The Top Five Quotes from Eric Morris’ Post Spring Game News Conference

STILLWATER — Eric Morris coached his first unofficial game in Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday.

Oklahoma State held its spring game, the first since Morris was hired in December. The offense beat the defense 42-33 in the alternatively scored contest. Here are the Top 5 quotes he gave from the OSU weight room after the game. You can watch his news conference below.

1. On ‘Super Explosive’ Chris Barnes

Wake Forest transfer receiver Chris Barnes was the MVP of the day.

The 5-foot-7 speedster caught four passes for 141 yards and a touchdown, with that TD being a 97-yard go-route from Drew Mestemaker. Despite being shorter in stature, Barnes is playing on the outside with guys like Miles Coleman and Wyatt Young manning the slot.

Morris said when they landed Barnes, he didn’t know how much time he’d spend on the outside, but Morris noted Saturday that he’s looking forward to moving a weapon like Barnes around.

“Super explosive, obviously, really good in the return game and any way we can find ways to put the ball in his hands,” Morris said. “So, he’ll be a guy we start moving around when we start game-planning for people. He’s been a little better on the outside with his stature than I thought and has really tracked the ball well on the deep stuff. Obviously, continuing to find ways to get off of press coverage with a really good long corner out there will be something. He doesn’t have quite the length. 

“He’s been a little bit better than I expected. Then obviously having Miles (Coleman) and Wyatt (Young) in the slot, and them two being so dynamic, when we put it all together we’re just trying to put our best football players on the field, and he’s definitely one of them.”

2. O-Line Update

The reason the Cowboys didn’t play a traditional game for the spring game was a lack of healthy linemen.

The starting group that went out with Drew Mestemaker featured:

LT — Desmond Magiya (North Texas)
LG — Johnny Dickson III (North Texas)
C — Tyler Mercer (Kansas)
RG — Joseph Hanson (Coastal Carolina)
RT — Jacob Sexton (Oklahoma)

That’s a full group of transfers, but Morris said some of the guys who had to miss Saturday’s game will be involved come the fall.

“I think the ones have been really good,” Morris said. “We have three tackles that are out right now that we anticipate are going to be key contributors to us. And so with Braydon Nelson getting a little banged up, he should be back. And then Ashton Lepo for precautionary reasons didn’t go today. And so those are guys that we think will probably be starting rotation.

“But I thought the five there, and then, you know, we got to continue to develop depth right now. I think that that’s something we’re seeing in the transfer portal era, is, how do you keep the backups and keep developing kids behind them. And so it was good today. We’ll have to go back and assess how the two group did. Like, obviously, our ones moved the ball a lot better than our two did today. And so, so yeah, we continue to develop that. But then getting those three tackles back is gonna be huge for us.”

3. Morris’ ‘Pistol Pete Mustache’

Maggie Morris is apparently not a fan of what’s happening on Eric’s upper lip.

Morris explained the new mustache he’s been rocking and notes that it’ll be gone soon.

“So my wife’s not happy at all about the mustache right now,” Morris said. “My 5-year-old, he wanted me to grow a Pistol Pete mustache. Obviously, it’s not a great mustache. I realize that. My wife has promised me that we’ll have to shave this thing off after the spring game. It’s caused a little bit of ruckus at the house. My 5-year-old loves it, and my wife hates it.”

4. Morris Says No to Section 231

Boone Pickens Stadium’s Section 231 (later dubbed Section 2 No-Shirty 1) captured the imagination of the country last year, as some down-on-their-luck Cowboy fans took the fun into their own hands and ripped their shirts off and started waving them above their heads as the Cowboys continued to lose last season.

While it was fun in its time, Morris is ready to move on from that after it broke out a bit Saturday.

“I do kind of want to get rid of the no-shirt thing, spinning, at some point,” Morris said.  “It ran its course in my opinion. There’s some people up there doing it, but we’re going to winning too many damn games and not be something that somebody can be on TV and make fun of us for something like (that). That is in my opinion something that I would like to push out at some point.”

5. ‘It’s Been Surreal for Me Really Every Morning’

Morris was asked if it was a surreal day for him given his rapid come-up as a head coach. His answer was too good not to share.

“It’s been surreal for me really every morning when I walk in,” Morris said. “My office looks over Boone Pickens Stadium. I make it a point every morning to go open the blinds and look and just realize my responsibility is to make this place great again and for the people that love this place. I don’t take that lightly and it’s a great reminder every single day.”