Tulsa vs. Oklahoma State Postgame Quotes
9/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 18, 2011
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Tulsa Head Coach Bill Blankenship:
Opening Statement:
Tough game for us. Good morning, everybody. I appreciate you staying around. Really proud of the way our guys battled through it. Look at the scoreboard. You may not see that but I certainly saw it and am very proud of our guys.
What type of a toll does it take for college kids to put up what you guys did today?
It was different. I mean it's tough on both of us. I mean both teams had to go through it. You know I think the biggest thing we were concerned about honestly was just we had a pre-game meal at 5:00 p.m. By the time we kicked it off I guess it was after midnight. We got some fruit and energy bars and those kind of things into them as best we could. And peanut butter. We gave them peanut butter sandwiches at half time. And it's physically a tough deal and it's tough on both sides.
How often did they keep you informed of what was going on during that time with the storm?
They did a great job. I mean we knew what the storm time was. They usually give us 20 and 30 minute windows where they'll look at it again. But we had radar as well so we could see what was going on.
What did you do during that time?
We got the kids off their feet. They took their pads off and tried to relax and tried not to use a bunch of nervous energy. No matter how many times you say that, it's still hard not to burn up nervous energy when you're geared up and ready to play. We were right to the point of kickoff when they decided to delay it.
How devastating was it when you lost G.J. during the first half?
Tough. Tough. It's a little challenge to our philosophy. We believe it and we think it's the way you do things. We don't make excuses or explanations. I got Kalen that came in, and after really a little shaky start I thought he played real well toward the end.
How serious is the injury?
We don't know.
You had a real good game from Ja'Terian and Trey as well. Even though you lost the game, you have the young guys playing.
There are good things. It's hard to say that and see the score. They took advantage of their opportunities. I'm very proud of them.
How much did you have to prepare when Kalen came into the game?
Significantly. And G.J. was going to run the ball as he was having success doing. Kalen does a good job with that, but he doesn't have the experience that G.J. has. But again, it goes back to how do you prepare. That's always the way we prepare. At least we do. He's not going to have the whole package as with the veteran third year start.
Did you sense the deflation on the team when G.J. got hurt?
No question. We took an emotional gut shot, and it took our guys almost a
quarter to get back from it. At least that's what I sensed. I don't think it was anything that they let down, but I just felt like you kind of saw the wind come out of our guys a little bit. But to their credit, I'll say it again, they really battled back and got the emotions back under control.
You probably got a chance to speak to G.J. What was his attitude and demeanor like?
He was trying to encourage Kalen, coaching him on the sideline. He was certainly disappointed. He was primed to have a pretty good game and felt like he was going to, as did I.
The Oklahoma State offense in the first half after they scored on five consecutive possessions, talk about their attack?
They're very efficient. They have a very good system that they have really good players. We talked about that all week. We think they're clearly one of the best in the country and they didn't disappoint. They do a great job of getting the ball, dishing it around. And you know I think there were times that we showed up and made some plays. But for the most part they executed pretty well.
With Kalen at quarterback, you have another top-10 opponent. We don't know what's going to happen with G.J. How much do you prepare Kalen?
He'll be in tomorrow. We've talked in the locker room. He'll be in tomorrow. You always talk to the quarterbacks and the backups and try to prepare as if you're one play away. And without a doubt without any -- it always comes back to, man, I'm going to do harder now. Well that's why we always try to be as ready as we can. But I promise you Kalin will be getting in the film room and meeting with coach Taylor and myself and he'll be ready.
With OSU knowing that you had a first time quarterback in, you had to be pleased with the way you were able to run the ball the rest of the game?
They crowd the box and played man covering knowing that's where we were, and I appreciate the fact that Kalin stepped in as we went on and took advantage of some of that man coverage and hit some really good balls. And that's the stuff that we need to continue to see, and I'm very encouraged by the way he finished up.
Such a short turnaround. I mean a late night. What's the schedule like for your guys?
We just talked to our guys in the locker room. Normal Sunday schedule. It won't be a physical deal, but it's important I believe that you still come in and run because the guys that played and played a lot need to get that lactic acid out of them tomorrow. And it's more of a running to get the soreness out and those kind of things. And we'll come in and watch the film and make our corrections and evaluations and adjustments.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kalen Henderson:
Talk about your performance tonight:
When I first got in the game, when I found out G.J. was hurt, things moved kind of fast. Everyone was just telling me to settle down and just play my game, so once I settled down and just ran my offense and just made my reads and then everything just came to me.
It slowed down for you later in the game, talk about that and your connection with Bryan:
Before Bryan even started running with the first team, he used to be on the second team with me, we always just hooked up; one-on-one, seven-on-seven. Basically going out there he was my security blanket, one of my main targets.
Tell me about what was going through your mind when you saw G.J. go down:
Obviously, it was something like "No! This can't be happening. It's raining; we're playing the No. 8 team in the country. It's my first couple of college snaps..." The life of the team just got sucked away, but like I said I'm just thankful for my teammates for just picking me up through the tough times and helping me out through my first couple of snaps. The first two drives were kind of like shaky, but I was just trying to win. But as the game went on I think I really settled down and got a grasp on it.
How was your first career touchdown?
It was awesome! I didn't even know who to celebrate with. Coaches were running at me, but I didn't know if I should celebrate with my offensive line or not. It was good to get my first colligate touchdown and hopefully there will be many more after that.
Sophomore running back Trey Watts:
Tell me what was going through your mind when G.J. went down:
I just hoped he was okay, he's not just our quarterback, he's our friend. You never want to see someone, especially from your own team, go down like that. We just had to keep faith, and we had faith in Kalen who came out and had a good game.
Talk about the rushing attacks:
Offensive line played great, I think it was one of the best games I've seen them play since I've been here. They just blocked their butts off and gave us holes to run through and when they play great it makes it easy on us.
You had a career high by a large margin, talk about your game tonight:
It was really all thanks to the O-Line, they just kept blocking and opened up holes. And when holes are there it makes it easy.
What are things you think the offense needs to work on between now and Boise State?
We just need to get better. In everything. You can never just take a week off practice. You just have to keep practicing like you are trying to win a national championship. You just have to keep practicing and keep working hard. Just everything we do. We're just going to do what we do and we just have to get better at all the things that we like to do.
Talk about how Kalen played tonight:
I think he did great. He stepped in for G.J. not really knowing he was going to have to play tonight. He just always has to be ready being the second string quarterback. I think he did a great job coming in and just helping us make scoring drives and threw his first career touchdown and I just thought he did really well for the situation.
OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy
On late start:
I just don't think it's the best thing for student athletes. I'm not sure why we had TV timeouts at 3 o'clock in the morning. It was just interesting during the game.
On adjusting the practice schedule:
Monday is their day off. They have classes set up at certain times on Monday that they have to take so you can't adjust practice. You don't want to do that, so I'd rather just stick with the schedule and have the coaches come out and do the best they can.
Quarterback Brandon Weeden
On the game delay:
It was just a long day. We had the three-hour rain delay. It's just tough. Really truly, once we really took off, guys were ready to play.
Nobody wants to sit around and wait for three hours to play, but no one can control mother nature. We just kicked back and joked and laughed, ate some Cheetos to pass the time.
