Sam Pittman speaks to media following loss to #16 Oklahoma State

congratulations Oklahoma State they found a way to win um well coached we saw it last year against BYU BYU had put a made a nice run on them half and in the third quarter and then lost late um obviously we're disappointed because we had the statistics were way in our favor I thought our defense played three quarters of great football um um they wore out a little bit offensively we made too many mistakes um put the ball on the ground thre a pick six um and uh you know we went through a spell there in the third quarter that we were moving the football but we couldn't the snap was either low or we couldn't catch it I had to watch on tape two to three times there really stop drives um and you know just had a chance to go up 11 and unfortunately W able to make the field goal and U but Oklahoma State they came back and they beat us uh we've got to take care of the ball I like the intensity that we played with um and it came down to we turned the ball over too many times and we got beat and uh congratulations to them um we've got a good football team we've got to correct these mistakes moving forward Sam what you tell your guys in there probably just about what I just told you we made too many mistakes um um we played extremely hard uh I was proud of our defense you know that's a good offensive team and for three quarters you know we held them to six points defensively um um and just same thing talked about the turnovers talked about it's one loss it's it's not an SEC loss it's the one that you know if we'll we'll learn from it and then flush it and then come back well I I feel like we've got a really good football team uh we just we we can't win games turning the football over I thought we did a good job on Oly Gordon I thought he was as good as what we thought he was going to be uh thought we did a nice job there I thought for the most part we did a good job of covering and I just talked to him about that um and I know they're disappointed but uh once we get home we got to bounce back from this one and and head to the next one it's early in the year I think we Prov that we've got a good team U we just got to we got to hang on the football and we'll win a lot of games okay Coach what was the halftime Walker room like looked like you guys were dominating them and then third quarter just did not go your way well I think we still played well defensively Trey you know um um offensively it was a uh you know uh we would have pressure on the quarterback uh we didn't run the ball as well in the third quarter is what we had they were putting a little bit more movement on us a little bit more pressure on us to try to stop the run and then you know like I say we we had three or four snaps that were low um and then U we you know right when we thought we were going to come back we had a p you know what I mean but um I was pleased with with how our defense played for three quarters at halftime to answer your question we knew that they were going to make a rally we we knew they were we talked about um they have done it in the past they're at home they're a veteran team we're going to have to go beat them uh and what happened is we just we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit and and uh seemed like there for a while maybe 20 minutes of the third and fourth quarter we we you know everything we did was not not right in other words we was putting the ball on the ground snaps U trick play muff punt Miss field goal everything seemed like could go wrong kind of went wrong there and that's that span of time I was really proud of the two-minute drive at the end and Ramsey for kicking a field goal to get us into OT you know that's the first OT game we've lost since I've been here I felt like once we can get into OT we we would find a way to win and we just didn't Tom you had a fourth and four in the fourth quarter tie game I think the field goal distance would have been 40 42 was that a gut feeling or yeah I just felt like at that point we just missed one from the same distance and I felt like we need a little bit of momentum and and uh I felt honestly I felt like we were going to make it on Fourth and five we busted uh we busted the protection and you know honestly Tom we were probably lucky to get the four and a half that we got um understanding that uh they had 80 yards to go and I to me risk risk reward uh I had I have no uh uh second guessing that at all I felt really good about uh what Bobby had called uh our opportunity to convert that and maybe change a little bit of the momentum and probably we just missed the one before from the same distance probably had a little bit to do with it but I really thought we could we could either a get the first down and score touchdown or I felt like we could hold him right there and and uh just didn't happen Rodney Hill was in on the last play Quin cramping up again yeah quinon just was you know we we didn't know whether he could make it out there or back or you know was just had a lot of cramps and they were everywhere they were in his growing they were in his hamstring he's probably getting IVs now because he probably going to go into full body cramp if we don't watch out I'm sure they're taking care of him Armstrong obviously camp and miss the opener he had huge game what you think is play coming off an injury yeah I thought it was really good you know had a lot of a lot of yards after he caught the football you know made some guys miss ran extremely hard um played hard blocked well uh but you know 10 10 catches for 164 yards I thought he had a really good day and of course protection and the thrower has something to do with it as well but he got open and I was is I was pleased to get him back out there is that a positive he can take out of a tough loss that he and tal seem to have a good chemistry yeah I think so I mean I think you can take a lot of positive things out of this game you you certainly can take a lot of negatives out of it as well uh we got to clean up like I said we got to hold on the football and if we do that this game would have been in my opinion quite a bit different but we didn't so we've got to figure that out and we we practice it every day you know practice it on Monday on Tuesday on Wednesday um we just didn't hold on to it see miss mention the Muth punt what did you see on that play call earlier you on the MTH punt exactly what happened was