The Best Quotes from the Oklahoma State-Texas Tech Game

Oklahoma State won for the fifth (!) straight time in Lubbock on Saturday night in a bananas game that ended with Mason Rudolph screaming at the tortilla tossers in the corner of the end zone after his fifth TD of the night. Rudolph and others talked about the victory. Here were the five best quotes I saw from Saturday.

Mike Gundy on Beating Tech in Lubbock

“I was really proud of our team. There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game. It’s always that way when we play Tech, I don’t know why. What I thought going in the game held to be true. They’re playing better on defense. Obviously we had a big day on offense. But we weren’t able to get as many big plays and create as many big plays through missed tackles against them. Defensively we played terrific. ”

I actually didn’t think it was the big plays that were the problem. It was the short plays inside Tech’s 20-yard-line that resulted in four field goal attempts.

Gundy on the WRs

“Wideouts continue to make great catches in crucial situations, like James did on the third and long and then Ateman did on the third and long on the last drive. So I’m just really proud of our guys.”

When I think about this game (which probably won’t be often), I’ll think about those two catches.

Gundy On Mason Running

“They started traveling from behind, running us down from behind. And that happens to our offense because we don’t have a running quarterback. And, so, coaches make that adjustment, and then Mason was willing to run the ball effectively. And really the end of the game is what changed the game — nobody to block the last man on the line. So he did a good job making the adjustment.”

Mason thinks he’s Zac 2.0, but because his arm commands respect, he actually looked like at times on Saturday.

Gundy on close games

“I was talking to Kliff before the game, and this league, there’s going to be a lot of exciting games with the way everything is. And we’ve got to have some resiliency. Chad Whitener was terrific as a leader. McGruder was terrific as a leader. Mason obviously. And that’s what you have to have.

“When you get in those games you’ve got to have guys that can settle down and make a play on the road. And that’s the value of having veteran players that have won a lot and been on the road and get it. Because when you’re a young team, guys get big eyes and don’t react very well.”

Right now it’s the single best attribute of this team.

Marcell Ateman on his Jump Ball Catch

“We were expected to get man. And Mason told me if you get man on this certain play, if you get press coverage I’m going to come your way. So we knew it was going to come. Once the play was called, we got what we wanted. And I just had to make a play. It was a great ball by Mason, great blocking by the front, and we just had to make a play. That’s what Coach Yurcich and Coach Gun and everybody tell me there, that’s my ability. I’m 6’5″, I’ve got to go over guys smaller than me and make plays.”

Ateman on red zone struggles

“Yeah, that’s why we weren’t really tripping out there because we knew we could go down, we knew we could march down the field, and we just had find a way to get him in the end zone. We just stayed poised. We just knew next time we were just going to have to get in there.”

The rest of us? Totally tripping.

Kliff Kingsbury on OSU

“That’s a good football team. They’ve got a lot of talented players and they got after us and made the plays there at the end when they had to. We had the ball with a chance to go win it and didn’t get it done and they did. I thought we fought hard but we gotta play better.”

I actually feel bad for Kliff. He seems like a pretty good coach, but they have not figured it out.

Kingsbury on OSU’s line

“They pretty much dominated the game up front. We had to kick a couple of field goals inside the three. We couldn’t move them. So you’ve got to give them credit.”

Where the games are won.

Tech QB Nic Shimonek on Rudolph being one of the best in the country

“Yeah, yeah. I guess that’s what people say. So…”

The best!