Mike Gundy Discusses Historic Bedlam Victory and Upcoming UCF Matchup

Oklahoma State University head coach Mike Gundy met with the media Monday in Stillwater to discuss Oklahoma State’s Bedlam victory and first ever matchup with UCF.

Here are some of his comments:

Head Coach Mike Gundy

On staying focused after the Bedlam win:

“One of the reasons I’m really pushing moving forward – we have to every week. I always say that. Whether you have a great win or you have a tough loss, you always have to move forward. For me to not address the situation now and moving forward would be a mistake in my opinion. That’s why I am moving forward because otherwise, this won’t move forward. It’s too big of a situation in the state of Oklahoma to just go away in one or two days, so that’s why we as a staff have done that. I addressed that this morning in the staff meeting. I don’t want to hear about it anymore. I don’t want to hear about what’s going on. The goofy texts, the fans that were having fun, we’re moving forward. You’re moving forward, I’m moving forward, and my job is to get the team to move forward.”

On last week’s victory:

“It was a good football game. One thing I said after the press conference after the game that I think is true is that it was a typical Bedlam game. There was big plays, big plays, weird play, weird play, big play, big play, third-and-14 conversion, third-and-16 conversion. In the end, it was two good teams playing football. In the end, in my opinion, we did enough to capitalize on the mistakes that they had made and that’s why we won.”

On the crowd’s impact on Saturday: 

“Oh yeah, the electricity was there. The majority of the Bedlam games that we’ve played, home or away, there’s an electricity you feel in your body when you take the field. Just with everything, the crowd, the game, the pageantry of college football that we don’t want to lose. That was there pregame for sure.” 

On Ollie Gordon II’s Bedlam performance:

“Obviously, he had a good game, he made plays, made key runs and broke tackles at times. Oklahoma inserted an extra player in the box to stop the run, which we knew they would, that was not a mystery. That’s what I would’ve done, and it helped. The other times he ran through the guy, and he rushed for about 130-140, something like that, against a team like that, they’re a good defense and pretty good against the run. So, it was a good day for him.”

On Xavier Benson's growth:

“He’s reckless with his body. If you want to play well at this level, you have to have the ability to play recklessly with your body and if you get hurt, you get hurt. That’s what he’s doing. I watch him on video, he’s running, he’s sliding, he’s slamming himself into linemen and giving his body up, so he’s playing well. He’s really evolved in his mental preparation and how he handles game situations in my opinion. That’s where he’s made his biggest stride over the last 12 months.”

On the offensive line:

“The reason we’re playing good is because our offensive line is playing good. Early in the year, for whatever reason, we weren’t and we couldn’t manage anything. They’ve picked it up the last how many other games in a row playing physical, covering guys up, which allows us to throw passes, allowing us to become better pass protectors and a little more balanced and gives us a chance. Other than the years when we had (a couple) NFL receivers and NFL quarterbacks, we’ve always had to stay balanced in order to be good on offense, and that’s where we’re at this time."