CHEEZ-IT BOWL: OKLAHOMA VS FLORIDA STATE

December 29, 2022

Brent Venables

Dillon Gabriel

DaShaun White

Camping World Stadium

Oklahoma Sooners

Press Conference

Florida State 35, Oklahoma 32

COACH VENABLES: I would like to first congratulate Coach Norvell and Florida State, their staff, their players. Terrific game. They played their guts out, like our guys did. Heck of a game for them. Big win for them.

Incredibly proud of our team. Disappointed for them in the loss. As I told them going into the game not going to play the scoreboard. I want to see fight. I want to see guts. I want to see courage. I want to see toughness. I want to see physicality, not perfection, all right. I want to see belief. We saw that tonight from our guys.

They have done everything that we have asked from them, and couldn't be more proud of them for that. Disappointed in, again, not being able to find a way to win the game. They made a couple more competitive plays than we did, and we certainly had our opportunities tonight. Like the normal ebbs and flows of any game, they did enough to win.

I am proud of our guys. Again, disappointed for our seniors, but as I told them, foundationally, how we do what we do is what matters. It is an easy time now for people to judge us based on being 6-7, and that's fine. That is what goes with the territory. This is a performance-based profession, and people on the outside are going to judge us on that. Winning is incredibly important, and those are the standards and expectations that are here at Oklahoma.

How we do what we do matters. Incredibly proud of, certainly, these gentlemen here, Dillon and DaShaun for their leadership, their heart, their toughness, their work, for believing in Oklahoma and representing the brand the right way.

Moving forward, it is a great opportunity. Got a bunch of guys that got their first extended playing time. I was really excited for them and proud of them in their effort, and it is going to bode well for us in the future.

With that, we'll open it up for questions.

Q. What's the difference in this game with the culture and the structure, you talk about foundation, how do you feel from what you saw -- the injuries and all?

COACH VENABLES: I think what you all saw today was what we saw in the last three weeks at the end of the regular season. The Bowl game was announced, and our guys went right back to work. Trust my eyes, and from weight room, to finishing strong in the classroom, to the practice field, to the extra film time, to handling themselves with class, both on the field and certainly off the field, while we were here doing everything that we asked of them. I couldn't be more proud of them and that is foundationally what it's about.

They invested a tremendous amount. It should hurt. That is never going to be acceptable. At the same time, you have no regret when you put everything you have into it, and that is what this football team did. Proud of the players and all of their hard work and their perseverance and just fighting till the end.

Proud of the coaches, too. Were there plenty of mistakes? Absolutely. We will have to look at those once we get to the out of season as well. What I saw tonight was what I saw the last three weeks, and proud of these guys for that.

Q. Brent, I wanted to ask you, 60 rushing plays, four offensive linemen were missing, Eric Gray is out, you had Gavin and Jovantae had big games. Can you talk about the run game and how everyone came together and meshed?

COACH VENABLES: The guys up front, they played physical, and they played with purpose. I thought the players played with a tremendous physicality and toughness that we have asked from them. Coach Bedenbaugh did a great job getting these guys ready. Jacob Sexton went out early in the game. Unfortunate for him, but he will recover okay.

But really, I love the sense of desperation that they played with up front, and tight ends, O-line, the backs, Gavin and Jovantae in particular, Dillon in some of the run game that he was involved with, as well. I thought these guys -- again, in many ways, is exactly according to game plan, so, proud of them for that.

Q. Kind of following up on the run game, Gavin, he had not seen a lot of time this year, came into this Bowl game and shined a little bit even in a loss. Can you talk about his talent, his performance and just kind of the future he has at Oklahoma moving forward?

COACH VENABLES: Well, he has a tremendous future. He is made of all the right stuff. Tremendous character. Great work ethic. Incredibly humble, intelligent, tough. It would been easy for a guy like him to kind of check it in and not get better, but he showed up every day and got better all season long, and these guys will attest to that.

