The Top Five Quotes from Mike Gundy’s Post-Tulsa News Conference

TULSA — Mike Gundy’s Cowboys are unbeaten heading into Big 12 play.

Oklahoma State thrashed Tulsa 45-10 on Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Here are five things Gundy said after the game with a video of his full news conference below.

1. On Clearing the Bench

Sixty-six Cowboys got to play on Skelly Field on Saturday.

With OSU up big, Mike Gundy cleared his bench letting a lot of guys who don’t always get to play get a moment in the hot Tulsa sun.

“The young guys that go in, and most of them haven’t played, they need to go in and play like they’ve been coached,” Gundy said. “They need to execute the calls like the ones do. What I saw today were guys that were a little bit hesitant in that they’re playing a significant number of plays at this level for the first time. They have to get that off their back and go in and execute, just like the guys that are in front of them. Majority of that comes with experience. Overall, those guys got quite a number of reps today, which helps our team.”

2. Defense Played ‘Pretty Good’

The Cowboys’ defense got sliced up pretty good last week when Arkansas compiled 648 yards of total offense, but after Tulsa had a little success on the ground early Saturday, Bryan Nardo’s defense shut the Golden Hurricane down.

Tulsa didn’t score until OSU rotated in some of its depth guys, and Tulsa finished with 352 yards of total offense, averaging just 5.1 yards a play after Arkansas gained seven yards a play last weekend.

“I thought they played pretty good,” Gundy said. “They gave up 10 points when we put some other guys in. I thought the other guys could have played better, which is what I was alluding to. They got out of position a few times when they didn’t need to. If they would have been in practice, they wouldn’t have, but they got on this stage and got out of position.

“For the most part, we gave up some yards. We got hit on a few runs in the first quarter and we made adjustments on that, then we started to minimize plays, getting some pressure in the four down.”

3. Ollie Understands Teams Are Loading the Box

There hasn’t been much room for Ollie Gordon to navigate this season.

Gordon ran for 41 yards on 17 carries Saturday. It was his second game this season below 3.0 yards a carry. He did that just twice in all of 2023 en route to winning the Doak Walker. That’s to say, it has to be frustrating for Gordon to not have some room to run, but Gundy said Gordon understands that teams are selling out to try to stop him.

“The good news is that the NFL doesn’t care about statistics,” Gundy said. “And they’re going to evaluate running backs based on what their success level is, based on what they’re asked to do. And they know that there’s times we force it in there with him. But in the laws of football, it says, don’t do that. And he understands that, in my opinion. He’s smart enough to realize what’s going on.”

4. Cowboys Taking What the Defense Gives Them

The other side of that coin is that the Cowboys went off in the passing game Saturday, as Alan Bowman and Garret Rangel combined to throw for 431 yards and five touchdowns.

It’s a matter of teams designating and extra man to the box, but that leaves more space for OSU’s receivers on the outside. Four different Cowboys caught touchdown passes. Gundy was asked if he is OK with the running numbers being what they are if the passing game has success like it did Saturday.

“We don’t have a choice,” Gundy said. “… Anytime we can rush for 4.5 yards a carry, we’ve had a good day, but if you’re over four, it’s OK. Again though, we threw for 300 and something yards, so that’s just what’s gonna have to happen. (Bowman) threw for almost 400 yards.

“If people are gonna play us this way, that’s what we’re gonna have to do.”

5. In a Better Spot Now than This Time Last Season

Have these first three games gone perfectly? No. But man, the Cowboys are in a better spot now than they were this time last year.

After three games last season, OSU was 2-1, and the combined score in those games at 61-61. This year, OSU started 3-0 by a combined score of 128-61.

“I feel like it’s pretty clear cut what we’re going to see moving forward on both sides of the ball,” Gundy said. “We have to have good practices each week to improve who we are on offense, on defense and on special teams. Then defend who we’re playing. What I mean by that is we can’t get too far away from continuing to improve our basic fundamentals, things that have to be there for us throughout the year. Then we have to have enough to get ready for Utah.

“We seem to be further ahead now than where we were going into Game 4 a year ago.”