Nov. 1, 2009
Offensive coordinator Greg Davis
On the game: Halloween night in Stillwater, a great night for football with the first sellout crowd ever in the remodeled stadium, and the guys came to play. Historically, we've fallen behind in this ballgame. We really challenged the players to come out fast, and that's what we did. We won the toss, deferred, our defense gave us a short field, and we were able to take it down and get a field goal. Then, the offense had four series in the first half, and we got points on three of them - two touchdowns and a field goal. I thought the drive right before the half was really key. It was 17-7 after they scored, and we got the ball back with two minutes to go. We went and scored on 80 yards and 10 plays, culminating with Colt McCoy to Malcolm Williams in the back of the end zone with nine seconds to go in the half. Then, we were able to come out and start the third quarter with points. That's what we always talk to the offense about - finishing up the first half well, and the reason we defer is to get the ball to start the second half. If you're Oklahoma State's offense, you leave the field 10 points down at 17-7, and when you go back on the field, you're 20 points down at 27-7. It really changes your game plan.
On the TD pass from Colt McCoy to Malcolm Williams: We were in a maximum protection where we thought we would get man-to-man, and we did. We had Jordan Shipley on a double move in the slot where he ran a hitch and then spun out and went to the corner, but the first read for Colt was Malcolm Williams. He was running what we call a bend post on the back line of the end zone. The protection was good, and Colt had time to let Malcolm work that back line. Malcolm made a great catching going up, using all of his athletic skills, and came down with one foot in the back of the end zone.
On Malcolm Williams' 44-yard catch on the first drive of the second half: He again came up with a huge play. It was off of play action pass with great protection. Colt was able to wait while we had a double post concept going. Jordan had an inside post to try to occupy the safety, which he did. That isolated Malcolm outside, and he made a great play. Malcolm is really coming on.
On Jordan Shipley: He had six catches for 64 yards. We didn't throw the ball a whole bunch in the second half because the defense was playing so well. They gave us two scores off of interceptions, and it was at that time that we had a chance to really manage the ball game.
On being 5-of-5 in the red zone: We were in the red zone five times and had scores on all five possessions. We're one of the best teams in the country in the red zone, and it's something we really pride ourselves on.
On success on goal line situations: When we put our power group, what we call our 32 personnel, we had one play where Cody Johnson knocked it in behind blocks from Greg Smith and Kyle Hix. We really challenge our guys in that situation that when that group of players goes on the field, we've got to knock it in.
On Colt McCoy's ability to manage the game: I thought Colt did a great job of managing the game. In a game like that, where their overall game plan was to keep the ball away from us, and you only get four possessions in the first half, which is something we talked to our players about because felt like that's what they'd do, it's really important that you take advantage of each one of those situations. We had four series in the first half and had two touchdowns and a field goal. I thought Colt did a great job of managing the game. There was a play in the second half that I really think talks to his maturity. We were in an empty set on a third-and-five, they rushed three guys, and the protection was good. He had a chance to maybe stick a ball into Jordan Shipley, but there were a lot of people in that area. He took a sack on the play, and as soon as he got up, he said, "Coach, I just wanted to be smart with the football." You never like sacks, but that's one that shows his maturity and ability to manage a game like that.
On Central Florida: We come back this week, back home. It's seems like we've been on the road for forever, but we're back in front of our crowd. We welcome Central Florida. George O'Leary is the head coach, and he's been a head coach for a long time. His teams are always fundamentally sound and always play with great passion. We'll need to be ready.
Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp
On the game: Going into the game, we felt like we needed to stop the run. I felt like we limited the run game and controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part. We got good push in the pocket in the passing game, but I wish we could have contained a little bit better and finished on the quarterback. We always emphasize to our players how important turnovers are and big plays. The turnovers were huge. To be able to score on defense twice with five turnovers in the game, and only two big plays - the one scramble pass on second-and-11 and the speed option - were the only two big chunk plays we gave up, and they're a team that thrives on that. I'm really proud of our effort. We really have prepared well through the week, and that's why we're seeing the momentum carry on to Saturday afternoon.
On the interceptions: Curtis Brown's interception was on a third-and-short situation. We were in man-to-man, and he just did a great job of cutting the receiver off, finishing on play, getting to the sideline; it looked like we had some great blocks coming down the sideline, and it was a huge play. Blake Gideon's interception was a double move by the receiver. He did a great job of rolling out of the back half. We were in a zone concept. Nolan Brewster did a great job of squeezing the receiver to Blake, and Blake high pointed the ball. Again, it looked like we got some great blocks on the return. We're on offense on that point, so it's good to get that. On Earl's interception, we were on a 3-on-2 combo on the two receivers, he read the route perfectly, dropped the inside receiver and the quarterback didn't realize he was going to do that. It was a nice change up for us coverage wise, something we hadn't done in the previous weeks, and Earl just did a beautiful job of executing it. On the last one, Chykie Brown made an outstanding play in the middle of the field going up and high pointing the football. I'm really proud of him and his ball skills. He really worked in the offseason on those, and they're something we really challenged him on. On all those interceptions, we had pressure. The best pass defense in America is a pass rush. We had pressure in all those situations and forced those interceptions.
On being able to stop the run: That was the most balanced offense, and probably the best offense we've faced all year. They do a nice job of changing things up within the run and the pass, the play actions, they create a lot of run-pass conflicts. I'm really proud of the effort of our players, the execution of the plan. We did a lot of checking at the line when they checked, and our players did a phenomenal job.
On defending against Zac Robinson: Going into the game, we wanted to make it one-dimensional, take the run out of the game and put the game in his hands (passing). We felt we would have good results if we were able to do that.
On Oklahoma State finishing 5-of-15 on third down after two conversions on the first drive: On the third downs they converted early on, they did a nice job of throwing and catching. We felt like we had good coverage and we were in the right spots, we just needed to break a little cleaner and get the ball off of them a little bit better. It's nothing we were panicking about early in the game.
On Central Florida: We look forward to playing Central Florida. They'll have athletes recruiting in that part of the state of Florida, which I've done. They always have good skill. I know George O'Leary is a hard-nosed, tough football coach. He's an outstanding coach. He's a guy I have a lot of respect for. They will be a well-coached football team that will have some well-coached, skilled athletes coming in here. Our players need to prepare well.
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