82nd Annual Allstate Sugar Bowl
January 1, 2016 – Mercedes-Benz Superdome – New Orleans, La.
No. 12 Ole Miss 48, No. 16 Oklahoma State 20
Oklahoma State Postgame Press Conference
MIKE GUNDY: That was a tough game for us. They’re a good football team. We knew that before coming in. And the snowball started downhill on us in the second quarter, and we couldn’t slow them down from big plays on offense. And they started running trick plays, kind of like what we did last year in our bowl game. And, offensively, we couldn’t establish a running game.
And at that point, we became one dimensional, which we talked about that before, against a good team that runs well. So it was tough for us to play catch up. They could play three man rush and drop eight in coverage being ahead by more than two scores and then three scores. And there’s not a lot of places to throw the football.
So we hate that we didn’t play as good as we wanted to. We wish we could have played better. In looking at it, I probably over practiced them. We probably worked too much and didn’t give them a chance to catch their breath. We had watched tape. And, obviously, I had watched tape. And I had a lot of respect for Ole Miss, their athleticism, and then their football team. And in hindsight maybe we overworked a little bit.
But I was proud of our team. We competed right until the end. I didn’t see anybody that laid down. I told them that in the locker room. Sometimes life doesn’t go the way you want it to. But we have to give them credit, their game plan, their coaches, their players. They made plays. We had a chance to stay in it early. We dropped a couple passes in the second quarter to convert some drives. We had a big pass. We had a callback. We had a hands to the face where we were going to be first down on the 25 or so. That hurt us at that time. It put us in a long, long yardage situation. And then we missed a couple of throws.
So, we told our seniors that we appreciate everything they have done and that they will always be a big part of our team, Oklahoma State University. And the young guys, they will get a week or so off here and get back to school. And we’ll get back to work in off season, and start working as a coaching staff and recruiting and get ready to roll for next year.
MODERATOR: We will open the floor for questions.
Q. I would like to ask David and Mike, both of you guys, did you get a lot more out of Mason than you thought? He actually looked like his old self most of the night.
MIKE GUNDY: He was close. He wasn’t his old self. The concern we had going in was just the number of practices he has been able to get really quality work. His health improved considerably over the last week. Going into it, for the most part as you guys know, before we left, J.W. got all of the work to a certain extent. So we got some out of it. He made some plays. Two things contributed to us having a tough time in the second quarter. As I mentioned, we got behind two scores. And they were able to play all pass. But he was able to give us some play tonight.
Q. David, can you talk about what it looked like with Mason and what you got out of him?
DAVID GLIDDEN: I think Coach Gundy hit it. It’s hard to come back from something like that in a short period of time. Mason is a competitor, and he wanted to be there for his team and do the best he could.
I thought he stepped into a lot of throws, made a lot of good throws. And I think, when we go back and look at film, there will be some times we may see that it may not have been. So, like I said, it’s a tough situation to come back from. I know that personally in an injury like that. So, I think he definitely left it out there for us.
Q. Can you talk about how tough it was covering Treadwell and the big plays they seemed to get consistently throughout the night?
KEVIN PETERSON: They stepped up and made plays when they needed to. We knew going into the week that we would be the odd end sometimes and we’d have to go out there and compete. They had 50 50 balls out there and they won. And it was up to him and his competitiveness. We knew coming in he was a high caliber and he made the plays they needed to put the team in front.
Q. Mike, like you said, you had some opportunities in the first quarter, especially second drive, you’re down there I think second and 1 at the 8, didn’t get a first down, kicked the field goal. If you had some success early, is this a different game? Or was the score just closer?
MIKE GUNDY: It’s really tough to say. And it’s funny. If we score the first time down, I think we’re in second and two at one time, second and three, maybe, in the drive you’re talking about. And we kick the field goal. And then on the long pass play, we had hands to the face. So I hate to take away from them, but when you get in a game and you get behind by too far and you become one dimensional, for us anyway, it made it difficult. So it became kind of a runaway train for us.
I think they’re a really, really good football team. And, when we were preparing for them and I told the team this that there was times during the season they had some deficiencies. But, when you watched them on tape when they dominated Alabama and they dominated LSU, in our schemes, we had some concerns at times.
So what I told the team was that we needed to do a better job of coaching. I may have fatigued them the way we practiced. I’m not sure. You’ll never know. And that they made a lot of plays. So you tie all of that together, and you end up in a game like this.
And I said the same thing after the last two games of the season. I just don’t want to take away from this time and the guys coming together and winning 10 football games. It’s not easy to win 10 football games. We’re very proud of them for that. We were a little beat up late in the year, and that showed up at times. So as a coaching staff we have to have a tremendous commitment to recruiting to continue to build some depth. And I think, when you’re in games like this, the depth becomes very, very important.
Q. Kevin, David, you can both answer this. Has it set in yet this is your last game? You’re seniors. And what are the emotions like for you guys now?
DAVID GLIDDEN: I don’t know if it’s set in or not yet. That’s tough to say. It’s definitely weird walking off that field for the last time, you know, being in that locker room with that feeling. It’s not the feeling you want to go out on. So, you know, the emotions aren’t the way you want them to be. It’s tough. But, at the same time, you know, being the older guy, you have been through those times. And, at the same time, you want to show those guys games like that are going to happen. Sometimes it’s just not your day. And so I already told a couple of guys it’s time to just to go back to work, use this as motivation, and remember this feeling in all of those times in the off season.
KEVIN PETERSON: I agree with David. He hit it on the nose. We were always taught, wins and losses, you have got to take them the same. You can’t dwell on a win; you can’t dwell on a loss. But I sat there when Coach Gundy was giving his postgame speech, I’ve heard it a thousand times, four years. It was my last time hearing it, and it hit me when he said that. But you never know the magnitude until you walk away from everything and you see everything that’s been effective that you are walking away from. So, again, we don’t dwell on the loss, no matter how big it is. Even if it’s your last one. We have to make sure we rally our guys and continue to be leaders and show them that you have to go out there and play your best every game.
Q. David, Coach Gundy talked about he didn’t want the 10 0 start this game and this finish to take away from the 10 0 start. How much do these three losses, especially the last two, the way they happened, how much does that take away from the 10 0 start?
DAVID GLIDDEN: Oh, you know, it’s tough. You want to look back on this year. And, you know, you’re going to think about the 10 wins. But for myself, personally, I know I definitely will be thinking about these last couple of games. You know, it’s tough. Looking back on it already, it’s one of those things that it’s not easy to take. It’s a game we play. And so these things happen. It was a great start. And we, obviously, wish it would have finished a little differently. But, you know, it’s just the way it goes.
So, you know, if it could have changed, obviously, we would have liked that. But 10 wins is that’s a good mark to be at. It’s a good season; it’s a quality season. Especially growing up an LSU fan, from what I have seen, the wins and losses of what they used to be back when I was a kid. So to be a part of this program, the last four or five years now, it’s meant a lot and it’s been a lot of wins in that time.
MODERATOR: Thank you, guys.
MIKE GUNDY: I would also like to thank the Sugar Bowl, Allstate. It has been tremendous for our families, the players, the coaches and the fans. And first class all the way, everything, hospitality, the hotel, the practice facilities, the way we were treated. And these guys, even though it’s a difficult loss for them, the seven days that they’re going to remember for the rest of their lives. On behalf of President Hargis, our athletic director, all the fans and our team and our coaching staff, we want to thank Allstate and the Sugar Bowl and all of the people that helped us. It has been a tremendous week. And it’s been a fun time for our players. Okay. Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.
