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OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 24, 2016

Mike Gundy

Oklahoma State - 24, Baylor - 35

COACH MIKE GUNDY: This game's pretty easy to see. You travel on the road, turn the ball over three times and then defensively you give up way too many big plays. We got away with that last week. We had two turnovers that cost us points and we gave up big plays and we were able to overcome it.

But now you're traveling down here and playing a good team, and when you're moving the ball and you turn it over, you just shoot yourself in the foot and then when you give up big plays, when you have them backed up against the wall, it's hard to beat a good team. It's really pretty simple.

Q. You got inside the five-yard line twice, trailing by four in the fourth, how demoralizing is to get so close in those situations and come up empty?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: Well, that's kind of what I was talking about. One time we were going for it on fourth and two because I didn't feel like a field goal would win the game. I thought we had to score touchdowns. And second time we turned the ball over. I mean, it's real simple. And I hate it, because if you take those six or eight crucial mistakes out, we probably played well enough to win the game. Unfortunately, those count.

Q. Justice Hill has a great game for you, 122 yards but two fumbles; does that cancel everything out?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: Sure does. Got to take care of the ball. Doesn't do any good. If you can't take care of the ball, it doesn't do us any good to have you in there. And he's a freshman, I understand that, but he's got to learn to take care of the football. Take us out of the game against good teams.

Q. Obviously it's frustrating but when you feel like you gave some things away there in the game, does it make it tougher to swallow?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: Right, yeah, I mean, I'm not going to try to hide it. You can tell by looking at me, and I told the team the same thing. You have to learn to take care of the ball and you have to learn to quit giving up so many big plays on defense. Pretty easy press conference for me.

Q. What was the problem from your vantage point on defense giving up the big plays, the 89-yarder, a 99-yard drive, two 38-yard touchdown passes.
COACH MIKE GUNDY: They run the stop-and-go on the outside. They are good at it. We know they are going to do it and we didn't play it right. We bid it both times, they ran right by us and he put the ball right on the money.

Q. You more than doubled time of possession, is that a big consideration, emphasizing the run tonight?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: We felt like the last two years we got in a track meet with them, and we couldn't run with them. And so we wanted to be able to establish some running game, use a little bit of clock with playing on the road.

And that's why I'm so upset at everybody. It's not just the players. It's coaches. We've got to coach them better and put them in a better position so we don't give up those big plays.

Because otherwise, our game plan, what our thought was, playing as a team, worked. But unfortunately turn the ball over three times and give up huge plays, you just throw all that out the window.

Q. Once you get past being so sick how it went down at the end, don't you feel like you've got it back now with some creativity in the second gear and with Justice?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: I thought we ran the ball good. There's times he gave up a little bit of backside pursuit, but they move a lot, they stun a lot. You're going to get some of that. There's some give and take with their style of defense.

You know, I could sit in here and talk about everything we did other than those crucial errors. But I'll tell you the same thing I told the team. I can pat you on the butt and tell you good job and you guys played good against a team that's ranked and so-and-so. That's not the way I feel. I feel like we should have done a better job of coaching and we have to do a better job of playing so we can win these games, period.

Q. How much patience does it take to keep running the ball, even though it may not be working initially, just to stick with it and keep eating up that clock?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: Our guys made some adjustments in our blocking schemes and that's what they get paid to do and their adjustments were really good. So that goes back to where I started. I don't know how many games or plays it was, I don't have a stats sheet in front of me. If they ran say 150 plays in the game taking special teams out, we are probably okay on 130 of them, and probably decent on another eight of them. But those other 12 that we turned the ball over and gave up big plays, can't do that.

Q. Is it frustrating to get one defensive series and have the game postponed like that? What are you thinking when you're going in the tunnel so early?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: I was frustrated there was 13:28 left and they already had a touchdown. That's what frustrated me.

Q. With Justice, you clearly had a guy that's got a burst who can do some things that maybe your other running backs don't. How do you weigh the turnovers and his ability going forward?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: I can't answer that right now. I'd be fabricating some answer for you. We have to look at it as a coaching staff, Arroyo, Yurcich, myself. We have a lot of confidence in him. He's a freshman. So people say, give him a break.

Well, I don't believe in that. I believe in taking care of the ball. And if we're going to put you in, you take care of the ball. I love the kid and we're going to keep playing him, if that's what you're asking, but he needs to take care of the ball.

Q. How concerned are with you Mason's fumbling issues?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: It's a concern. I didn't see that, it was way too far down there, but I think it was a noncontact issue; correct? I would have to see it then. I have to watch it on tape. But I don't like that either. Can't turn the ball over.

Q. Tight formation, half the game, you only had two wide receivers. Is that something you want to do more of or is that Baylor-specific?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: Most of what we did tonight was specific for Baylor. We are going to try to work together as a team, as I mentioned earlier, I thought we got in a track meet with them and we lost both track meets. So we had a different philosophy on special teams, offense and defense. Said it three times now, but other than about 12 or 15 plays, it worked pretty good for us. But guess what, that doesn't count.

Q. You said earlier in the week, Baylor looked the same to you. You've been on the field with them. Do they look the same to you as what you've seen the last three or four years?
COACH MIKE GUNDY: Scheme-wise, they are the same. And obviously they strike big plays, or they make big plays, big strikes against us. So that's very similar.

Defensively, we were able to rush the ball much better than we ever have against them the last few years, and I would say that would be the difference right now with us against them.

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