OSU Football: Week 4 Notebook

Mike Gundy, his assistants and a few players spoke at OSU's weekly media luncheon on Monday. Here's what they had to say about Baylor and last Saturday's 45-38 win against Pitt.

Head Coach Mike Gundy

Opening statement:
"Back to work last night getting ready for Baylor. The Pitt game was kind of what we thought. There wasn't really anything different than the post game conference. We're looking forward to a good week of practice. We're playing a good Baylor football team, which will be a real challenge for us. They're the exact same, scheme-wise in all three phases, as they have been over the last few years. That will be a challenge on our end, but we're looking forward to it."
 
On the development of Mason Rudolph:
"When he was a freshman, he played down (in Waco), and actually played pretty well. Since then, he's played in about 16 or 17 games. He had a great game for us Saturday. Oklahoma State traditionally goes as its quarterback goes. If he plays well, we play well. If he plays average, we're usually pretty average. That hasn't changed. Most teams are that way, with the exception of some schools that just have better players than everybody else. He's mature and understands. He missed three, maybe four throws last week, but overall his reads and where he was at with the football was pretty high percentage."
 
On the importance of starting conference play strong:
"Each week we have to win. It gets brought up a lot, and people tell me, 'You have a big game this week," and I say last week was a big game, because if we didn't win that one, then we're not in the position we are now. Each week in college football is really a big week for us. If you play well and win, then you've got to get over it and go to work again on Sunday. If you don't play well and you lose, you've got to get over it and go to work again on Sunday."
 
On running back Rennie Childs:
"He's had a lot of highs and lows. I mentioned to him during the game, when he made the really nice run, we blocked everybody up but the corner was unblocked, which happens in football. You can't block everybody. He made the guy miss, then took off and ran for 70 yards. That's what we brought him here to do, and it really hasn't happened much since his freshman year. Hopefully it will kick start him a little bit and help us...Rennie ran hard against a pretty good defense, a pretty physical team."
 
On Baylor's offense and the challenge of facing quarterback Seth Russell:
"Just look at what they've done the last few years. Their scheme is that they're going to try to pound the football. They're really good at it. As soon as you dip down there and watch it, they're going to try to throw it over your head. The guys that have played there in that system have been very accurate at throwing deep balls."
 
Offensive Coordinator Mike Yurcich
 
On the big offensive day:
"That was just our coaches coming up with a great game plan and our players executed it. That's the big key there: execution. A lot of determination, a lot of focus, a lot of effort in practice. It was a great week of practice. There's still room to improve and we still can get better. We will look to do that in this week coming up."
 
On what he saw on the first play of the game to call the deep pass:
"Yeah, anytime we get a low safety look and they are leaving the receivers one on one, a play action pass, going over the top, is usually going to be there. It's a one-on-one matchup. Whether you win that matchup or not usually depends on the guys you are going to and who you call and who you are going against and their technique and their execution."
 
On putting Central Michigan behind them and playing the way they did:
"I think it says a lot about us as far as our leadership and our ability to focus on the task at hand and not get distracted, not listen to outside noise. You have to give our players a lot of credit for their maturity and really to look amongst teammates; and to depend on one another and to rally around one another and I think at the end of the day showed that."
 
On the rain delay:
"I think Coach Gundy did a great job of getting us organized and reviewing some schemes and going over stuff with our guys. I think we did a great job making any adjustments we needed to and coming back out and having our guys mentally ready and focused and keep them relaxed at the same time. You don't want to burn up too much energy because it's such a long delay."
 
On getting off to a good start and what that can do for them long term:
"Well, momentum is a big part of offensive play and football in general. Whenever you can put together some rhythm as an offense, it's going to go better for you obviously. The sooner you can start that, the better. Momentum and confidence, all those things start. One of the important keys is to focus on one play at a time because when you don't have that momentum and when you're not having that explosive start to be able to restart yourself is a key. You can't always reflect on the past and you have to play one play at a time and focus on that play and make that play the only play that matters. So playing in the now and in the moment is a really important ingredient to that."
 
On if the offense will raise the play of the defense and the special teams:
"I think our defense will play hard regardless, but I think anytime one side of the ball is playing well it's always going to encourage the other side of the ball to play even tougher."
 
