Cotton Bowl Media Day: Okahoma Offense

Select quotes from Oklahoma offense

OC Josh Heupel

On whether the SEC's defensive mystique has been overplayed...

"I don't know. I don't have an opinion on that right now. We'll see as more spread offenses come to that league. Mississippi's doing it a little bit differently, a bit more quarterback learning with it, but yeah, we'll see as that continues to happen."

QB Landry Jones

On playing all three Heisman finalists this season...

"At this place you're always going to play good players. Coach (Bob) Stoops has never been one to shy away from playing good teams out of conference and things along those lines, so it's always been an opportunity for us to play good players from other universities."

On whether he could have early success in the NFL...

"Absolutely. You don't play this game if you don't think you're going to be good at it. For me, I don't have any doubts that if someone picks me up I'll be good for their team. If someone picks me up I know that we're going to win games and have successful years and go after Super Bowls. I have that confidence in myself."

On the SEC vs. Big 12 matchup...

"I definitely think that mystique is still there, for sure, that the SEC is typically a really good defensive conference and the Big 12 is a good offensive conference. I think that the way Texas A&M has played down there has proved what type of offense we have."

On his initial reaction to A&M's SEC move...

"For me, it wasn't a huge deal. Every school has to do what's best for them and their athletes and their students. Whenever they switched, it was one of those deals where it was a better thing for them. We wished them the best of luck and they played well, and we take pride in that, that an ex-Big 12 team went to another conference and did well. For me, my reaction was, 'Whatever's best for those kids, they should do it.'"

WR Kenny Stills

On whether OU's offense would be as explosive in the SEC...

"I guess it's not for me to say until we take that step. But we'll see on Friday night."

On whether the Cotton Bowl is the next best thing to a BCS bowl...

"I'd say that. We've had a lot of fun since we've been here. The people are amazing and they love that we're here. I'd compare it with any of the other bowl games we've been in."

"Most definitely. I think during the season I even tweeted something about A&M playing well in the SEC. Definitely proud of them. I watched them all season and was hoping for the best for them and Missouri. I'm happy for them, but we know we have to take care of business on the field."

On whether this is a game of conference pride...

"I mean ... to some people, I guess. It's not a big deal when it comes to Friday. It's just another game for us, and a game we have to win."

On playing all three Heisman finalists this year...

"I wouldn't say it's bad luck. It's a great opportunity for us. We're 0-2 against the first two, so hopefully we can change that on Friday."

WR Justin Brown

On this being a battle for conference pride...

"I think whenever you play an SEC team, people make it a big deal. And they should, because that's a great conference. But I think in this situation it's more about OU-A&M than Big 12 vs. SEC. They just went to the SEC last year; people are still on the OU-A&M game."

"I don't think you're supposed to get too caught up in it. At the end of the day, they're another team. They put their cleats on just like we do. I think you can't let it get to that point when you're getting prepared for the game. All you have to do is make sure you go out and do the right thing that you need to do to the person across from you to get the job done. I feel like as long as you have that approach, everything will fall in place."

On whether A&M's vulnerability to Louisiana Tech's spread was encouraging...

"It's just something to have in your back pocket. They've also played some very great defensive games too, so you can't take one game and critique a team off of one game. They played Alabama, they played great defense. They got turnovers and they made big plays and they stopped them on third downs when they needed to. I think you need to watch the games, see what they do well, see what they don't do well and go from there."

OL Gabe Ikard

On how the time off has helped the battered OU O-line...

"Much needed. Guys aren't 100 percent but they're feeling a lot better than they did. We needed that week off. It's good to have some guys a little healthier."