The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s Post-TCU News Conference

FORT WORTH, Texas — Mike Gundy’s Cowboys have lost seven games for the first time since his first season at the helm.

Oklahoma State lost to TCU 38-13 on Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium. After the game, Gundy did not answer questions about his Monday comments or the end of the bowl streak. Here are five things he was willing to talk about. The video of his news conference is below.

1. On Presley Eclipsing Milestones

Brennan Presley on Saturday became OSU’s all-time leader in receptions, passing Rashaun Woods.

Presley is up to 297 career catches after snagging 10 balls against the Horned Frogs for 75 yards. He also became just the fourth player in program history to eclipse 5,000 all-purpose yards — joining Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Terry Miller.

“He’s a legit All-American, guys,” Gundy said. “Just think about that. The 5,000 yards is Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas — that’s two NFL Hall of Famers — and Terry Miller finished second in the Heisman voting. Then him. To be the all-time leading receiver and 5,000 total yards, guy should be an All-American. It is what it is. I don’t say that a lot about players, but he’s special. If it’s evaluated across the country, where you just look at the plays he makes in crucial times, like the fourth-down catch he made out there today — way over his head. He makes a great catch. He’s very deserving of that.

“He’s just a very humble, great person and a great ambassador for Oklahoma State — period. He is team, but he wants the ball, don’t let him kid ya. He likes the ball coming his way. I tried to hold him out. Did I tell you I tried to hold him out at practice? And he won’t sit out. He wants the ball. He’s just different. He’s just different, ya know? Won’t be a lot of guys like him now.”

2. On the Defense

It was another rough day for Oklahoma State’s defense.

At this point, the group is quite banged up, even past losing Collin Oliver and Nick Martin. But, the Horned Frogs totaled 468 yards of total offense against the Pokes — 293 through the air and 175 on the ground. Gundy was asked what was possible for the group for the rest of the season.

“Well, you’re not going to change what you do, right?” Gundy said. “You don’t change systems in midstream. We’ve got to get off the field on third downs. That keeps us out there and lets them convert drives, so then they get fatigued. You know, we don’t have a lot of depth right now, so that just kind of compounds itself. Guys got to play. Got to do a better job of coaching. We got to do a better job of making plays in crucial times. I thought we actually had decent pressure today at times, with the four-man rush. Now, I have to watch the tape, but I think so. I think it was better than what it’s been.”

3. On Third-Down Woes

Speaking of third downs — one of the things Gundy kept hitting on in his postgame news conference was the Cowboys’ inability to get off the field on third down.

That was particularly the case in the first half, where TCU was 5-for-7 on the money down. OSU’s opponents are converting 43.5% of their third-down attempts against the Pokes. Going into Saturday, OSU was 11th in the Big 12 in the stat.

“We haven’t been very good this year,” Gundy said. “Traditionally, we’ve been pretty good on third downs. We’re learning. We’re young. The guys are playing hard. Collin Oliver would help some in that area, you know, just a fact. You ask me a question, I’m gonna give you an honest answer. But I think we were better today with four-man pressure. And we were in proximity in coverage, and we didn’t get hands in there and knock it out. They made two or three big conversions going down and we’re right there, and we didn’t get it knocked out. We try to do the same thing, and they got it knocked out. That’s why we have to finish.”

4. Trent Howland Has Another Nice Day

Trent Howland made some plays late in the Cowboys’ loss to Arizona State last weekend, and when given the opportunity Saturday, he made some more plays.

Howland had eight carries against TCU, turning those into 47 yards. He also caught a pair of passes.

“I thought he ran hard, particularly the last 20 reps he’s had, 20 carries or something,” Gundy said. “I thought he’s ran really hard. He did a good job getting his pads down and fought. Went in and competed.”

5. On Maealiuaki Smith

Maealiuaki Smith played his second career game Saturday after debuting last weekend.

He played the Cowboys’ final drive, completing six of his eight pass attempts for 92 yards. His night ended with a fourth-down interception. He made some good throws. He made some mistakes. But for the most part, he looked good considering he went into the night with two college pass attempts.