TCU-Oklahoma State Postgame Quotes
12/5/2020 4:23:00 PM | Football
TCU 29, #15 Oklahoma State 22
December 5, 2020
TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson
On defensive success:
"We have been getting better and better every week. You've got to have a little luck. We have been playing good since the Oklahoma game, I think. You look at what we held them to, I think that game gave us confidence, we just have to keep going. We've got to play better at corner, but you've got what you've got, so everybody's got to grow up"
On the turnover margin:
"I've never lost 6-1 and won. I can promise you that. It has never happened. You learn as freshman, last week we gave a lot of credit to our running backs. I haven't said anything to them, we will wait until tomorrow, everybody gets to enjoy the victory because that was the end of the Big 12 season. We've got La. Tech next week, but that was it for the Big 12. We have a lot of work to do, they are going to throw the ball around, it's going to be similar to this, they are big and physical on defense. As you can tell, I have shifted gears to next week. I told them pregame, we have an opportunity to win 36 games for this senior class, to get a chance to win seven games, this is the first of the three."
On improving in Big 12 play:
"Sometimes you add by subtraction, the young guys are having to play on both sides of the ball. There is a lot of chemistry with them. Oklahoma State only had two sacks today, we lost Andrew Coker, Steve (Avila) just came back. It has been amazing the last six weeks, let me just say that."
On Max Duggan's game:
"It really helped us to have Quentin Johnston back, you've got to have people to throw the ball to on the outside. You can see what happens when you have some players and guys get back with fresh legs. D. Davis also made a big play, at the end of the day to beat good teams, someone has to make a play. For everyone who doesn't think we can throw the football, we will keep getting better at it. That is one of the better defenses in the league and our offense did a great job. You can't turn the ball over and beat many people, we will learn that."
On his halftime message:
"I told them 'we get the ball first, let's go win us a ballgame.' We were down six, just go play. What did we have to lose? We went for it on fourth down two or three times."
On Jordy Sandy:
"He is probably an unsung hero. He flipped the field for us about two or three times and the coverage was great."
TCU Quarterback Max Duggan
On his game performance:
"First of all, I just want to say that the defense, offensive line, receivers, special teams all played phenomenal. I just want to put that out first. I mean, they bailed us out a lot today. Getting back to your question, receivers were making plays on the ball. They were doing everything they could to make my job easy. I was just trying to give them a chance to do what they do best and that's make plays. When we had the chances, if I could try to move the chains with my legs then I would do so."
On having Quentin Johnston back on the field:
"It helps a lot. Obviously, you saw he's a great vertical threat for us, a great receiver. He's very talented. You saw the plays that he went up and got 'em. We were grateful to have him back
On the difference in the offense from the first half to the second half:
"I think it was just coming out of the locker room in the second half a different type of energy. I think we fed off of the defense. They were making plays the whole game. When they make plays it gives us momentum. I think that was the biggest thing. They started making plays and our offense got some energy. A couple completions there, a good run play there will help a lot for an offense."
On defense holding Oklahoma State to just a field goal despite five turnovers:
"Like I said earlier, they bail us out a lot. I mean, we put them in some tough positions and they stood their ground. I think it just shows, and we practice against them every week, that Coach P and that staff has them right. Just seeing them every single day, I'm very proud of them. I'm really proud of them and that's what we wanted to see."
On leadership towards young running backs who struggled with fumbles:
"I tell them that I've been right there with them. I've had my struggles, I've been in that same position. I think all of them are very confident in their ability and I think that's what I preached a lot because I remember when I was a freshman. When the bad happens, your confidence might go down so I was just preaching to them their ability, what I think about them and what this team thinks about them. I don't let them get down or let their confidence get down."
TCU Safety Trevon Moehrig
On defensive mindset when having to take the field after a turnover:
"When we went out there after a turnover happened we would just come out with a mentality that we would stop them. No big deal, that's what we do. This is TCU Football and the TCU defense. You know, we just trusted our defense, trusted the coaching and what we did in practice and we just played some really good defense."
