'Real Challenge For Us': 14th Ranked OSU Turns Its Sights To No. 12 Utah

The 14th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys open conference play this Saturday, as the Pokes host 12th-ranked Utah at 3 p.m. at Boone Pickens Stadium.

Head coach Mike Gundy met with the media Monday in Stillwater to look back at Oklahoma State’s win over Tulsa and preview the conference opener against Utah. Here are some of his comments:

Head Coach Mike Gundy

 On the win over Tulsa:

“We played better as a team on defense and made a couple of adjustments and fit the run better after the first drive. (We) had some pressure on the quarterback … We were pretty accurate, obviously. They had one man, there were even times there was two people extra in the box, so we had to throw a lot of passes and just keep moving forward. (We) tackled pretty good in the game. So, we need to try to get a little bit better each week.”

 On the matchup with Utah:

“It is (big), but they're all big, right? That's the good thing about college football, every game matters. You try to do the best you can, it's week-to-week, but we're playing a very good football team. (A) very sound football team that plays physical, tough football, so it'll be a real challenge for us this week. Obviously, looking forward to playing the game.”

 On the Utah offense:

“They do a good job playing with two tight ends. They like to play action out of it. They like to run misdirection, get the quarterback on the perimeter. They're good at rushing the ball. They block well. They've been good at what they've done for a number of years and they don't get out of their box much. They stay the course pretty much with what they've done for quite a while.”

 On if he anticipated Josh Ford’s quick acclimation to the college level:

“I thought there was a chance just watching him in high school for three years, knowing his background and his demeanor. Then, when he came in early and we watched him train in the weight room, just running and practice and being physical in the spring, we had discussions about him as a group. My comment then was that if he can withstand the physicality through the month of August and learn to play to the speed of this level, then he’ll get on the field and be playing games. So far, that’s what’s taking place.”

 On Alan Bowman’s improvements since last season:

“He’s not flushing the pocket with protection. Last year, he flushed the pocket several times when he had good protection. If you flush the pocket when you have good protection, that means the guys on the other side of the offensive line are going to run and get you really fast. This year, he’s improved on sitting in the pocket and allowing our guys to protect him. Up to this point, our protection has been very good. We’ll know a lot more about our protection after this game on Saturday, because we’re playing a high-level team that’s got strong, physical guys inside.”