Quotebook: Gundy Calls Oklahoma State Defense ‘Unbelievable’

“The defense was unbelievable,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy told the Oklahoman during the postgame celebration. And he was right. Gundy would go on to say plenty more about the Pokes’ dominance on the defensive side of the ball in his postgame press conference. Here are a few of the best quotes.

Mason Rudolph on the night

“I think this is definitely going to help propel us into the off-season, keep us high, encourage us to have a great off-season mentally and physically, really get after it.

“Tonight I think we just executed. Kind of got a little bit of a bitter taste out of our mouth. I told the guys pregame, Let’s let all the frustration out. Really executed well. These guys here, heck of a job on defense. It was almost a shutout until the end.”

Rudolph on the double pass from Chris Carson

“Yeah, we practiced that a lot throughout bowl prep. Chris made a great play. Kind of some leakage there. He did a good job of getting it to me. We ran that a couple years ago at the Cactus Bowl. Got a lot further than we did then. That was fun. Fun to pull out one of those trick plays and execute it well.

“In hindsight, I probably should have hurdled him. I don’t know if I got that in the tank.”

Head Coach Mike Gundy on the defense

“They’re being humble on defense. Basically what we asked them to do a month ago was to come out and be physical and stay on the attack, pressure the quarterback and hit hard. That’s what we asked them to do, that’s what they did. Then defensively I challenged them the first practice in a meeting to blitz, to attack, to be aggressive, to be the most physical team on the field. That’s what they did tonight. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it didn’t. But it worked for us tonight.”

Rudolph on the Gatorade bath whiff

“‘Big Daddy’ over here, he kind of evaded the Gatorade dump. It kind of pissed me off. He saw us, got away at the last second.

“It was fun, man. I think only winning the Cactus Bowl a couple years ago, just playing in a bigger bowl with more fans, playing in a hometown with Sterns, Vincent, it was a home feel. We had a great crowd showing. That’s what you play for, what you work for all year, those moments when you get to look up at the balloons and just think about what it took to get here.”

Gundy on avoiding the bath

“The mullet kind of blocks the view. When you’re as small as I am, you play at this level, you have to learn to avoid contact at all times. Eyes in the back of your head helps. Mason is bigger. He could take more hits than I could.”

James Washington on 2017

“I think it just sets us up to do greater things. We have Marcell and all of our weapons back. I’m looking forward to coming out next year and doing the same thing, hopefully ending with a great outcome.”

Gundy on Washington’s big night

“Colorado has six guys on defense that are going to get a chance to be in the NFL, whether it’s drafted or in a free agency, whatever. There are six guys being evaluated by the NFL.

“I can’t speak for them. I’m just guessing. Two of the deep balls were right there in front of me on our sidelines. James just ran right by that guy. Maybe they underestimated how fast he is. The one he dropped… He just blew right by him. It just worked for us.”

Gundy on 2017

“It certainly stimulates a lot of excitement with the players, the fans, the recruiting, the overall concept. Chances are you’re talking about a team that’s going to finish top 10 in the country. Double-digit wins for five of the last seven years. At some point in the top 10 in the country seven of the last nine years.

“A win like this doesn’t guarantee anything, but it certainly means a lot for the seniors, the organization and the people that put a lot of time and effort into success.”

Colorado QB Sefo Liufau on the night

“The game sucked. It’s kind of obvious. I don’t know what you guys want me to say. It’s pretty frustrating the way kind of things happened. Just didn’t come out with all things firing. I think in the beginning we moved the ball a lot as an offense but weren’t able to capitalize.

“Like I always say, it falls back on me, not being able to get the ball going, not being able to get the drives finished. Just a tough one overall.”

Colorado Coach Mike MacIntyre on Rudolph2Washington

“He made some great catches. We were in good position. Quarterback made some good back shoulder throws. He’s a good player. He’s done that all year long. He’s an excellent football player.”