He has been a great teammate, and he is ready for his opportunity when it presented itself. Again, really excited for him in some of his production tonight, outstanding. He will be a lot better going into it next year because of it. Kind of like Jaleel in our Bowl game a year ago. Also obviously able to preserve his redshirt year as well.

Q. With the offensive line, guys coming in the past few weeks and first quarter of the game, can you describe the competitiveness in yourself to be back in Orlando, scrapping through, running for your life, making positive yards and getting up and even showing a little spiciness at times, jawing back and forth?

DILLON GABRIEL: My competitive nature. I want to do whatever it takes for this team to win. Obviously, it is a little frustrating when it doesn't happen. Personally, I think the O-line played their butt off in the sense of their effort. They are guys who care, and they are competing for their opportunity at hand. I can respect that. In times of a game, things happen. MA's happen, or shoot, sometimes you just lose a rip.

But, they continued to fight. Regardless of the situation, AP coming in and playing his butt off, I am proud of them. More importantly, because they are my friends and guys I have connected with and are really close to. Whenever it's like that, you are riding with them forever, regardless of the situation.

Q. DaShaun, I know the loss is fresh in your mind, but can you appreciate what this season has meant in terms of you being a senior, a captain and trying to get that foundation built?

DASHAUN WHITE: Definitely, yeah. Kind of this season has been up and down. It has been something I am not really used to; I don't think any of us are really used to.

Kind of having this opportunity to still leave a legacy in a way and still leave your fingerprint behind, or however you want to look at it, was something that I just kind of clinged on to all year. As many times as he said it, every time he said it, it is something that I knew I wanted to do, and I just wanted to -- any way I could, any little thing I could for the young guys, just leave them with whatever I can, you know.

Q. Dillon, on pass plays you were running for your life a lot, but the running game relieved the pressure. What can that running game do going forward? What did that do for the future, do you think?

DILLON GABRIEL: I think anytime the run game is going well it helps a lot, not only in game management, but also if you establish the run game, it helps you out in all areas.

Our run game has just been really good all year. I am proud of those guys up front, and obviously the running backs, there was no drop-off in that sense with how talented those two young guys are.

Q. You guys obviously did a better job stopping the run than a lot of people have done, but then they got you guys in the passing game in the second half. Was it them adjusting, or what do you think happened there?

COACH VENABLES: I think they got us into a couple of tough matchups. They made a couple of competitive plays. Then, Jordan Travis does what -- did what Jordan Travis does sometimes. He extended plays with his legs. He does a great job of keeping his eyes down the field, and the receivers do a great job of staying open and staying alive.

We had a screen that was, whatever it was, 48 yards, something like that, and we don't leverage it right, and that's what happens. He did a good job off the play action, how they had that designed.

I think it was a combination of a couple of bad matchups, not great calls. We had 14 on a safety that should not have happened and they made us pay for that. It is a game of matchups, and that wasn't our intended matchup. That is on us as coaches.

Again, I thought Jordan Travis got into a pretty decent rhythm there. They drove the ball. First drive of the second half, 15 plays for 94 yards, and they made, again, just a lot of critical plays within that drive.

That is what good teams will do. We wanted to make them be efficient and drive the ball down the field, if they were going to, as opposed to big plays. We still gave up too many explosive plays. It is a tough thing to have happen and have a chance to win a one-score game.

Yeah, I think it was a combination of those things, and the passing game the second half.

Q. Dillon, Coach Venables talked about not record-chasing, but whenever you know that the 23-season winning record streak came to an end, does that affect what happened this year?

DILLON GABRIEL: Not necessarily. I think it tested us, tested me personally. Just in life, the journey, all the work you put in with a bunch of guys with the right mindset and great attitude. Your work doesn't necessarily come to fruition in that sense.

What I love about Coach BV is just the idea of attacking the process and loving that, and the results shouldn't be the drive for your happiness for the result being what it is. It is just finding that deep joy in family and the Lord, and of course with us, because that is the only thing that sticks. When you are tested like this, if you don't got that, you will go into dark places.

