CHEEZ-IT BOWL: OKLAHOMA STATE VS MIAMI

December 28, 2020

Mike Gundy

Camping World Stadium

Oklahoma State Cowboys

THE MODERATOR: After this wild 2020 season, as adventurous as it's been, to see the finish line and to be headed to the Cheez-It Bowl and kind of have that reward for getting through it all, what is that like for you and your team, and how excited are you guys to be playing tomorrow night?

MIKE GUNDY: Our team had a great week of practice. We sent them home for a few days and then brought them back.

We're excited about playing in this game. It's been an unusual bowl game experience for us in that normally we'd be down there spending six wonderful days in Orlando at the Cheez-It Bowl so this is like a road game for us.

We have a lot of work to do today in Stillwater and then we'll load up on planes and fly down there and get to the hotel, kind of get settled in, do some walk-throughs and then eat dinner, and then let the players kind of enjoy the evening and then get up and have what would be a normal game day routine.

It is different than it has been in the past but I was proud of our team for staying together and working, getting three or four quality practices and getting a chance to go play in a Bowl game. This is something they are going to remember for the rest of their life.

Q. What have you seen from Miami as you've reviewed them on tape and started to prepare for tomorrow's game?

MIKE GUNDY: Well, very fast team, like what we talked about earlier in the week. They are skilled at all positions. They have tremendous team speed at every position.

Quarterback is a really, really good player. He makes them go. Sometimes he'll pull down, take off and make a throw or make a run and change the game for him. This will be a great challenge for us, but our guys have practiced hard and they are excited about playing the game.

Q. You talked about feeling that there was some value in letting the guys go home for Christmas. Did you see that or can you really tell at this point yet?

MIKE GUNDY: Yeah, there's no question we made a good decision letting them go home for three days, spend time with their family. You know, it cost us some practices. We had what I would consider four real practices for this bowl game. Most bowl games for us we practice 14 times, but for them to go and spend time with their family, take a break, and then come back, their attitude's been good.

The practices have been good. In the meetings they are all joking around and enjoy being around each other and there's really what we're trying to get accomplished this year during the bowl season.

Q. And you've had your offensive line together I think this will be four straight games with the same starting five. How important was that and how are they looking health-wise right now?

MIKE GUNDY: Well, they are doing good. We've been fortunate that we haven't had to make changes on game day. And so the young guys are getting a little better. We're not a finished product, obviously with the youth and inexperience we have up there. But they are better than they were a month ago, that's for sure. It's good to have them out there practicing, good to keep them together. And that should help during the game.

Q. Teams have dealt with all kinds of challenges this year, and going to the Bowl games, players might have opted out anyway; we've seen that in the past. But during the season, Chuba, having him opt out with a game to go, all the scheduling and things that have gone on with the schedule, how have you been able to deal with it going into this week having lost a premiere running back? Is it because of what you went through this year, has it been, okay, move on, that's the next challenge?

MIKE GUNDY: Well, I think so. Chuba hasn't played in a game for us in, really, I think four or five games since he's actually played in a game for us.

But it's been a very unusual year for a lot of different reasons and whether it's an injury or you have a player that's deciding to not play any more and move on to the NFL, you put the next guy in.

And our team has handled it really well. It is unusual but you're not left with a lot of options there. When you have a player that decide they want to move on and play in the NFL and they are not practicing, you coach the ones that show up at practice and you get them ready to play in the game.

Q. Any young guys we may not have seen much that's going to get some playing time?

MIKE GUNDY: Not really. Not anybody that would grab your attention. Most of the players that we had in the Baylor game, that would be the last reference. They will be out there playing. LD Brown has practiced the last week and feels better and so we'll have him available at the running back position.

But the other guys that finished up the season will be the ones that will be out there for this game.

Q. It's the last game for Tylan and Dillon. How beneficial have those two players been to your program and building the receiving room that you have?

MIKE GUNDY: Both those guys are old-school warriors. They practice, compete, play in games, they are physical, they are great leaders and they are reliable. They have been fantastic for this organization.

Tylan has done himself wonders individually for his career with the year that he's had this year and we're excited that we have him in the bowl game and he still wants to be a part of our team and compete.

And Dillon has done what Dillon has done here for years. He just continues to make plays. We play him at all three positions based on if we have an injury, and he shows up and he's able to be very competitive and make a lot of football plays.

Q. Wondering if I can get you to reflect a little to last summer, and the well documented issue with Chuba and moving forward, how that changed you at all as a coach, dealing with your players, managing your program. Did you alter anything or put your fingerprints on anything to change the culture based on that?

MIKE GUNDY: No, we didn't have any issues in the culture we had here at Oklahoma State. I think any time you go through things in life, you sit, listen, look, see what direction you need to go.

But we've had a great line of communication with our team. Really in July is what we all got starting, and started with the OTAs and started moving forward, and our players have competed.

I think if you watch our football team and how hard that they have played in the games and continued to compete with injuries and players that stop playing during the year and other players have to fill in, and then to finish up, we've played really good football in our last game against Baylor and then we've had great practices over the last week or so in getting ready for the Bowl game.

Q. Did your bond with the players strengthen as you've went through something as difficult as this season or did that have any effect at all?

MIKE GUNDY: Oh, I don't think there's any question with what we've all gone through with the virus and all the different things going on in the country, not just college football, but everybody in general, I think for the group that we had, the 125 players and then the 75 staff, around 200 people, I don't think there's any question that when you go through something like this, live the life that we have where you're testing three times a week and it's just nonstop testing, waiting on results, guys getting injured, you have guys that stop playing, other guys are filling in.

I mean, it's been a very, very unusual season and I don't think there's any question when you stick together as a group like we did that it does make your bond stronger.