Defensive Coordinator Glenn Spencer
 
On Baylor's scheme with their wide receivers:
"It's what we've been seeing [the last few years]. They've put [KD Cannon] in a different spot now, he's in Corey Coleman's spot and they have this Chris Platt kid who wears No. 14. He's a fast kid who took over Cannon's spot from last year. But the pace, the tempo - maybe they haven't gone as fast as they've gone before - but that's what I'm expecting. A lot of similarities, but I've had similarities every year and they've still racked up big points on us, so it's not an answer, there is just a familiarity to it."
 
On Seth Russell's play this season:
"You'd like to say they're not running him as much, and kind of taking care of him, but he's pulling it down and taking off. He's a fast kid. I think they're saying, 'Hey, you're healthy. We're doing the same thing we did last year.'"
 
On Baylor running the ball:
"They want to run the football. The alignments and all are getting them to where they can run the football because they get numbers outside the box. What they do is you have to show them what you're doing pre-snap, so they have an answer. [The spread] clears up the read for the quarterback and you can't go in and out with a lot of disguises because if they catch it, you'll never get there to stop the run, or double-up someone on the pass - it's a dilemma."
 
On devoting safety help to the run game:
"When you're spread with four [receivers], your corners are going to be on an island unless you're playing a three-deep zone, but then you're soft on the corners. You just have to realize if you play it safely, you give up hitches, or you can be more aggressive and stop some things, but then you're taking the chance of them throwing it over the top."
 
On preparing for a familiar opponent:
"In one way there is a comfort level there, but it doesn't help the stress level. It's a whole different animal to try to get your guys off the field. And that is the key, this is one of the highest scoring offenses in the past five years in the nation, so we have to do a good job of trying to steal a possession here and there, and if we play 18-20 possessions against them, we have to get a number of stops. They're going to make their big plays. To think we'll stop them from making some big plays here and there is unrealistic. It's the goal, but you can't get totally frustrated if that happens. You just have to steal some possessions for your offense and hope to put up some points with them."
 
Running Back Rennie Childs
 
On being one of the older guys on the team and what he tells the younger guys:
"Some of the freshmen like Justice Hill are very confident in themselves. He's ready to play. They know what they're getting into when they get here."
 
On the team's maturity and its ability to bounce back after a loss:
"It just shows how mature and how confident the team is in each other. It just shows that we rally together, and we just said we were going to get after it and that's what we did."
 
On how important it was for the offense playing like they did and now going on the road to play Baylor:
"It's very big for us to come out with our butts on fire, and go hard on the first play."
 
On how important it is for the offense to continue what they did Saturday:
"I think it's very important because every offense needs a running game. The offensive line did a great job. We just need to rally together and do what we've been doing."
 
On the first play of the Pitt game and if the team had put the Central Michigan game in the past:
"After the game, we as a team moved on. It was just the media just talking about it. The team moved on. We were ready for Pittsburgh and were just ready to win."
 
Linebacker Devonte Averette
 
On if he would box in the future after being so successful in youth competition:
"I don't know. My uncle calls me about it all the time. I see my little cousin, who is about 10 years old, and he is a champion. He had a boxing match in Ohio this past weekend. He did very well and won. They always call me about it, but football takes up a lot and boxing beats up your shoulders pretty bad, but it was fun."
 
On if he ever considered a career in boxing:
"It was tough, but my mom wanted me to play football. I was an overall athlete. I was really heavy in basketball at one point and then started doing football and going back and forth. Football was something I just picked."
 
On how it feels to get praise for his play on the field:
"It feels great. I'm glad my teammates believe in me, and they see the hard work I put in this offseason during the summer, and it feels good. It feels good to get the recognition, but I'm humble."
 
On where his humility comes from:
"Since I was little. With my uncle, older brother and little cousins, you had to be tough during those times. There were a lot of fights like basketball fights and fights with my older brother. You just always have to be tough, and you have to work harder than the next man."
 
On becoming a more experienced player on defense:
"It feels good. I have more to show. I worked so hard to get to this level. It's all just beginning for me."
 
Offensive Lineman Zach Crabtree
 
On the receivers:
"We are as talented as anybody on the perimeter and those guys are going to make plays. They make plays every game. I have all the faith in the world in those guys. We all do."
 
