The Top 5 Quotes from Doug Meacham’s Postgame News Conference

For the second straight week, Doug Meacham was within a score of earning his first win as his alma mater’s head coach.

Oklahoma State lost to UCF 17-14 on Saturday in Orlando. Here are five things Meacham said after the game.

1. On What Happened to the Offense

At no point this season has this OSU offense been mistaken for the 2017 OSU offense, but the Cowboys had a little bit of momentum in the first half. They had whatever the opposite of momentum is in the second.

OSU went into the locker room with 14 points and 201 yards of total offense.

The final two quarters saw the Cowboys score no points and gain just 27 yards.

“I didn’t see any kind of adjustments for them on defense,” Meacham said. “I mean, they may play a little bit more man, but I don’t know. I think a little bit of it, we were trying to take some shots on 1st-and-10, because that was their most relaxed defense and take advantage of non-blitz situations. I think Zane missed three or four throws, and we had some guys open at times. He missed some throws. At times, we had guys who were covered up. For the most part, the line played decent and protected decent.

“… It looked like our guys after that long touchdown, just kind of, we went three-and-out. It kind of hit them. I just didn’t feel like we had the juice like we had in the first half. We were moving the ball, mixing it up and it seemed like we got a little one dimensional. I’m speaking ahead of myself here because I need to watch it on tape and see if maybe they did do something. It didn’t feel like it was something catastrophic.”

2. ‘We Got Some Kids That Earned the Right to Have a Win’

It’s hard to not feel for the Cowboys right now.

Even moreso than last year, this season hasn’t gone to anyone’s expectations. These players could’ve left when Mike Gundy was fired and the portal opened, but this group chose to stay and fight.

They’ve been close to getting some sort of reward for that the past two weeks but just haven’t been able to get over the hump.

“I just hate it for those players that earned the right to have a win,” Meacham said. “We got some kids that earned the right to have a win, but in sports and in life, it is not fair.

“It’s like, I tell those guys, it feels like it’s catastrophic. You work so hard and you’re young, you’re gonna have way worse problems than this in life. My message is hopefully this will help you prepare yourself mentally for different things on down the road. I just hate it. Everybody’s working so hard to get one, and fortunately we have one more. So, we get another shot at it.”

3. ‘Still Swinging’

No moral victories, but the Cowboys have gone from getting blown out (see Oregon, Baylor, Arizona, etc.) to playing in back-to-back one-score games.

But for a team that hasn’t won a Big 12 game in about two calendar years, learning how to win those types of games can come with its own hurdles.

“Yeah, it’s like a prize fight,” Meacham said. “You’re in the last round and you’re still swinging. You may not win, but you’re still swinging. We’re still swinging. A little bit of times, you have some guys that have to play when they probably need to be on the bench. We’re a little bit light for a couple of positions, but it’s no excuse, really.

“I think what you’re seeing is a group of kids that it’s kind of special watching them continue to fight and have a good attitude and show up to meetings and just participate in the right way. It’s been neat to just watch the guys that don’t do it the right way be the minority because there is a few that don’t. And they are told, and they are put to the side real fast to this group because they want to win and they do a good job. They conduct themselves pretty good, you know? And we do have a couple that, at times, don’t wanna do that, and they get told. There’s some leadership on this team. For a young kid, these times right here, they just want to put their hoodie over their head and just kind of hide. They don’t do that, so I appreciate that part of it.”

4. ‘I’m Not Just a Dictator’

If the Cowboys haven’t given up yet, they probably won’t with a game to go.

But after another gut-punch of a loss, Meacham was asked how he felt about buy-in going into the final week of the season.

“I’m not just a dictator,” Meacham said. “I think I have kind of a light personality. I think that has bled into them a little bit and they have fun, even if there’s times that, particularly, this isn’t fun. I think we’ve made it a little lighter and a little funner and taken a little of the pressure off of them.

“Schematically, I know particularly the defense, they’ve dialed way back on the schemes. They’ve responded well in a pretty adverse situation, as we know. We’ve said it a billion times. I’m tired of saying it. I’ll remember this team for the rest of my life. At some point, I’d like to get a team photo with all of ‘em so I can remember ‘em. Because there’s a lot of bad here, but there’s a lot of special stuff going on, too, with these cats. It’s pretty neat to watch these guys that are still fighting. Some of these guys are gonna end up being CEOs and stuff, the way they handle adversity, the way they keep coming back.”

5. ‘If You’re Gonna Do It, That’s the Time to Do’

Time for a little fun so we can all try to maintain our sanity.

After the Cowboys’ second interception of the first half, just about the entire defense ran over to the UCF student section to let them know about it. Unsurprisingly, OSU was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. It mattered not to the Cowboys as they kneeled out the clock and went to the locker room with their 14-point lead.

“If you’re gonna do it, that’s the time to do it because we’re just gonna down it out anyway,” Meacham said. “But I did have to remind them if you do it again, you’re gonna get kicked out of the game. So that part was a little nerve wracking. I think it was kinda cool. It looks like they’ve adopted our shirt off. I guess that’s kind of a national deal. I looked up there, it felt like we were home.”