Oklahoma State Cowboys College Football Pregame Quote, 12/28/2021

‘m curious about this match-up with Notre Dame. We’ve asked you guys about the opportunity to play a program that’s sort of got a lot of prestige and history, tradition, that kind of thing. Do you feel that this is an opportunity for you ‚Äì you’re on the map, obviously, nationally. I mean, you guys are in playoff contention, Big 12 championship contention all year; but is this representing next-level opportunity to put OSU football, for lack of a better term, on the map with a match-up the caliber of Notre Dame Saturday?

Yeah, it’s a great opportunity for everybody. It’s a great opportunity for us to show our skills and what we have at OSU as a whole. And then we’re also playing a team that a lot of people don’t get to play because they have such a long wait list to play these guys, since they’re such a prestigious team and such a team that is kind of like isolated to playing who they want to play and playing certain people.

How does it feel now that your final game is coming up here and you’re actually at the end of the line of all of this?

Well, it’s kind of ‚Äì it’s been a long time. I’ve been here for a while. So, obviously, it sucks a little bit; but, I got bigger goals I’m trying to accomplish still. And it’s just on to the next opportunity in life after this. But still trying to go out with a bang and still get a big-ass W and go out with bang with my fam, to be honest.

Two questions. One, do you think you and Malcolm [Rodriguez] could call the defense if you had to on Saturday? And then also talk about the fact that Notre Dame presents another offense with a dynamic tight end and what that means for linebacker play.

Yeah, of course I think we could call the defense for sure. But, I mean, with [Coach] Joe Bob [Clements] and them, they’re doing their jobs and they’re coming up with great schemes and great play-calling. And I think they’ll do a great job at it. We just got to execute what they call and from there, it should be good.

Yeah, they got a good offense, good tight ends, a couple quarterbacks. And it will be a good game for sure. They kind of run their little different schemes depending on the quarterback. And, like you said, they like to go to the tight end. And it will be a good game, a good match-up.

I guess for you, Coach Gundy referred to you as a guy who could have gone into the portal all these years while you were waiting behind Amen [Ogbongbemiga] and all of that. To have waited around and stuck around and then get the opportunity you have this year and for it to go the way it’s been, how rewarding has this season been?

It’s rewarding. I waited my time, and I enjoyed the process. I met a lot of great people here, a lot of great coaches. I can’t complain at all. Like you said, it was meant to be, I don’t go against waiting and how it happened. I enjoyed it a lot.

Going back to the tight end talk, does this tight end present any differences or any comparables to some of the elite tight ends you guys have seen out of the Big 12?

Yeah, kind of. You got to kind of have comparisons from a couple of them kind of all put together. Like you said, he can both do good run blocking and he’s good in the passing game. You don’t see that very often with tight ends in any conference. He has it all, kind of. So, I mean, it’s a good thing he has it, but we’ll have a plan for him.

Could you tell us a little bit about Koy McFarland, what kind of coach he is and what he’s like to have him as your position coach?

He’s a great coach. A young guy, kind of ‚Äì like you said, he’s been around the game for a while and brings a lot of enthusiasm to the game, which a lot of times you need that. And definitely, with a room like us, we have a lot of leaders as well and a lot of young people. And I think he set the tempo, and he sets the standard for a linebacker at OSU with being the coach this year.

He has a lot of people behind him on this team, and that’s a good thing. And when you have a lot of people behind you on this team, you just see how good of a person he is with so many people standing behind him and giving him motivation and telling him, like, he’s doing it right and he’s doing a good job, which is good. He deserves it, man. I can’t lie. He deserves it.

Is there someone on the defensive staff you’d like to nominate to replace Coach [Jim] Knowles as coordinator next year?

I mean, they’re all good. Like I said, it could be any of them. They all know the scheme. They’re all smart and they all know how to ‚Äì they’ve been in this game for a while, and they all know everything.