Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy met with the media after football practice Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium. Some of the comments:
Coach Mike Gundy
On Cameron Epps’ start of his sophomore year:
“He’s developing like he should. That’s what guys do when they’re freshmen. Guys that have some talent will show up and make some plays and then there will be times when they’re confused. There’s so much more going on at this level than in high school and sometimes they can hit a wall, I’ve been talking about that for years. Freshmen can hit a wall where they’re just not the same. … Very few players can go an extended season as freshmen without hitting that wall, but he’s progressing now. He’s seeing things better than he did last year, just from an experience standpoint.”
Regarding the fuses:
“The good news is we’re going to be playing a significant number of players. That’s what we’re trying to do, to keep guys fresh. We expect the depth we have to allow us to grow and keep guys healthy. Some of the issues we’re dealing with is that if a young player plays too much early in their career, they’ll get tired and that’ll have a negative impact on them. Right now we’ve got some depth there, so guys can rotate through, but that should help us.”
About Rashod Owens:
“He falls in a category with Ollie (Gordon II) and (Alan) Bowman and Brennan (Presley) and some of the veterans, Korie (Black), (Kody) Waltersheid, Nick (Martin). They have to practice, have a better attitude and work harder than they ever have in their careers if they want this team to win this year, and that’s what he’s done. One thing is clear: He’s competitive. When he steps on the field, he’s competitive. When he steps on the practice field, he’s competitive. He doesn’t shy away from anything. That’s the most important thing he can do for our team.”
On working with younger players:
“Well, I’d love to. They get a lot of practice in practice. It’s not the same, but you know, you’ve been watching me forever. Once we get in position, we bring other guys in and let them play. We don’t bring guys in for stats or to run up the score. We’ve never done that. We want to get other guys in so they can play. First, because they earned it in practice. That’s what they want to do: play in games. Their moms and dads deserve to see them play, and the experience they get out there in a game is very important. That’s not something we can replace.”
On the versatility of Kendal Daniels and Collin Oliver:
“Yeah, sometimes Kendal plays back and sometimes he comes down. We showed that in the bowl game to some extent, so it’s the same thing depending on what personnel the offense uses and different formations and who we’re playing against will dictate that side and then Collin will move around and play a little bit on the second level. We’ll move him up front. We’ll bring him up a little bit. We’ll get him from deep. (We’re) moving those guys around and just trying to utilize all of their skills at that time. Most of it will depend on who we’re playing against.”
