Watch: Mike Gundy Addresses 24-19 Loss to West Virginia
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State fell to West Virginia on Senior Day, 24-19, and moved to 7-5 overall on the season and 4-5 in Big 12 play.
Head coach Mike Gundy met with the media following the game to discuss the loss.
"I told the team I was really proud of the way they finished,” Mike Gundy said in his opening statement. “It was kind of ironic, after Wednesday's practice, I mentioned to the players that if you're a backup, the way some of this has gone this year, make sure you understand what's going on, make sure you know the game plan. We've had so many players that have had to come in and play. One of the most difficult things for young players to do is to prepare like they're going to be the starter when they're in the backup role. Unfortunately, that held true today. I think some of those guys came in and played pretty well that I mentioned you better be ready in case some guys get dinged up.
"Without watching the tape, it looked like guys competed, played hard. Obviously, defensively we gave up two big runs. We actually rushed the ball better on offense. In fact, that was probably the best rushing game we had all year or in a long time, but we gave up two big runs in the third quarter which everybody knows. That was an issue, and we're going to have to look and see what happened, we'd obviously like to get that cleaned up.
"Turnovers were about the same. Jason Taylor obviously continues to be in the right spot and make plays. Field goal kicker was good again in the conditions, he did a good job with that. Ollie (Gordon) was able to come in and make some runs, he did a nice job of rushing the ball. We lost Jaden (Nixon) and so Deandre (Jackson) came in and got some carries. He averaged over 4.5 a carry, Ollie (Gordon) averaged over eight yards a carry so that was encouraging for us. I thought (Garret) Rangel competed, obviously it wasn't a great day to throw passes, but you know he competed and made some plays. There were times he missed the throws and stuff, but overall it was a tough one for us. They made a few more plays than we did, and they called a few more successful plays than we did. I did tell the team that they get a week off, they need the week off, we need the week off. We need to recover a little bit, try to get a few guys back maybe that have not played in a while.
"Looking forward to starting back up. They get to play one more game together, and I want them to practice well, be enthusiastic and try to play the best game they've played in a few months. We might be able to get a few more guys back which would be good if we can get some guys healthy over the next couple of weeks. We have a chance to go out to compete and go out and play the best game they've played in a few months if we could get some guys back. Told them I appreciated their effort, which I did."