On stopping Oklahoma State short of the end zone and then getting an interception:
"It was a good feeling to know he came up short. Being in the red zone, on the goal line, is one of the things a defense, when in that circumstance, can thrive off of. Being on the goal line, we just know that we'll be able to hold them to a field goal and no more. That was our mentality going through it."
On the fun of playing on this defense:
"It's so fun. Even at practice we are just out there having a good time, which I think in the beginning of the season we didn't do as much. But now it's just like, man, we go out here every day, have fun on Saturdays and have a real good time making plays and getting happy for our teammates. I think it's one big family and we have to keep that going."
On if the switch flipped as a team after the Oklahoma game:
"I would say, yeah. We started realizing after the game that we were starting to have fun around here, especially on the defensive end. Having fun just flying around and making plays. So, yeah, for sure, that Oklahoma game. After that, we flipped the switch and started having fun of defense."
On containing Tylan Wallace:
"We knew coming in that Tylan Wallace was going to be one of the big targets. We just tried to keep eyes on him the whole game and make sure we knew where he was. If we saw something out of the ordinary we would let coach know so that he could make a check just to protect that side of the field because we know how good of a receiver he is."
On having a winning record after a challenging season:
"Oh yeah, it feels good. Especially coming off of this last game, we've got two more. Like Coach P just said in the locker room, this win gives us a chance to get to seven. But we have next week that we have to worry about first. But that just gives us a chance to get to seven wins. Being over .500 just feels great.
On what it has been like playing with Garret Wallow:
"I can't say enough good stuff about my man Wallow. He's just my brother. He's somebody I can look up to. Just a great mentor. Even if its something you don't want to hear, he's always going to tell you the right thing. He's always going to get you squared away. As soon as I stepped on campus he was one of the guys I took to because I could just tell by his demeanor, how he was on the field and off the field, that he was somebody that I needed to follow and look up to. He's done that for everybody, not just me.
On growth of CJ Caesar and Previous Hodges-Tomlinson this season:
"Just the hustle and not wanting to give up the pass. Unfortunately, it happens to the best of them, but they came with the mentality of 'so what if we're not starting, we're just going to come in here and play our game'. Basically, that's what it is, next man up. They stepped up and they are taking on all of the bullets coming at them."
On knowing if he was capable of a one-handed interception:
"I didn't know that until it actually happened. I'm grateful that I pulled that out of my bag of tricks."
TCU Wide Receiver Derius DavisOn his 71 yd TD
"It was great. They actually double teamed me and I thought Max was getting pressured so I was about to run back towards Max but then I saw him throw it so I ran as fast as I could to the end zone and scored the touchdown."
On having a game like he did today since he's been at TCU
"I put a lot of work in during the off season and I'm just happy to see it paying off now."
On the big difference in the offense from first half to second half
"We just kept a positive attitude on the sideline and kept our heads up. We have to give the credit to the defense, while we were playing a sloppy game, they were keeping us in it."
On the offense stepping up the run and throw game against the OSU defense
"I am very proud of the way we played today. It was still a little sloppy but we stepped up the throw game. We knew coming in they would be playing man defense so we knew we were going to have to step up on big plays."
On what's he's learned from the seniors
"They taught me to be a leader, as a freshman you are not very vocal but they taught me to be a more vocal leader."
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Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy
On the game:
"I told the players that we asked them to compete and they competed, but I was fired up about their effort. We've got to do a better job of trying to find a way to stop the other team from making big plays. We're playing really good defense, but we're giving up big plays each game, which is allowing them to score points on us. We've got to work hard to try and minimize big plays. We just kind of have to take what we have offensively and try to work it and try to move the ball to score some more points consistently."
On linebacker, Amen Ogbongbemiga:
"From the sideline, it looked like his effort was unbelievable. I see he had 12 tackles. He's been tremendous for us this year. His effort, his leadership has been awesome. He worked his butt off and competed throughout the game."
