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

Obviously Brennan [Presley] mentioned picking up Madden. And with the passing of John Madden yesterday, I wanted to ask you guys, how impactful was that video game growing up and kind of the role it’s had in your passion for football?

It was very impactful having as a little kid playing Madden. I’m pretty sure we all did. Having that voice on the game. Growing up seeing him, basically play with some friends and get the whole family together. You carry those memories and have those for life. So losing someone like him is definitely impacting kids all over the place. So definitely hitting hard, but he for sure is going to live forever.

You guys lost at Iowa State by inches on the spot and the measurement. You lose to Baylor by a couple of inches and Dez (Dezmon Jackson) comes up just short. How frustrating is that? And how do you deal with that emotionally and mentally and try to go forward without dwelling on how close you were to potentially a 13-0 season?

I mean, it’s kind of one of those things where you kind of think about it all the time. It’s tough. But at the same time, you’ve got to look ahead. You have a lot of young guys coming up and want to get this program off and running for the next couple of years. So you’ve just got to help lead the way and keep setting that example.

We didn’t want to obviously lose the way that we did, but you’ve got to control what you can control and only hope for the best at this point. But we definitely gave it our all, and it will pay off in the long run.

We definitely wish we was 13-0, but it happens. Everything happens for a reason. We’re at the Fiesta Bowl having a good time, just enjoying it.

Tay, I hope you can give me a little bit of position evaluation. What stands out about what the wide receiver room did this season?

Just the camaraderie we had as a whole. I feel like just we was together most of the time. So we built connections that probably going to – we are going to have down the road. So just having guys that you can depend on like that is going to translate on and off the field, and so we were confident in each other. It definitely showed on Saturdays. I was grateful to build that relationship with them guys.

With Jaylen Warren, I know your wide receiver is a running back. You were a transfer yourself. I guess he spent only a year here, a short amount of time. But what impression did he make on the offense as a whole? And I guess what challenging parts of being a transfer did you see him overcome?

He made a great transfer coming in, because just – you can imagine coming in, in a short period of time, trying to get the plays and get along with everybody, get to know a few guys.

He definitely did a great job coming in and just keeping his head down and working. Overall, doing what he had to do, not being a distraction, not trying to do too much. Just being himself and just trying to play as hard as he can.

So having a guy like that, it’s for sure beneficial for the whole team and it showed this year. So I was very grateful to play with him as well.

After waiting your turn last season, just what has this super-senior season meant to you? And what does it mean, especially going into your last game at Oklahoma State now?

I mean, it meant the most to me. I was able to watch a couple guys last year, like Tylan Wallace, [Dillon] Stoner, and those guys transfer out and do some great things. So having that season wasn’t a bummer. I was able to pick up some pro habits and translate to this year.

But, yeah, it definitely was a great year, my last season. And I’m grateful to have the opportunity to be coached by Coach [Kasey] Dunn and all of these guys here with me. I’m excited for what’s to come. And I’m grateful I had this last season with these guys.

Tay, you probably heard Brennan [Presley] talk about the camaraderie of this team. And now you are sitting here at the Fiesta Bowl. I’m wondering, this team, we have heard the last couple of months that it’s been a really, really close bunch. And y’all have won a lot.

I’m wondering, does this team win a lot because it was so close together? Or maybe because it was so close together, it won a lot? I’m hoping maybe a chicken-and-an-egg situation. Can you help me work that out? I hope that made sense.

Yeah, it definitely makes sense. I feel like if a team makes a connection better, they get along overall, you have a better chance of winning because it’s just another gear you play with when you’re out there sacrificing for a guy next to you on the field.

So I feel like it’s just a mindset of I’m not going to let my brother down in a way. So it definitely pays off when you have that better connection with the team.