I thought this was really good from Gundy. Especially the bolded parts:
STILLWATER — How do you engineer a two-touchdown comeback in the second half when your offense looks stuck in the mud and your defense looks like it just learned quarterbacks can scramble?
For one thing, you don’t wait until halftime.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy starts pressing his assistant coaches to begin scheming up second-half adjustments in the final minutes of the second quarter.
“I’m just telling you,” Gundy said. “I’m watching s---. You got an issue. We need to fix it. When I come down at halftime, I want to know what the answer is.”
Of course, one of the most pressing issues facing Oklahoma State on Saturday was the athleticism of Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green, who averaged 10.5 yards per carry and picked up four first downs on eight carries.
Although he often ran circles around them, Oklahoma State defenders thought the experience against such an athletic quarterback was good for them.
Oklahoma State linebacker Obi Ezeigbo, who replaced Collin Oliver on Saturday, said rewatching film reminded him how important it is to take an angle that keeps the quarterback positioned to his left or right.
“Just kind of put him to where I’m expecting him to go,” Ezeigbo said. “You know, so make it one side, instead of two. Make it a one-way lane instead of a two-way lane.”
Oklahoma State limited Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green to 5 rushing yards in the second half of Saturday’s 39-31 double-overtime win.
Although Gundy said Oklahoma State should have brought Green down eight additional times, he expressed some sympathy for pass rushers asked to contain dual-threat quarterbacks.
“Defensive line coaches will tell those guys, ‘I want you to fight, scream, spit, claw, bite, whatever you’ve got to do, I need you to get to that quarterback,” Gundy said. “But when you get back there, don’t get out of control … Make sure you have some rush lane presence. (But) I want you – whatever it takes to get back there, you’ve got to get back there.’”
Clearly, Oklahoma State’s halftime adjustments were an improvement considering the Cowboys limited Green to 5 additional rushing yards and no first downs on seven attempts after the first half.
Although good ideas matter when the coaches get together during halftime, Gundy is more concerned with how his assistants compose themselves in front of the players when things go sideways.
“One of the things that I tell them all the time is nobody can panic, and nobody can flinch,” Gundy said. “And I think that’s a big part of it. Because coaches panic a lot and then the players see them panicking. And then so they don’t think, they can’t absorb information. They’re in a panic mode (too).”
Gundy said he tries to prepare players during the week by warning them that their coaches might come up with bad game plans. He wants the Cowboys to be ready to just flush everything if needed.
On Monday, he recalled beating West Virginia once, likely the 17-point second-half comeback in 2018, when Oklahoma State literally scrapped its entire offensive game plan and just did “our turbo stuff.”
Of course, that doesn’t just require composure from his coaches. Second-half comebacks like Oklahoma State experienced against West Virginia in 2018 and against Arkansas on Saturday require a certain amount of flexibility and humility.
Of course, it probably helped that seven of Gundy’s top 10 assistants on Saturday were with him in 2018.
“You got to be willing to say you know what, this was not good,” Gundy said. “I tell them all the time, ‘Guys, I don’t care how they got to this point. I just need an answer. We got two quarters to figure it out, so you screwed it up, figure it out.’ And I think they have to be willing to look themselves in the mirror and say, yeah, you’re right.”
How did OSU beat Arkansas? It began with Mike Gundy pressing his assistant coaches. 'You screwed it up, figure it out.’
Tyler Waldrep
OSU Sports WriterSTILLWATER — How do you engineer a two-touchdown comeback in the second half when your offense looks stuck in the mud and your defense looks like it just learned quarterbacks can scramble?
For one thing, you don’t wait until halftime.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy starts pressing his assistant coaches to begin scheming up second-half adjustments in the final minutes of the second quarter.
“I’m just telling you,” Gundy said. “I’m watching s---. You got an issue. We need to fix it. When I come down at halftime, I want to know what the answer is.”
Of course, one of the most pressing issues facing Oklahoma State on Saturday was the athleticism of Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green, who averaged 10.5 yards per carry and picked up four first downs on eight carries.
Although he often ran circles around them, Oklahoma State defenders thought the experience against such an athletic quarterback was good for them.
Oklahoma State linebacker Obi Ezeigbo, who replaced Collin Oliver on Saturday, said rewatching film reminded him how important it is to take an angle that keeps the quarterback positioned to his left or right.
“Just kind of put him to where I’m expecting him to go,” Ezeigbo said. “You know, so make it one side, instead of two. Make it a one-way lane instead of a two-way lane.”
Oklahoma State limited Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green to 5 rushing yards in the second half of Saturday’s 39-31 double-overtime win.
Although Gundy said Oklahoma State should have brought Green down eight additional times, he expressed some sympathy for pass rushers asked to contain dual-threat quarterbacks.
“Defensive line coaches will tell those guys, ‘I want you to fight, scream, spit, claw, bite, whatever you’ve got to do, I need you to get to that quarterback,” Gundy said. “But when you get back there, don’t get out of control … Make sure you have some rush lane presence. (But) I want you – whatever it takes to get back there, you’ve got to get back there.’”
Clearly, Oklahoma State’s halftime adjustments were an improvement considering the Cowboys limited Green to 5 additional rushing yards and no first downs on seven attempts after the first half.
Although good ideas matter when the coaches get together during halftime, Gundy is more concerned with how his assistants compose themselves in front of the players when things go sideways.
“One of the things that I tell them all the time is nobody can panic, and nobody can flinch,” Gundy said. “And I think that’s a big part of it. Because coaches panic a lot and then the players see them panicking. And then so they don’t think, they can’t absorb information. They’re in a panic mode (too).”
Gundy said he tries to prepare players during the week by warning them that their coaches might come up with bad game plans. He wants the Cowboys to be ready to just flush everything if needed.
On Monday, he recalled beating West Virginia once, likely the 17-point second-half comeback in 2018, when Oklahoma State literally scrapped its entire offensive game plan and just did “our turbo stuff.”
Of course, that doesn’t just require composure from his coaches. Second-half comebacks like Oklahoma State experienced against West Virginia in 2018 and against Arkansas on Saturday require a certain amount of flexibility and humility.
Of course, it probably helped that seven of Gundy’s top 10 assistants on Saturday were with him in 2018.
“You got to be willing to say you know what, this was not good,” Gundy said. “I tell them all the time, ‘Guys, I don’t care how they got to this point. I just need an answer. We got two quarters to figure it out, so you screwed it up, figure it out.’ And I think they have to be willing to look themselves in the mirror and say, yeah, you’re right.”
