Oklahoma State Cowboys College Football Pregame Quote, 12/29/2021

Josh, I was just asking [Coach] Kasey Dunn about Jaylen Warren. Wonder if you could talk a little bit about him, and what makes the team sort of rally around him the way that they do?

I just think the way that he works. He works super hard. Like Coach Dunn said, you never see a play where he loafs or hear anyone who gets on him.

I think the biggest thing that stands out to me is Sunday workouts for us, after the fourth or fifth game, became optional of lifting and rowing. I don’t think he missed one there towards the end until he got beat up. I think a lot of guys really took attention to that. Just his willingness. He never quits.

Josh, you guys lost at Iowa State on a fourth-down play, which is just a matter of inches on the spot. You lose it to the Big 12 title game. Dez (Dezmon Jackson) comes a couple inches shy of the goal line. How do you put such close losses – you guys were literally three or four inches from being undefeated. How do you put that aside and not dwell on the past and go forward without beating yourself up over such a tiny amount of yardage?

Yeah, I mean, you definitely bond. I wouldn’t say it’s something you just kind of get over. It’s something you just look past. We have a new week, a new opportunity, a great challenge in front of us with Notre Dame. I think with playing such quality opponents, you can’t dwell in the misery or dwell in the past.

And if we did that, we could very well do that again to Notre Dame. You just got to move on from it, learn from, watch the film, and come back to practice, work hard and get better. And that’s what we have done.

Josh, back to Jaylen Warren, you mentioned what you noticed with those Sunday workouts. But when you think about your first impression of him coming in as a transfer, what do you remember, whenever that was?

He was pretty shy, pretty quiet. I didn’t really remember him saying anything. I remember walking by him, being like: Hey, what’s up? And he just kind of nods. Didn’t really get to talk to him much until he was ‚Äì I think it was after spring ball he kind of opened up a little built and heard him talking to more people.

But, yeah, he was super quiet, kind of stayed to himself. But, I mean, I’m sure I was that same way whenever I first got here. I didn’t know what all was going on or the schedule or what workouts were like. So I can see why he was like that.

And then as a transfer like yourself, in the short time he’s (Jaylen Warren) been here, on the field, in the locker room, on the practice field, all of that, how would you encapsulate the impact he’s had in a pretty short while?

I think it’s been huge. He holds himself to a higher standard which, in turn, people around him have held themselves to a higher standard ‚Äì or held themselves to an equivalent standard that he’s held himself to. I think it’s really helped all of us kind of grow, and it’s just brought a new mindset into the team on the offensive side.

Josh, looking across the line real quick, today Collin Oliver was named one of three finalists for the Freshman of the Year across the country for the Football Writers Association. What have you seen from him, his development throughout the year? And how big is that for him to get this type of national recognition?

Yeah, that’s awesome. He’s the same way. He works hard. He just puts his head down and works. I don’t necessarily get to go against him every day in practice, but I see him every day in practice. You can see when someone works hard. That’s been his motto, from what I have known of being around him and seeing him or going against him here in practice.

He’s just kind of like Jaylen [Warren]. He just has the attitude of ‚Äì he never quits. He always works. And he always busts his ass, and his hard work is paying off for him.

A little light-hearted question. You get out to Phoenix this week, and it’s about 15 degrees colder than it was in Oklahoma. Did the weather surprise you when you got here? It’s going to be in the 50s all week.

Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect. I have never been to Arizona before. I just kind of talked to Cade Bennett here a little bit. I think he’s from, I don’t know, 15 or 20 minutes down the road. And he said that it was going to be really nice and sunny and warm and that kind of thing.

We come out to practice yesterday, and I think it was 45 degrees and absolutely pouring rain. So I kind of gave him a little bit of crap.

But, no, the weather has been really good. You can’t control it anyway. So it is what it is, but I’m looking forward to it.

Josh, I was going to ask about Spencer [Sanders] this morning. People always analyze ‚Äì maybe overanalyze a quarterback’s role on an offense. I wonder if you can tell me what the most underrated thing he gives you guys, or overlooked thing that Spencer gives you guys?

I think it’s just his leadership. I mean, obviously you see everything that he does on the field. But I think the biggest thing is there’s a lot of people that don’t see the other side to it of how long he spends in the film room or staying after practice or in the summer, in the fall. I’m sure you could ask Tay [Martin] more about it and he would tell you.

I know when I talked to him that he was always trying to get the wide receivers together to go throw for timing or working with the running backs and that kind of thing.

Obviously, it shows up, but I don’t think that it’s fully showcased of how valuable his leadership is of doing those things or going the extra mile to meet with Coach [Kasey] Dunn or Coach [Tim] Rattay to make sure the game plan is down to a T or defensively what a team is going to do.

Like I said, just getting the wide receivers together and throwing or staying after, that kind of thing.

Getting a little bit of a big picture. I wonder if you could assess as a whole, thinking back to maybe even September, the offensive line play this season.

I think the biggest thing, I’m just proud of everyone. They come to work every day and they work hard. And Coach [Charlie] Dickey really challenged us this year. And I think we kind of rose to that challenge.

I know we started off the year a little bit rocky; but there towards the end, I think we ended up being one of the best O lines in the Big 12. I think we ended first or second in rushing and that kind of thing.

I think that speaks volumes for everyone on the offensive line, of just coming to work, rising to the challenge of Coach Dickey every week.

I’m just super thankful to have the opportunity to be part of a group as close as we are and have someone like Coach Dickey to coach us. It’s been a fun year, and I’m looking forward to going out on top Saturday.