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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: STANFORD v OKLAHOMA STATEDecember 30, 2011Brandon WeedenGLENDALE, ARIZONA BRANDON WEEDEN: Guys are taking the right approach and practicing well. Q. Have you had a chance to know Andrew Luck this week? BRANDON WEEDEN: I haven't seen him. A couple of our guys ran into him at the mall, but I haven't talked to him. I have been pretty wrapped up and busy. Q. He doesn't play golf? BRANDON WEEDEN: He don't? Q. I guess. BRANDON WEEDEN: I don't know. I'm sure if he would, he would have called me. I thought we would have a lot more time to get out and play a little bit. I got 11 holes in and a drive. That was it. This weather is perfect. I can play 36 a day after we're done. Maybe I can stay here and play 36 a day on the 3rd. Q. When teams have this much time to prepare in Bowl games, a lot of times you see the advantage go to the defense because they have been able to dissect things. But offensively, just to try to counter what you know they are going to see, you still don't change that much, do you? BRANDON WEEDEN: No, you can't. You got to do what you do. You go in there and try to revamp everything you do, you are not going to be crisp. You will have wrinkles and different ways of doing things. I think these things like this, not necessarily Bowl games in general, there is so much time off, it is who is the hungriest and who wants more. You have seen that through the first few Bowl games that have been on T.V. You don't change much, you really get good at what you do while throwing some wrinkles in they haven't seen. And, like I said, defense has a little bit of a hand because they are able to dissect you a little bit more. Q. We talked so much about both offenses. What in your mind is the underrated part? BRANDON WEEDEN: The defense has come a long ways from the first game. I think they are playing really, really well right now. And Stanford's team is really good as well. So I think everybody talks about the offenses and the weapons on offense, but these are two really good defenses. That's why this matchup is so intriguing for everybody else. I think everybody is looking to see how it all pans out. Obviously No. 3 and No. 4 in the country and two good offenses, what I feel is like two really good defenses. It is going to be a good football game. Q. Do you feel like you have simulated enough what Stanford and Andrew Luck will do for you guys? BRANDON WEEDEN: It's hard to say. I'm not over there with those guys. I am on a separate field. I would say yeah, our coaches are going to get them prepared. It is hard. It is hard to simulate scout team guys. It is different. I would guess our coaches have done everything they can. Q. What's the biggest key to the game in you guys getting a win? BRANDON WEEDEN: Taking care of the football. That's our number one thing. Secondly, getting first downs. Don't stall out, keep our defense off the field and continue to get first downs and score touchdowns. Don't kick field goals. Against an offense like that, you can't kick field goals and win. Mostly just ball security and taking care of the football. Q. There has been a lot of talk about transforming the culture of Oklahoma State football. A lot of that is obviously Coach Gundy's seven, eight years. Have you seen that in your time there, the transformation from "oh, you can't do that" to "yeah, you can do that"? BRANDON WEEDEN: Absolutely. When I first got here, we were ecstatic to be able to go to a Bowl game. The guys‑‑ the realm of going to a BCS game was out of the realm. So I think the players that Coach Gundy has brought in, I think bringing in Coach Holgorsen and Coach Monken and Coach Young, the quality of coaches he has brought in has made a difference and recruited really good players. The quality of player we have today versus when I got here in '07‑‑ we had good players. Across the board we are two deep. We weren't that way as you know back then. It has definitely changed. Q. The limits, people used to put limits on, well, OSU might be able to do this. But you guys don't seem to‑‑ you haven't felt that way the last couple years. Is that just a completely different thing from five years ago, four years ago? BRANDON WEEDEN: I think it is just the expectations. I think as players, we expect to be in the game of this caliber every year. Hopefully that doesn't change from here on out. I think guys have kind of taken on the feeling we like to win games, we won a lot of games the last four years. Obviously this has been our biggest Bowl game. I think you are exactly right. I think this has kind of become an expectation in our locker room. I think that's the right way to approach it. If you settle for less, you set yourself up for failure. Q. Stanford is a team that likes to get after the quarterback. Big pass rusher team, ranked 7th in the nation. Some say Levy is the key to the calls. BRANDON WEEDEN: He is the anchor, he makes all the calls. They are blitzing from the side. He usually‑‑ unless I see something, he sees it, he communicates. Without him‑‑ he is tough. He is the core of what we do offensively. I would agree. Q. Grant said he usually tries to get everything called before everyone gets to the line, down in their stance because he knows you have the receivers to worry about, whether they have their route to run. Is he faster than normal for centers that you are seeing to be able to do that? BRANDON WEEDEN: You can tell he prepares throughout the week because he knows‑‑ he has a feel for what they do depending on the front and the look they are giving, whatever it is. He is able to kind of dissect that and get a feel for it early. He is also good about‑‑ while he is down and everybody is lined up, he is also good about seeing stuff and going from different sides. I don't know how he does it. It is pretty impressive. He is able to digest a lot of information pretty quick. Like I said, I'm going to miss him. He is pretty doggone good. Q. Is that one of his underrated skills? BRANDON WEEDEN: No doubt about it. He is so smart about understanding what we do. We move fast. You know that. We play fast. And so he has to make a lot of decisions kind of like I do in a short amount of time. He doesn't get the pub as far as that goes. He is one of the biggest reasons we have a lot of success on offense. Q. Part of the secret is out, a black Jersey, everybody wants to know, what are the Cowboys going to come out in the Fiesta Bowl Monday night? BRANDON WEEDEN: I don't know. This could be a hoax. We do have four other combinations. We wore this one just because the players wanted to wear it today. Monday night might be totally different. You never know. Q. Talk about the different combinations. Has been the most popular with the players throughout the season? BRANDON WEEDEN: I think everybody has a different opinion. I think the guys like the black/orange. My favorite was probably Missouri when we went all white. I think that was one I was really looking forward to. Really and truly, there has not been one that I haven't liked. I feel like we have done a pretty good job. I was a big fan of the gray jerseys. We weren't able to wear them as much as we would like. Q. The guys we talked to go right back to you: It is what Brandon Weeden tells us. How much have you involved in this decision? Who else is involved in the decision? BRANDON WEEDEN: Throughout the regular season, I had a lot of the say. But I got with our equipment guys and tinkered with them a little bit and went with what we thought was best. During the regular season, I had a lot of say. I had a lot of pull when it came to that. This one, as far as the Bowl game, we had a group of seniors that came together and decided and we actually all agreed which is nice. Q. Look into the future, talk about those that are set to follow you, what will the quarterback position look like at Oklahoma State in 2012 without Brandon Weeden? BRANDON WEEDEN: We will be fine. We will be fine. Coach Monken does a great job. He has made me a great quarterback. He has done that with J.W. and Clint as well. I'm curious to see those guys fight it out. I think they will make each other different. J.W. likes to run around. Like Zach Robinson. And Chelf in the same deal. There will be a zone red. The quarterback will run the ball more than I did. I think we will be fine. I think the offense will continue to click. Q. Is this program at a stage where it has reached a consistent level where it will always be a contender? BRANDON WEEDEN: That's what we like to think. We have really good players, even young players. We think we have put ourself on the map and we don't want to go anywhere. We plan on being around here for a long time. Q. What are your hopes for the draft? BRANDON WEEDEN: There is an unknown. There is so much that goes on between now and the draft. There is a lot of evaluation to still be done. If someone told me where I would be drafted today, they would be lying to me. I rather they not tell me in general. I have no idea. I have no idea. I have to go out and play well in the senior bowl and do some good things throwing the football around and let the pieces fall where they may. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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