one of our guys got knocked into sata's uh into his legs and uh I mean it was it was legal you know but about the time he was getting ready to catch it uh some guy hit him and hit him in the legs and uh and he dropped it I think you mentioned on Monday when we asked about the kickers you mentioned Shipley and Ramsey they you know may have another opportunity competition open up after today yeah I think so I mean it's always a competition but um I think so I mean um I hate it you know I hate it for him you know uh I know we missed a couple but he also made the one put us in at overtime and if we played a little bit better maybe that wouldn't have come up you know but you know their kicker missed as well to put us in I think overtime too so but yeah that competition's always up certainly is now but defensively um the focus was what was the main focus when defending Ali Gordon on the run because you guys help in check for yeah we we were trying to we were trying to uh make him run east and west and not North and South so a lot of our games and a lot of things we were doing was trying to kick him outside uh we knew that if he ever got his shoulders turned on us that he'd be you know he broke 13 tackles last week and he probably broke a bunch you know today as well but uh that was our game plan on him yeah just I was wondering if you could touch on yall got out to such a quick start today is there something that you noticed that yall might be able to duplicate from that I'm sorry I didn't hear the L just if if there's anything you notice that that's you're able to duplicate maybe moving forward in terms of just hitting out quick you know from the first game to the first half you know we we we had a sack that stopped the very first drive and got us out of field field goal range as well um but no not anything more than what you know Bob's calling really good game of mixt mixing up of throwing and passing and Waggles and getting outside moving pocket um you know when we lost our big back you know J quinon he he's a good player for us when he when he's cramping and things that that hurts us a little bit I thought Rodney did did a really good job of coming in and running there uh made a really nice run to get us a first down down there in the second overtime um but no not anything different than what what done um the way that we practice and our openers our openers have been good so we'll continue to do that nice seems like they were pretty aggressive with the blitz sometimes how tough was that for you guys yeah I thought you know we obviously they had a total in other words they're all zero and they're going to bring more than you can block we we certainly prepared big time for that um we missed a couple we had satna open on a post once that we missed in that same situation uh but you know the pressure got there a little bit faster than what we wanted it to um but we worked extremely hard whether we were in 11 personnel 12 Personnel or in 20 where we didn't have a tight in to use as a blocker so we we worked on several different situations to we knew they were going to do it and uh we just didn't execute quite as good as what we had anticipated that we were able to and practice it it uh I felt like if they got into that we could get it out get them out of it pretty fast and uh it was kind of the opposite they they got a sack early and then continue to do that a little bit Daniel just first real test up front just holistically what you think the the offensive line well I thought I thought we played well I mean we had 650 yards you know so the line had to against a good team so the line had to play uh well uh did we play consistent did we have Mas bus yes and so we've got to we've got to correct those uh did notice a lot of holding calls and things like that so that means that we're our feet are moving we're in good position uh I thought we played hard um you know we need to get cudas back so we can rotate a little bit more and and keep keep our guys fresh out there but um for the most part I thought the the line played pretty well we we've got to we've got to get better in pass protection on the edge uh but I thought we played as a unit pretty good go ahead Bob I guess that's second over time you know he sort of gets the Stop and you got flag and I don't know flag is those things anymore that I well I think anytime that you pick a guy up and you slam him to the turf I think it's no different to you make a tackle and you stand up or what they did they did the guns and all that you know if you give opportunities uh for officiating to make a call they can or they can't and on that one I said hey he was still trying to move forward and the official said no coach he just anytime you they're going to pick him up and slam him to the ground that's going to be a personal foul and you know what he's right so and then T and I know you he had some mistakes here and there but he had almost 500 yards rushing in passes what you think of his his game he's a warrior you know he works awful hard it's unfortunate he got on on on the pick six he got hit you know he got hit and it wobbled out there and the kid made the young man made a nice interception and and turn returned it but uh he he's he's our guy and and uh obviously I'm sure he'd like to have some throws back he'd like to have some decisions that he made back but that's you know to have 500 yards against a good football team I think we've got a good one there and and he'll continue to get better and we got to get better around him wrap us up Tom you said in Camp that the first test adversity was going to be a real meaningful for your team what's your anticipation of what this team's going to do after I really like the team I do I think I think we're going to roll up our sleeves on on Monday and learn from the mistakes that we made learn from the good things that we did today I think we'll roll up our sleeves we'll be ready for that home opener uh against U UAB and and U I think the kids will be excited to play I mean you can't look at our team and say that man where they go from here they're not very I don't I'm not saying they're not very good or they don't have talent or they we got to learn how to finish games and hang on the football and I think if we do that we're gonna have have a really good year so we got a flush it we had to flush last week got to flush it and and head towards the next one I think they will to be honest with you