So that being said, I'm proud of this team. We were tested in many ways, but we got the right guys in this building, and we love each other and know that regardless of the result, we are together. So, that's the main thing.

Q. I know you're only a few minutes removed from this thing right now, but when you get the chance eventually to sit back and reflect on year one, the last 13 games, where do you think it is your mind will go first?

COACH VENABLES: I have had a lot -- I reflect -- I've had plenty of time. I am in the middle of it, and I can see the trees through the forest.

First and foremost, proud of the work of the guys, man. I have been saying it all year: These guys have been putting the work in and giving us everything that we could ask for, and that is where it all starts for me.

If we come up short in a lot of different areas, as a staff and certainly on the field, we certainly did, there is plenty of disappointment and there are things that we will need to do better moving forward. That goes without saying.

But that, really, is like any season I have been a part of. You go through your normal postseason processes as far as evaluation and how I did what I did and how we do what we do schematically and all those types of things.

That is a very broad question. Again, Dillon alluded to it: It is the commitment; it is the fight; it is the investment. That is where foundationally, that is what it takes first. It takes that first. If you don't have that first, you have no chance.

If we come up short, five of our games we come down to the last drive of the game. We weren't good enough and we didn't coach them good enough. We have to play a little more efficient. So we will learn from it. That is what I know. I believe that without question, that we will all learn from it.

Scarred up from a challenging season, but I know the type of men, the type of people that we have in that locker room. For me, that's what I hang my hat on in regards to we are going to be fine, all right? Again, go back and look at a lot of things, and there is a gazillion things that we will go back and look at that we have to be better at programmatically, scheme, personnel -- all of it.

For me, it starts with those other things. Certainly disappointed being 6-7, but proud in a lot of the things that we were able to accomplish, and certainly proud of the players and their work and their fight and their achievement. There is plenty of achievement there. In the middle of losing, there is plenty.

I think it is always important that you have the right perspective and that you recognize that, because I think you can get lost if it is all -- again, this is -- at the end of the day, it is my job as the head coach to win and win every one of them, and I get that.

From the expectations and standards that we have in our program, it goes well beyond that. The results, you don't get into the arena and say, I am only going to do my best if we win. That is not how it works. I am only going to invest; I am only going to put in the extra time; I am only going to -- you know, blood, sweat and tears with my teammates; I'm only going to sacrifice if I know we're going to win. That is not what you do.

The result always takes care of itself. That is what Dillon was saying. Sometimes, you are on the wrong side of it. Why was that? So, you go back and you evaluate all of it, and we will peel that onion all the way down to the core and look at that.

I just watch. I watched what I have been watching. For a lot of people, they can't see that because they are not inside the building, and that's fine. We will be judged by being 6-7. That's fine, too.

For me, for us, I know what the future looks like. I have been seeing it in that locker room. The winning will come. I know that without question.

Q. You said the foundation was in place. Expounding on what you just said, what did you see out there tonight that shows that foundation?

COACH VENABLES: Guts, courage, fight, physicality, attitude, belief, commitment, trust, love, respect. It is all brotherhood. I saw guys that had an appreciation for their opportunity. Guys that had a thankfulness for putting on a Sooner uniform.

Part of the hurt and the disappointment -- certainly me, too, and I know I can speak for them, because we talk about it a lot -- is this program has represented excellence for such a long time.

There are so many people, they want to turn the Sooners on, and the Sooners give them hope. The Sooners give them joy. The Sooners give them pride. When you come up short, man, there is some disappointment.

So a lot of the hurt, it is for those people that have paid the price and been in these shoes, been in those locker rooms, worn that whistle. Hey, man, we are all prideful, and we care about what other people think in regards to our football family. The past players and the past coaches, all the excellence, this university represents, that matters to all of us.

That's what I saw, all those things out there tonight.