"A Lot Of Things We Have To Get Cleaned Up:" Oklahoma State Continues Fall Camp

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy met with the media following Saturday’s football practice at Boone Pickens Stadium. Some of the comments:

  Coach Mike Gundy

On Cameron Epps entering his second year:

"He's developing like he should. That's what guys do when they're freshman. Guys that have some talent, they're going to show up and make some plays, and then there's going to be times they get confused. There's so much more going on at this level than high school and at times they can hit a wall, which you've heard me mention that for years. Freshman can hit a wall where they're just not the same. … Very few players can go throughout an extended season when they're freshman and not hit that wall, but he's coming along now. He's seeing things better than what he did last year, just from an experience standpoint."

 On the safeties: 

"Well, the good news is that we'll play a considerable number of guys. That's what we want to be able to get accomplished to keep guys fresh. We're expecting that the depth we have allows us to grow and let guys stay healthy. Some of the issues that we deal with is that if a young player plays too much in his career early, then he gets tired and that works against him. Right now, we have some depth there, so guys can rotate through, but that should help us."

 On Rashod Owens:

"He falls in the category with Ollie (Gordon II) and (Alan) Bowman and Brennan (Presley) and some of the veteran guys, Korie (Black), (Kody) Waltersheid, Nick (Martin), they have to train, practice and have a better attitude and work harder than they ever have in their career if they want this team to win this year, and he's done that. One thing about him, he competes. When he goes on the field, he competes. When he goes on the practice field, he competes. He doesn't shy away from anything. That's the most important thing that he can do for our team."

 On working in younger players:

"Well, I'd love to do that. They're getting a lot of reps in practice. It's not the same but, you guys know, you've watched me forever, as soon as we get in a position, we're going to put other guys in and let them play. We don't leave guys in for statistics or to run the score up. We've never done that. We want other guys in so they can play. One, because they've earned it in practice. That's what they want to do is play in games. Their moms and dads deserve to see them play, and the experience they get being 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, there's times Kendal will play back and there's times he'll come down. We showed some of that in the bowl game, so it's the same depending on what personnel the offense is using and different formations and who we're playing will determine that side of it, and then Collin will move around and play second level some. We'll walk him up. We'll bring him some. We'll bring him from depth. (We're) moving those guys around and just trying to use all the skillset they have at this time. Most of it will depend on who we're playing."