The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s UT-Martin Postgame News Conference

STILLWATER — Mike Gundy has started a 11th consecutive season with a W.

Oklahoma State beat UT-Martin 27-7 on Thursday night in Boone Pickens Stadium. Here are five of his best quotes from his postgame news conference. A full video of that news conference is below.

‘Not Much Space’ for OSU’s Ground Attack

The Cowboys run game struggled Thursday, which probably gave some OSU fans flashbacks to last season.

OSU had 42 rush attempts against UT-Martin that resulted in 127 rushing yards — three yards per attempt.

Gundy said after the game that the Cowboy rushers didn’t have enough space to make plays, but that he thinks his team can get better in that aspect moving forward.

“Not much space,” Gundy said. “OK, pretty cut and simple. We didn’t do a good job of giving them space. …

“I think we turned more guys loose up front than we should have. That’s my opinion. Those guys have never played before. It just takes a little time with that. That’s an issue when you’re dealing with an offensive line that’s never played before. The communication is so important, so coaches gotta find a way to improve that and make it better.”

On Wendell Gregory’s Big Day

South Carolina transfer Wendell Gregory made the most of his first game as a Poke, finishing with three sacks — all of which came in the first half.

He’s already close to surpassing OSU’s sack lead from last season (Kendal Daniels led the Pokes with 5.5). Gregory is only a redshirt freshman.

“He’s got a chance to be a good player,” Gundy said. “He’s a young, young player. He’s 265 pounds, and they’ve good a job of coaching him. He’s got the ability to get to the quarterback. He’s powerful. He’s shifty. He can do some of the things that Collin Oliver used to do, but he’s 20 something pounds bigger.”

Fitzpatrick Needs the Ball

OSU quarterbacks threw for 232 yards a touchdown and no picks Thursday night. A solid game, but Gundy wants to get one receiver more involved — Christian Fitzpatrick.

Listed at an imposing 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Fitzpatrick transferred in from Marshall after a year in which he caught 34 passes for 576 yards and six touchdowns.

In his OSU debut, Fitzpatrick was targeted twice. He caught one of those balls — quick pass — for one yard.

“Need to get the ball to 16 a little more,” Gundy said. “Couldn’t quite get the ball to him as much as we’d like to. …

“I know that we have decent skill on the perimeter and can make plays. I hated that 16 didn’t get the ball more because he has the ability to make plays.”

Does OSU Need a Running Quarterback?

Hauss Hejny became a fan favorite basically instantly Thursday.

He led the Pokes on two touchdown drives to start the game, scoring one on the ground before throwing for the other score. But he suffered an injury at the end of the first quarter, meaning Zane Flores took over for the rest of the game.

Both Hejny and Flores are mobile, but it’s evident that running is a much bigger part of Hejny’s game. He finished with 27 rushing yards and a touchdown on just four carries.

Gundy was asked if it was a necessity that his QB has the ability to run the ball.

“(Hejny) has the ability to take off and go,” Gundy said. “You see a lot of that in college football now, right? You see quarterbacks all over the country that do that. They’re defended and they take off and run. And it’s difficult. We see it in this league. A lot of quarterbacks have that ability. I thought Zane did a good job also. A couple of times, he took off and made a few plays.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily just us. I think most of us now in college football, with the exception of teams that maybe are really, really good on offense and have maturity and, you know, four or five NFL players and such. But other than that, teams are using quarterbacks a lot, and their ability to scramble and make plays.”

On Kalib Hicks

With five guys listed as the potential starter at running back, not many knew what to expect from the position Thursday.

As previously mentioned, the group struggled, but it was OU transfer Kalib Hicks getting the lion’s share of the handoffs. He carried 21 times. Sesi Vailahi had the second-most carries with nine.

Here’s what Gundy said he likes about Hicks.

“He’s got ability,” Gundy said. “He’s 215ish, 220 (pounds), somewhere in that area, and he can run fast. He’s got great speed. I’ve said this, but we’ve been fortunate. We have several guys that can carry the football at that position. We played three or four of them tonight. I think as we move forward, we’ll continue to do that.”