October 28, 1997
What's the difference between the last two weeks and the first five?
"I think it's a combination of things. We played on the road at Kansas State against what I think is a pretty good football team. That certainly had something to do with it. I didn't think we played particularly well in that game, but they certainly had something to do with that. Last week at Tech we once again played on the road against a very scrappy kind of a team that played very hard. I don't always want to come out of a game saying we screwed it up and those guys were bad because those teams played hard. But in looking at the Tech game the only touchdown they scored was after we fumbled the ball on the 17-yard line and gave them a very short route to what was the deciding points. We turned the ball over on the other end after having a 3-and-1. They didn't have anything to do with that fumble. We pitched the ball, hit the tailback in the hands. After that was when we missed the 50-yard field goal. I'd say that it's a combination of things. There's no question that Kansas State and Texas Tech are better than Sam Houston."
How has the team reacted to the losses?
"There are two ways to go. You can start a downhill thing where you start to fragment as a team. You get down on yourself, you lose confidence, all those negative things. Or you can go back and try to get better. Those are the two ways you can go. My feelings after the game was that I didn't know, as a coach, how they would go. I said it will be interesting to see how we respond to this. Will we come back and display the character needed or do we hang our heads? And I've been pleased. I've seen no signs of 'hang their heads' attitudes. I think our players recognized, with the game the other day in particular, that we had enough firepower to win that ballgame. We made some errors that made it convenient for the other team to win. I sense some renewed commitment to come back and go to back to work. From what I've seen from them in one day and from talking to some of them this morning, I think it's been positive."
The ones we talked to today seemed to have a lot of confidence. Is that a key thing to not let get away?
"No question about it. I think it's very important that they hang with each other and keep believing in each other. It's how we presented it. I have always felt like we need to be honest with the players and tell them 'here's where we are, here's what happened in the game. When this happens, we're going to lose.' After the game I told them that you can't keep dropping the ball out there and keep handing people opportunities. Most people will take advantage of those opportunities if you're giving them to them.."
Quarterback situation ...
"I'm going to start Branndon in the game. Based on the performance last weekend in the ballgame, my intention at this time is to start Branndon." Will Stewart have a chance to play the whole game? "I don't know that." There won't be a set plan? "There will not be a set plan for rotation."
If things had gone better last Saturday, would Randy McCown have had a chance to take the starter's role by the throat?
"I think that's fair. I think he would have gone out there in the game and had a great first half, I might have said let's not change anything right now. That could have been a possibility. My opinion of him as a future quarterback has not changed. He's a young guy who's working hard to get better. He didn't have a good half and I hate it for him. He stayed after practice yesterday, trying to better. I think he can grow from it. It's a journey, not just a short deal. He's got a long road ahead of him. There will probably be some more disappointments down the line but I think he's fine with it. I think both quarterback understand the situation. I tried to clear the air yesterday with both of them."
Was your strategy early in the season to keep the QBs out of harm's way and develop their confidence?
"We have, by design, tried to create situations where there was less opportunity for failure or for bad things to happen. I think it's worked. I think we've had two interceptions so far. We do need, I keep saying it, to throw more effectively to be successful. We're still, as I see it, too one-dimensional. I would have liked to have come out of that game last week throwing it more than we did."
Was the trade-off worth it (safer passing, slower development)?
"We had young guys and I think guys can get scarred to the point that they can't get over it sometimes. You can get a guys so scarred sometimes. I think we saw last year with Branndon where he got to the end of the year and he had the shakes. Everything he touched seems to turn bad and he was trying hard. At some point you've got to say 'we're going to help this guy out some.' He was having balls tipped and being intercepted or getting hit from behind and being intercepted. He just had some bad things happen. So we tried to make everything not so complex and let him get something going before we start throwing the whole thing to him. Of course, Randy was a young guy too, so we had to do that for him too. But we're moving to a point that we can do more."
Dante Hall's injury status ...
"He's very close to being back to full speed. I think he'll be ready for the ballgame.
What will that do for the team"
"He's an inspirational type guy and he's a dangerous guy every time he fields a punt or fields a football. He's got excellent running ability. It's a little bit different than Sirr's. It will be a big plus to get him back. He's averaging eight yards a carry."
Chris Ruhman's injury status ...
"They're saying he's dramatically improved and the trainer was surprised that he would be this far along. They're telling me that there's a good chance he will play. (Cameron) Spikes will be back. Hall will be back. Ruhman will be back and (Chris) Thierry will be back."
What do you see as the major reason for OSU's 1997 improvement?
"The biggest thing I see is their skill positions. They are really good. They have an exciting quarterback and running backs and they have a tight end who all the NFL guys say is clearly the No. 1 tight end. They have two or three DBs who are really talented players. They really have a lot of speed on the team. I think Coach Simmons has done a tremendous job.
Will Alonzo Mayes' absence be a factor?
"He's a factor. He's a great player. He's a load. I haven't ever seen one like him. He's a big athletic guy who's a total mismatch when he's out there against those 5-10 cornerbacks. He just slaps them out of the way and goes down the field and catches the ball. He's a huge target and he catches it, and he can run with it once he catches it."
What effect will the double OT loss have on them?
"I think it's really impressive the way they stormed back in the second half. I think it points out the athleticism and explosive nature they have on that team. They're really capable of scoring in a hurry."
Going into '97, people probably didn't think this would be a big game ...
"That's probably true. It points to the nature of college football these days. A lot of things happen where teams jump up there and get a combination of guys that fit just right. I think the coach have done a good job with them and all the sudden they're playing. They're good."