Gundy Talks Win Over Texas, Possible Vincent Taylor Package

Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy sat down with Cowboy radio voice Dave Hunziker Tuesday night at Chick-Fil-A for his weekly coach's show. Gundy and Hunziker discussed the win over Texas, the improvement on defense and the possibility of adding a Vincent Taylor offensive package after the big man's point-after heroics last week.

On the Cowboys' win over Texas:

"We were able to eliminate turnovers, which we had talked about the last few weeks, and we minimized big plays. We still gave up six of them, so we cut it down by about 33 percent. Our goal is to keep it to four. In the end, I thought that we were in better shape. Our players were able to get to the ball. I thought we played faster in the latter part of the third quarter and the fourth quarter."

"Our special teams were excellent, of course, the PAT blocks essentially changed the game. Our punting with (Zach) Sinor, our kicking and coverage units were really good. That's really important when you play a team as good as Texas that you can win that aspect of the game. We ran the ball better and had fewer missed assignments in the running game. We still need to finish blocks more. I would like to see our linemen hold their blocks for an additional second and hold their blocks to the ground. We got good play from Justice (Hill), Rennie (Childs) and (Barry J. Sanders), who made a couple of nice runs."

"The key interception from (Jordan) Sterns in the third quarter, in a sense, really made it difficult for them to come back. We talk about not being able to stay balanced on offense, and when we got that interception and scored, it really put them in a situation where they were at risk if they just ran the ball the rest of the game. It allowed us to defend the run a little differently than how we did in the first half."

"Overall, it was a great team effort. I felt really good, as I had mentioned, about their attitude and approach throughout the week. I said on Sunday that they came back in a great frame of mind, and that's the way college football is. It's on the players. They have to decide how important it is to themselves and the team. They made a decision that they wanted to play well and they wanted to play hard."

On the possibility of adding a special James Castleman-like offensive package for Vincent Taylor:

"I thought about that when I saw it. He is really athletic. He's a junior, so we will still have him. I would say there could be a spot for us to use him with the athleticism that he showed us on Saturday…If (the defensive tackles) are capable of doing it, I don't have a problem doing it. They're hard to bring down. In the end, it's the law of physics. You have a 300-pounder that's moving at a slightly greater speed than you are coming to tackle him. Eventually, he's going to knock you back. There's a place for it."

On if he thought the defense made a significant improvement against Texas:

"I thought we were better prepared overall and played more sound and smarter in certain situations during the game, so yes I thought they made strides. One area that I think is important in the game is that defenses are going to give up big plays in the world we live in today. You just look at the guys, the quarterbacks that are playing in this league. You've got Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas Tech, Iowa State. Look at what (Iowa State) did last week. There is just tremendous quarterback play with speed on offense in this league, and when that happens, you're kind of holding on at times. You can blitz them and try to put pressure on them, but just like Texas, if you go in there and miss and that big guy is in the open field running the ball, your secondary is going to have a hard time bringing him down. We want to try to be as sound as possible. We want to be in the right spot and make the tackle, but they are going to get some yards and score some points."