The Top 5 Quotes from Doug Meacham and Todd Grantham after OSU’s Loss to Baylor

STILLWATER — It didn’t hit me until I was sitting in the postgame news conference that this five quotes article wouldn’t be about Mike Gundy.

Oklahoma State fell to Baylor 45-27 on Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium in the first game since Gundy was fired earlier this week. Offensive coordinator Doug Meacham stepped into the interim role. He and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham each stepped to the podium after the game. Here are the top quotes from that news conference.

You can watch the full news conference below.

On the First Half Trickery

Doug Meacham let it all hang out in his first game as a head coach.

The Cowboys threw myriad trick plays at the Bears in the first half, many of which involved wide receiver Sam Jackson V having the option to throw the football.

Meacham is familiar with Jackson, as the former recruited the latter to TCU to play quarterback. Jackson also played quarterback at Cal before transitioning to receiver at Auburn.

Here’s what Meacham said on the gadget plays.

“We’ve had some of that stuff kind of in the playbook, and we just felt like it’s a good time to kind of let Sam have his time to do some of the stuff that he can do,” Meacham said. “As y’all can see that kid can throw football. I mean, a lot of people have receivers that played eighth grade quarterback that can kind of throw it and then you got a guy who was a Power Four quarterback starter, and there’s a kid I recruited, to TCU. His arm is off the chart, but he made the move to receiver. So moving forward, I mean, if I’m a defense, he’s on the field, you better back up a little bit, or base up a little bit, because that kid’s a weapon, as you all saw.”

The Emotions of Being a Head Coach

Meacham played at OSU in the 1980s, and he just finished Game 1 of nine of him being the Cowboys’ head coach.

He seemed to enjoy it as much as he could. He went into the tunnel at halftime hyping up the student section. He called a bunch of trick plays. He really went for it.

“I don’t know, not any different really to me,” Meacham said. “Coaching here in general is an honor because I played here and coached here before. I don’t think it’s really different for me. I kind of let it slip a few times. I had to communicate to the referees. I’ve never done that before. But pretty much it wasn’t that much different to me. It was fun being down on the sidelines.”

OSU’s Gundy-Built Culture Stands Out to Todd Grantham

Todd Grantham has seen the innerworkings of a handful of major college football programs. Shoot, he’s been in NFL buildings as well.

He coached at Virginia Tech under Frank Beamer. He coached at Michigan State under Nick Saban. He’s coached at Georgia, at Florida, at Alabama and even at the Dallas Cowboys. He said after the game that OSU’s culture has stood out about this program.

“I think the world of Coach Gundy,” Grantham said. “I’ve been in a lot of programs, and I even told him this — (OSU) is by far, from a cultural standpoint, one of the top programs I’ve ever been in. And if you look at some of the coaches, like Nick Saban and Frank Beamer, that I’ve been around, this is as tops as there is. From a cultural standpoint, this program is really good.”

Grantham on the Cowboys’ Defensive Issues

The OSU defense hasn’t exactly been rock solid this season.

It got embarrassed in Eugene, and this game saw the Bears hang 45 points and 612 yards on the Cowboys. When asked if the issues the OSU defense is facing– especially in the first halves of games — have been consistent, what Grantham said.

“I think that it goes to concepts,” Grantham said. “Meaning, I cannot tell you exactly how the plays are going to come out, but it can be 1-2-3, or it might add a fourth guy to the strong side. So, you have to be able to understand who’s on one, who’s on two, who’s on three, and if four comes, how do we push it. Now, once we see the play and we understand who the spots are, it’s going to be a little bit easier. But there’s a lot of different ways you can dress things up and that’s what offenses do. They run the same plays. They dress them up. So, I think we just got to continue to get better. And if we do that, I think we can have something to be proud of moving forward.”

Meacham Struggles with Crossword Puzzles

It’s been a long week, let’s have a little fun.

A younger reporter started to ask a question at the end of Meacham’s presser. Meacham asked who he wrote for, and the reporter responded The O’Colly, OSU’s student newspaper.

“Love the O’Colly,” Meacham responded. “I never once figured out the crossover puzzle my entire college career. I sat down every day and I said, ‘this time I’m going to do it.’ Never happened. That’s a tough one. Tell them to dial it down.”