BYU Football Game Week — No. 21 Oklahoma State

“It’s the last week of the regular season and it comes down to our record being 5-6. We want to extend our season and be bowl eligible which means we need to win this one. At the same time, you want to make sure you don’t jump just to the results but focus on the standard, the values you have, and you’ll get the results that you want. I’m looking forward to seeing our guys play this last game of the regular season and trying to find a way to extend our season so we can enjoy what comes with bowl games which is the extra practices and time together.” 

On evaluating the loss to Oklahoma
In terms of the game last week, after being able to evaluate it a little more and watch film, I’m really pleased with the guys’ effort and belief. They stayed in it. Obviously, we didn’t make enough plays to come out with the victory but there’s a lot of things to be proud of. After the game, it’s easy for us to focus on the negatives, and I did that quite a bit. That’s part of the learning process. We need to make sure we’re realistic and we fix the issues we had in the game and find a way not to have them show up again. On the other side of things, we need to make sure to praise our guys for the good things we saw. There’s a lot of good things we saw on the field in all three phases of the game. Sometimes after a loss the focus becomes the negative. I think it’s important today to praise the guys, build them up and continue to motivate them from the things we saw that were positive.”  

On playing on Thanksgiving week
“We have a lot to be thankful for. We want to still have an attitude of appreciation and gratitude. What a great opportunity we have to play the game on this weekend after Thanksgiving, to reflect on what we’ve been blessed with, the opportunities that we have and the people we have around us.” 

 On Oklahoma State
“We’re going against another tough opponent in Oklahoma State. They’re in contention for the conference championship. They’re a well-coached team. They’re guys play hard. They have tons of athleticism on both sides of the ball with playmaking ability. They have a running back [Ollie Gordon] that’s one of the best running backs in the country. When you talk about his running ability, you have to give a lot of credit to the offensive line and the guys that block like tight ends. They can also throw the ball up on you and make you pay when you load the box.” 

On Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy and his staff
“Mike Gundy is a great head coach. He’s one of the longest tenured head coaches in college football. He’s always been kind and gracious to me in our interactions. I like him as a person. I like the interactions we’ve had. It’s been really cool for him to take time to speak with me. I like the things he does as a coach. He has a great coaching staff that works really well. I know a bunch of those guys on his staff and support staff. One of them is my cousin. Beni Tonga [Oklahoma State Player Development Specialist] is my family. Charlie Dickey, their o-line coach, I worked with him for many years at Utah. A lot of the coaches their have great reputations in the business.” 

On naming a starting quarterback versus Oklahoma State
“Going into this week, it’s about who’s going to help us put points on the board, extend drives and convert for 1^st downs. That’s the goal. Kedon [Slovis] hasn’t been healthy but he’s been practicing. He [and Jake Retzlaff] have been competing against each other. Whoever gives us the best chance will be the guy taking the first snap. That’s not to say the other one’s eliminated from being in the game.” 

On improvements in the running game
“Our guys have been a lot more assignment-sound. We’re not missing on as many blocks as we have in the past. There’s a lot of factors that go into it. Aidan [Robbins] is healthy. We have all of the running backs available. What we’re doing scheme-wise, the quarterback making the right reads; those are all factors that play into it. I’m glad that the guys are playing better and getting more production with yards. I’d like to see more points on the board, fewer mistakes and fewer turnovers.” 

On responding to quick tempo as a defense
"It’s definitely a challenge for us. I feel like our coaches are very good at preparing us during the week for teams that play with tempo, so it’s nothing crazy for us."

On team response after last week’s loss
"If we fix the little things then I think the outcome of the game is different. We need bigger plays. We need to get turnovers as a defense. We know that we have a lot of potential. We can really beat whoever we want. We have to do what is asked of us and put it all on the field"

On team preparation for Oklahoma
"Coach Hill challenged everyone to study something football related at least two hours a day this week. I think that helped a lot."

On overall performance this season
"I think at the beginning of the year, I did pretty good. The middle of the year wasn’t what I wanted. I want to allow less receptions and make more plays and more interceptions. I think this last game is going to be nice and hopefully we get to a bowl game so we can make more plays."

On being grateful as a college athlete
"I don’t think it’s that hard to be grateful. We’re grateful just to play this sport and to have everything we have here at BYU. It’s nice to have my family here close to me and to have great teammates and roommates."