, they were 6-for-16. The two teams played clean football, no penalties basically. We ran into a guy on a punt, if it's not for that, we have two penalties for 10 yards. They had two penalties for 10 yards. So, you have two teams that are evenly matched. They would end up with more total yards that us because we out special teams-ed them by 157, almost a football field and a half in special teams. And it was a draw in penalties. So, the difference in the game was special teams — 157-plus in our favor. We had a turnover. They had two, I believe. So, I mean, just basically an evenly matched game. Two good football teams. We're 5-for-5 in the red zone, they 2-for-3 in the red zone.
"So it's a good win for us. My concern coming down was what I told you guys on Monday, that we had nine players that were going to play significant snaps in the game that had never played in a conference game and never played on the road. And those guys played pretty well. So, I thought our coaches did a good job. The players competed. They're a good team. They're gonna make plays. We're gonna make plays. The players stayed focused for two weeks and practiced well. They gave great effort. They were competitive. So was Baylor. Obviously it's a good win for us, and you know, we gotta enjoy this one and rally back and get ready to go to work tomorrow."
ON WHAT THE OKLAHOMA STATE PLAYERS SHOWED HIM TODAY MORE THAN ANYTHING:
"I mean, I kind of felt like that this team liked each other. Their chemistry is good, but you never know. You gotta get in a position to be in a hostile environment, and be challenged like we were today. And what I told them after the game was, it's going to be this way every week in this league. I mean, I don't know any scores other than ours, except for early before we played our game and people were talking about other scores, but they need to get ready because it's going to be this way every week. So, hopefully they understand the importance of focus and the competitive nature of practice and not taking a day off."
ON THE RECENT MATCHUPS AGAINST BAYLOR:
"I just think that [Dave Aranda] is a good football coach. I think he's got — when you watch our teams play, there's no BS. There's no late hits, there's no slamming people down, there's nobody talking trash. Guys just play football. And teams don't get penalized very much. And I give them credit for that, I've told him that several times when I talk to him. I appreciate his team and I appreciate what they do. And I think we play the same way. I think we try to play the same way. So. you have two good football teams that are trying to do the right thing and play good, hard-nosed football."
ON THE THIRD QUARTER:
"The third quarter was like a video game. So, we hit the kick return, and then we hit the deep ball, and then they went to the fourth down and hit the, whatever, 77-some-yarder, then we we stopped them on a fourth (down) or something then we converted. Then we got on the half-yard line and everybody wanted me to go for it and lost their mind, because kicking a field goal which makes it a three-score game, I mean. So, we took the field goal instead of taking the chance. Just a good football game, but it just went back and forth. And I think that's what this league is going to be like in the next couple of months."
ON IF THIS GAME SHOWED OKLAHOMA STATE CAN WIN IN DIFFERENT WAYS WITH THIS TEAM:
"I hope. It's too early to tell, but I thought the defense played really good. You know, it's interesting, when you play a team that's going to go for as many four downs as they do in certain situations, the results are going to be a little different, because percentages are they're going to convert some of them and then percentages are if they don't we're going to lose the field position, which is a choice they make and a choice we can make. So, you're going to get a different feel in the game. They believe in their mid-zone run, they really like their linemen up front. So they have some advantages there in some short-yardage plays and I think that's what contributes to a wild game against a team that goes for this many fourth downs in that style of offense."
ON THE DECISION TO GO FOR IT ON FOURTH DOWN ON THE FIRST OFFENSIVE DRIVE:
"Well, those are all my calls, unless they don't work and then they're Kasey (Dunn's) calls. But, no, fourth downs are my call. We went into this game since last year's (Big 12) Championship Game and said, 'When we get close to the goal-line or we get in short-yardage (situations), I want our players to know that we can convert it', because we didn't do it in the championship game. We didn't coach them well enough. And that's my fault, and the offensive coaches. And I said, 'When we get in this situation they need to know whether [Siaki Ika] is in the game or not, we're gonna sneak the ball, we're gonna run the ball to convert, otherwise we have a hard time winning.' So, we worked hard in the spring — you guys saw us in the spring do it — we did it in August, and whether[Ika] is in the game or not, we're gonna convert. Now, in the end, kicking the field goal changes the game based on how many possessions it takes for them to score. That's a different situation. But, the first fourth down and the other time at the goal line, we're gonna push it in there."
ON IF HE WAS PLEASED WITH OKLAHOMA STATE'S SHORT-YARDAGE OFFENSE:
"Yeah, and that hasn't been a strength for us. I mean, most of our linemen are more fit for playing fast, they're not bulldozer guys based on the style of offense we run. So, but we improved on it, yes. And we told [Hunter Woodard], [Preston Wilson] and [Taylor Miterko] and those guys, 'You got to block 'em. You know he's gonna be there. You got to block him.'"
ON SPENCER SANDERS PERFORMANCE:
"He played good. You know, he was 20 of 29, they played Cover 2 all day and when he threw the pick the corner carried the wideout, which in most cases tells him throw the ball in the flat and the guy drained underneath it and made a good play. But he converts a lot of plays with his legs, and you see that in college football now. You see that in the NFL too. The quarterback, in my opinion, what he brings to the table is he can convert first downs and keep the change moving with his legs. And in today's game, the way defenses play over the last two or three years, it's changed considerably. If you can't do that at quarterback, in my opinion it's going to be tough."
ON HIS HAPPINESS FOR SPENCER SANDERS:
"I'm glad for him. Spencer's a competitive dude, now. We all know this because we cover him locally. We know that, for some reason, people don't give him enough credit. It is what it is. Now, we can go back. I've always said this with him: whenever we rush the ball decent, like today we rushed the ball for 166 yards, which is a really good day against their defensive front, and if you protect him little bit, he plays good. That's what we did today, so he played pretty good. Championship game, we didn't protect him."