On Mason's development the last two years since his first start at Baylor:
"Just more experience, obviously. He's grown in some areas, but he is just a more mature player. He has a different mental approach now. He's grown up in some areas. He's just older, I guess. As we get older, we get wiser. He's just all around gotten better as a player."
 
On what the run game against Pitt did for everyone's psyche:
"A lot. We had a good day running the football. When you have a few run plays like that, it opens up other things across the board to help us out."
 
On the first play after the delay:
"It was a solid run. We went through some different schemes during the break and saw some different things. The coaches did a heck of a job scheming that up and giving us this opportunity."
 
Safety Jordan Sterns
 
On the younger guys bouncing back:
"Because of the leadership in the locker room, those guys didn't have any trouble. The older guys and the coaches were positive about it. The younger guys took that and ran with it."
 
On defending Pitt's run game:
"I think we did a good job. You can always improve on things like giving up the big run. But, that's going to happen sometimes. I think the way we responded by coming out strong after halftime and a rain delay shows a great deal about our team."
 
On his confidence in his defensive line:
"I have all the confidence in the world in those guys. I think the defensive line and our linebackers have been doing a great job stopping the run. At the end of the day, we are working together. We are coming together more as brothers."
 
Quarterback Mason Rudolph
 
On James Washington's performance against Pitt:
"I think he's really progressed, even though you saw him make those same kind of plays during his freshman year. He's gotten stronger, added some weight and really worked on the finer details of his game. He's a guy that's hungry and is always looking for that one or two percent to make himself that much better."
 
On how Washington's presence impacts the opposing defense:
"I think seeing him out there makes us much more balanced. He makes defenses respect both sides of the field. It just makes the whole field much more balanced, and it's not just those two guys. The whole group with (Austin) Hays, (Jalen) McCleskey, (Dillon) Stoner and all those guys are doing a great job and just making plays."
 
On the 91-yard touchdown to open the game:
"We practice our openers and we knew where we needed to go to. Coach (Mike) Yurcich did an awesome job of dialing that up and I think it was an awesome route. I almost put a little bit too much on it and overthrew (James Washington), but he made an awesome catch and a great play. It felt good as it came out and it was fun to start out like that and be a catalyst for our team to get going."
 
On facing Baylor this week:
"I think it will be big for us. It was good to get some early adversity. Despite the loss, we're stronger and better for it and we're really excited about league play, getting down to Waco, Texas, and getting out there and playing."
 
On the similarities between OSU and Baylor's offenses:
"I think we're very similar in that we score a lot of points and have a ton of weapons that both myself and (Seth) Russell have, so it'll be a great game. We're just focused on the 10-yard fight, moving the chains and then just letting everything else just take care of itself."
 
On the first road game of the season:
"I really enjoy playing on the road and I think it's a great chance to go in someone's backyard and beat them there. It's a really fun challenge and a fun opportunity and we're all looking forward to it. We can't wait to get at it tomorrow (at practice)."
 
Defensive Tackle Vincent Taylor
 
On Cole Walterscheid stepping into the lineup:
"He's playing a big role. He's gotten defensive MVP for the last two games and after this last game I shot him a text that just said 'Keep up the good work. Your name is out there now so just keep going.' I think he really stepped in there and did a great job."
 
On Walterscheid as a person:
"If you see him off the field he's just a really big joker. I call him 'Coley-Cole' and that's just something everybody calls him. Outside of football he's a really great guy, laid back and everybody likes him a lot."
 
On what Walterscheid's biggest strength is:
"I'd say his hands. He uses his hands well and practicing with him every day I can say that he's probably the guy with the best hands among the defensive line. If the offensive lineman shoots him, he's able to get off a block just by using his hands."
 
On the first road game of the season being the conference opener:
"This is our first game on the road so we have to be ready for the environment we're about to go into. Like Coach (Joe Bob) Clements told us, everybody is 0-0 now that we're going into conference play. I think it's kind of different now that we're in conference play and everyone is playing for the title, so I think we just have to get ready to put up a fight. Going against Baylor's offense will make it different. After watching the tape on Sunday, they ran 113 plays against SMU, so a lot of guys are going to be rotating so when everybody goes in there they just have to be ready to do their job."