On not capitalizing on forced turnovers:
"We're going to have to find a way with our availability offensively to muster some more constancy to where we can stay on the field a little longer. I was really concerned about us coming off the field fast and leaving the defense on the field. Our defense was unbelievable about forcing turnovers, but offensively we couldn't get enough stuff going right now."
On what the offensive game plan was going into the game:
"We don't change a lot. We wanted to try and stay balanced. We're young at tackle right now. We're not just going to become a throwing team. We don't have a lot of depth at running back right now, so we're not going to become a running team. We're going to stay as balanced as possible. Then as the game goes on, we try to get a feel for what's working and lean in that direction. Then try to keep them off-balanced with what they are trying to do defensively."
On being eliminated from the Big 12 Championship game:
"I don't think we are the same team from when we started the first game. We have some young kids out there. We're playing with three freshmen on the offensive line. We are down six starters on offense from day one. It's not fair to say to the team that it's the same group. Now, we're going to compete our ass off and try to win every game, but we're a little different team now than when we started against Tulsa."
Brock Martin, Oklahoma State defensive end
On walking through his fumble return:
"I'm pretty sure they ran a counter play. I saw some linemen pulling towards me and I did what (Coach Clements) teaches me to do. I cut him, got up, saw the ball on the ground, picked it up, started running, and held my breath. I've never really had the ball in my hand before, but it doesn't happen often for a guy like me, so I'm blessed that I got that opportunity."
On being theoretically eliminated from the Big 12 Championship:
"It's never fun losing. We had the goal of winning the Big 12 Championship, but sometimes your goals fall out of reach and you've got to keep working. We still got Baylor next week and we're still going to try to win that game. They're tough at home and we haven't beat Baylor at McLean Stadium since they built it, so we're going to have to go into that game with some pride to win. Disappoints come and it's an up and down roller coaster."
On the physicality of the game:
"They're a tough football team. They run the ball hard. The quarterback's got some wheels. He's hard to catch and we knew that coming in, but as a defense we made some mistakes down the stretch. We signed up to make stops when they need to be made and at the end of the day we didn't make those stops."
Malcolm Rodriguez, Oklahoma State linebacker
On playing in a highly competitive game:
"It's always fun going back and forth, but we got a couple stops and sometimes they scored. Duggan is a good quarterback, so I give him props for making plays at the end."
On the defense still making plays, even though they are shorthanded:
"We're going out there and still being competitive. Coach Knowles always says to throw punches out there and the next man up. With Jabbar coming in, you just have to make some plays."
On creating big plays, while not allowing big plays for the opposing team:
"Sometimes we slipped up at the end and we just gave up plays and we need to minimize those."
Amen Ogbongbemiga, Oklahoma State linebacker
On setting a school record with three forced fumbles:
"We just try to change the game every time we play. No matter what happens on the other side of the ball, we can always change a play and change the narrative of the game. That's been our mentality the whole season. Everybody's trying to get their own and get in on the turnover game. At the end of the day it wasn't enough. We had more to prove and we didn't hold them to win the game, so we still have to get back to work. We have a lot more to work on and we gave up way too many big plays. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror and really find who we are and who we want to be."
On being different a few weeks ago as a team:
"We allowed too many big plays in the last few weeks and that's been killing us. We obviously have a lot more turnovers, but we can't be allowing 60-yard plays down the field. That's how you lose games, so we need to stop allowing those to happen and that comes down to watching film and practice and opening our eyes and being disciplined. You can't ever be proud of your performance when you lose, so we just have so much to work on.
Dezmon Jackson, Oklahoma State running back
On carrying the heavy workload of running back position this game:
"I really thought I was going to be banged up, running so hard and taking all those hits but I feel fine."
On difference in effectiveness of the run game from the first half to the second half:
"They had adjusted well on TCU's defense by staying low in the box and watching the ball how you want it. I give credit to them and they're a nice defense. It gave us trouble in the second half."
On running backs' injuries impacting the game:
"I didn't even know Tyler had left the game, but it's the next man up. The other guys have opportunities."
