Oklahoma-Iowa State QuoteBook: The Best of What They Said

Oklahoma has been searching for answers on the defensive side of the ball all season long.

After the non-conference slate, it's been rough sailing for the Sooners. The defense has given up a ridiculous amount of points on the season, and it didn't really seem like there was a light at the end of the tunnel until Saturday.

The Sooners played a full, complementary game, as players on both sides of the ball stepped up. It was a much needed win for both Oklahoma and the secondary as whole, a unit that really struggled a season ago.

Oklahoma improved to 5-3 and has effectively weathered the storm. Now it'll be up to both the team and the coaches to take it one step higher.

Here are the best quotes from Saturday's postgame press conference:

"I feel like my role has evolved by me just being a playmaker, just taking advantage of any opportunity I have — me getting handoffs, me catching and running, anything that I can do to help the team, that’s what I’m trying to do and that’s what the coaches are using me for, a role player, so that’s what I need to be."

— Oklahoma WR Jalil Farooq

"You have to be patient. You have to take care of the football. You have to find a way. I think that’s what we did today. A lot to clean up. There are a lot of throws I want back. Execute and make competitive plays. I’ll never be mad with the win. Just super glad for this team and how hard we’ve been working. Just keep chipping away because we know there is a light at the end of that tunnel and just keep being consistent with our work."

— Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel

"In Hawaii, man, I grew up toting it a bit. I’m not the most agile, you could say. But I’m never being scared. Going out there and playing ball. I’m not going to second-guess anything I have to do. I’m healthy. I feel really good. I have my boys right behind me, so I’m all good."

— Gabriel

"Aggressiveness, physicality, toughness, you gotta have that. Those things travel well. Our guys brought it and again had the right mindset. Starts with having the mindset of a champion."

— Head coach Brent Venables

"Up and down. I thought we had some chances to get away from them and we kept them in the game a little bit, didn't make the chunks that we wanted to make. But proud of our guys. They fought their butt off, stayed positive and got a tough win."

— Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby

"Getting better. That’s what I would say. You get better, you grow confidence, you have a little bit of edge and swag through the work you’re doing, by doing the hard over and over and over and over and over, and doing the little things over and over and over. Making ‘em run all the way off the field in practice. Making ‘em run back if he doesn’t do it. Not looking the other way with the little things. It’s always about the little things."

— Venables

"I thought the safety was going to play it different. I thought they was in man coverage but I guess he tried to make a play, bust the coverage, I took advantage of the opportunity, Dillon made a perfect throw. It was a walk-in touchdown."

— Farooq

"I'm thankful to the Lord that I had a good game. That last one I knew it was important just because the time of the game. So I'm happy that I executed there. But I was thankful just to start out the day well with — it's not as flashy of a punt — but the very first one where it's just a 48-yard fair catch with good hang time and the returner fair catches it. I feel like that was a good way to start out. Thank God. I just feel like I was I was hitting the ball well, so it kind of all led up to that. I was just feel great."

— Punter Michael Turk

"Just dominating. We’re really emphasizing that every week. The o-line sets the tone for us and the run game being super dominant. Super proud of those guys. I love it for those guys. I love (center Andrew) Raym and how he can see the protections with me. He can be verbal about it and communicating."

— Gabriel

"We’re close with a bunch of them. It’s something we’ve worked on. I love Marvin. We connect on so many levels. We’re really close. We have to make competitive plays. What I love about him is his competitive nature. We want to connect super bad. We keep talking about it. Here soon, we connect on those, and it’s a way different game."

— Gabriel

"We heard it all week. We heard all week how good the Iowa State defense was. For me, it was stick to my keys. There's going to be opportunities in there. I saw opportunities on film that other offenses didn't take advantage of. I was like 'We have to make sure that if we see this look, we have to take advantage of it.' Ultimately, I did that today."

— Running back Eric Gray

"The fun is in the winning. We talk about it all the time. We had our ups and downs, but I feel like our team is confident. The defense did a helluva job today. The offense is clicking. I think we're hitting our stride, coming back together as a team and playing well."

— Gray

"It’s not an easy thing. But our guys are smart. And they’ve got a lot of video evidence. What we’ve been able to do on the practice field. Again, the improvement that they’ve made. I think that’s where you can continue to have confidence and belief in our coaches and schemes."

— Venables