OSU Football: Gundy Talks Win Over Texas Tech, Previews TCU

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.

On the Cowboys' shootout win over Texas Tech last Saturday:

"(Texas Tech quarterback Patrick) Mahomes is a really good player. We were fortunate that Mason (Rudolph) played really well and, for the most part, matched him stride for stride. He needed to have a good game. Mahomes is just a little different in his ability to run, and when he runs, he's fast enough to run to score, not necessarily just run around. He understands their system. Like we've talked about each week, when we get into conference play our games are going to come down to the fourth quarter in most cases. There is more parity in this league than there has ever been and the quarterback play is fantastic. The teams that we've played over the last couple of weeks and will for the remainder of the year have really good quarterbacks, so you're going to be in shootouts.

"We rallied there at the right time and we actually gave them extra possessions. They fumbled once, and we fumbled once. Both fumbles were really poor timing for each team. We were going to have a first down with two minutes left on the 38-yard line, and I'm not sure they could have stopped us at that point. We were moving pretty well and they were tired, but we turned it over and they went down and tied the game up. After they stole a possession from us, they turned it over after the kickoff, which was really poor timing for them. Either way, they got us on the fake punt once. We played just well enough to win. We certainly have to try to minimize giving the other team those extra possessions. There are so many of them in a game that you have to defend with these offenses really spread out.

"I was really proud of our guys. We seem to have a better pass rush and we're tackling better at the end of the third and fourth quarters. I think that our depth has helped us there. Each week is different. You put that one down, and the team we're playing this week has some similarities but is different in what they're trying to do with their quarterback.

"We got out of the game fairly healthy and guys seem to be fairly focused. There a lot of distractions out there for these guys with the polls and everything, so our job is to keep them focused. We had a good practice today, and the more consistency we have with quality practices give us a better chance to play well on Saturday. If you do that, you have a chance. That's really all you can ask for. I've been pleased with their focus and their ability to get prepared over the last few weeks and even today."

On how the team decides whether to defer or take the ball after winning the coin toss:

"At halftime, we feel like we make good adjustments as a staff. After two quarters of play, if we deferred, we get the ball in the third quarter, which should give us one extra possession after we've made adjustments after halftime. That's why we defer."

On Saturday's game against TCU:

"They're a good team. They've got a good coaching staff. (Head coach Gary Patterson) has been there a long time and is a good football coach. They always have speed and traditionally play well on defense. They went through some changes this year at quarterback. They lost Trevone Boykin, who was a great player. They've had some good days and some days they haven't played as well on offense as they wanted to. They had quite a few injuries in the first five or six games of the year, and have all of those guys back now. They looked considerably different two weeks ago than they do now. They're a good football team. Earlier in the year, they played Oklahoma right to the end. They had a really good game with Arkansas and should have won that game. We're all about the same. It comes down to taking care of the football, minimizing big plays and being sound in special teams.