Oklahoma State Cowboys College Football Pregame Quote, 10/16/2023

We dropped coverage twice and then we got out-athleticized, for a lack of a better term. We allowed (Kansas quarterback Jason Bean) to run around slinging the ball too many times. A couple times it looked bad in (Trey) Rucker’s position, but Rucker was in a difficult position. He’s trying to cover essentially man-to-man for five to seven seconds, (which) is not easy. But, we did stop the run. I asked them last week that whatever we do, I want to stop the run, and they did a great job. We can reduce those ways of doing that, now there’s some give and take, extra people are tied up in the box trying to stop the run. So, you’re somewhat vulnerable on the backend in the pass, there’s some give and take. It worked out for us in the long run. I felt like it was advantageous for us to do that than let them rush for 300 yards.

On quarterback Alan Bowman’s performance:

He played pretty good. I’d like for him to set his feet more. The pass protection in the last few weeks has been considerably better than it was in the first three games. That should allow him to settle into the pocket more and not float back, because when he floats back sometimes he’s getting himself into a jam. For the most part, he played pretty good.

On the pass protection improving in recent weeks:

Running the same plays, just continuing to do it. You remember, we had injuries in the first week or two, so we had guys moving around. When we move guys around, there’s different responsibilities, the looks are different. Playing tackle isn’t the same as playing guard, just like playing on the right side isn’t the same as playing on the left. There were three games where someone was disruptive on where guys were and it created some issues for us, in both blocking and protection.

On Ollie Gordon’s growth:

He’s athletic and can play different spots. He’s developed his role and he’s unselfish. Earlier in the year, he wasn’t getting the carries that he wanted. We weren’t run-blocking very well for him at that time, and instead of backing off and being selfish, he went the other direction. He continued to help lead our team. He worked really hard in practice. He let us know, ‘if you give me the ball, I’ll take advantage of it’, but he did it in a very mature, team-oriented way. When young people handle themselves that way, they’ll generally do better as they move forward. His mental approach is really important to what he’s displayed on the field recently, because he’s not worried about things that he can’t control. He can’t block for himself. He can’t call plays for himself. He just needs to execute when he’s involved in the play and that’s what he’s done.

On Rashod Owens’ performance:

He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. His role has increased considerably since Stribling (got injured) and he stepped up and did things that maybe some people didn’t expect that he could do. He’s defeating coverage in time. He’s making plays, he’s making guys miss and running downfield. He’s been a good team leader and certainly has been productive on the field.

On West Virginia:

Offensively, they’re very similar to what they’ve done. Obviously, with (Neal Brown), their package is close to what it was. The quarterback runs way better than what people think he does. He’s not a burner, like you worried about the guy we played last week just taking off and blowing everybody’s doors off. This guy’s not that, but he’s more effective than you think. He runs better than you think and then he doesn’t get caught a lot of times. He did that to us out here last year, so he’s really effective. Then defensively, they’re in an odd front. They play a walk-around guy. They’ve got a guy like Collin Oliver, his number is 10, he walks around and does a lot of different things. They bring him quite a bit. They like to blitz him. Base coverages, not a lot of man, more of a zone team.