Everything interim coach Robb Akey said after Oregon State’s first win of the season

CORVALLIS — Oregon State football are winners for the first time this season.

The Beavers (1-7) rode a second half wave to a 45-13 win over FCS team Lafayette (5-3) on Saturday night at Reser Stadium. The vibes shifted.

A man of many words with a penchant for trailing off into sidebars, here is a transcript of OSU interim coach Robb Akey’s postgame remarks:

Opening statement:

Well, how y’all doing? Well, I tell you what, I’m happy. I’m happy as it can be to see these guys smile, and they were able to, and it was cool, and I was glad to see the way that they responded, ‘cause we were in a battle at the beginning of the game, and it was frustrating for them. You could see things in their eyes, and the way they came out and batted their tails off and fought to finish their jobs and found out that they could have the success that they were capable of and started making plays. And then, we talked about it in here a few days ago, you get a little spark lit, and if you get some gasoline on that thing, you can make some things roll. And so, I’m just happy for those guys. They’re smiling and they’re happy and they’re feeling good. They got to play the game that they love and smile, and finished it the way they wanted to. So that’s the biggest thing that I’m excited about. That’s what I got for you. So what you got for me?

On whether Gabarri Johnson has earned the starting quarterback job:

I think we’ve got good quarterbacks. I thought you were gonna ask me if (Ti’a) should have been the starting quarterback. So I think those guys did a great job. They battled their tails off, and I think we got two guys in the battle to be able to be worthy of being the starting quarterback. And we ought to keep the competition going and keep them working well together. I think they’ve done a good job working well together, and we’ll continue to make sure they’re growing. l’ll evaluate as it continues to progress.

On if there was an “oh (expletive)” moment for him returning to the head coaching role after more than a decade:

Well, I don’t know if I would say quite like that. But going back into that role and needed to be able to play that role, I paid attention to some different things. And had to pay attention to the role of orchestrating the game and doing things in that fashion. And it flashed back to me, and those were things I tried to make sure I worked to manage throughout the course of the week and it got kind of more comfortable as the game went on. And it was something that it was a quick flashback, I guess, put it that way. And it felt comfortable. It’ll continue to feel comfortable. And the biggest thing of all, I’m really, really proud of this coaching staff and the way they responded to take care of these players. It was awesome, the way communication was today and the things that they were doing for the players. And I can’t emphasize that enough as we went through the way that this week progressed and putting their attention towards helping these guys have their success and find a way. You know, you can look at anything, any way you want to. You can see the good, you can see the bad, we find a way to find what can happen and where the opportunity is. Opportunity could be now here. Well, it was, and they took advantage of the opportunity, and it came, you know, the players did it. We all stood on the sideline. But I think our coaching’s staff did a hell of a job of helping those guys get to that point now that I’m fired up about that.

On whether OSU played down to the level of its competition in the first half:

Well, I would say that we didn’t play very well in the first half, but I think it was in in the parts, and that’s what I wanted I talked to the guys about at halftime. We had a nice extended drive and we made some good things happen, and then we didn’t finish some things, and some of it was finishing some blocks. I’m talking about when we were on offense, you know, and I just make sure we take care of the ball. On defense, we had done some very good things, but then there was two third downs that we enabled to be able to be converted. Now we took the ball away, and we did some things there. There was too many penalties for my preference, especially in the first half. You know, we got to be better and clean with our hands, you know. We got, what, three holding penalties on defense in the first half, and then we had an emotional penalty. And we just kind of focused on, you know, they got a chance to see everything that that they needed to at halftime. But the communication that we had was just, hey, pay attention to things that have been good, and what you’re capable of doing. Because frustration was there, and you can see it. And so, I don’t know if you say it playing down with competition, those guys were sky high, and they were fired up to play against us, but I don’t think that, you know, I think we played it, and when some things happened, it was bad. Well, there was a mountain of bad has happened to us already, and it had to be overcome. You gotta fight through that. And that’s what they did in the second half. They fought through it, and I think that that’s the biggest thing of all. And then when the success started to happen, well, now we could go and we could continue to roll. And I would like to think that that could help us as we move forward. You know, it’s it’s just the beginning, but it was what they need to be able to break through that wall, if that makes sense what I’m saying to you. And so, I don’t know. I think they took some good steps, and, you know, we’ve got to continue to move forward and get ready for the next opponent — a little better than these guys were. And these guys fought their tails off. It’s a good football team, and we were able to be overcome.

On the importance of the voices of Aiden Sullivan and Anthony Hankerson in the turnaround:

Hank, he’s one of our captains. Our captains were anointed by the football team. Their players, their teammates told him that their voice mattered to them. So, I think that’s an awesome thing with Hank, and you don’t have to just be a captain to be a leader. And Aiden provides a lot of emotional leadership in the way that he plays. And, you know, I think that’s a spark that was good for some things. I think that when they hear things from Hank, and I think our other captains did a great job of it. It happened throughout the course of the week. I remember with the captains, before we even got the whole team together on Tuesday when we got ourselves started. And they need to have some power because their teammates told them they’ve got power, and so we’ve got communication between us. And I think that has helped things as we went on. So I think those are two great guys that obviously had showed and did some really good things tonight, and I think that there’s a few more of them that now that they’ve been able to taste success and have some fun and and had fun playing the game they love and made some progress, they found that they’re capable of, that maybe they didn’t make before. Well, that’s how you make it happen again. And I tell these guys it all the time and they’ve heard it for me a million times, and they’re gonna hear a million more. You can do it some time, you can do it all the time. You gotta make it happen. If it’s a habit, then it happens a little bit more often. So, that’s a longer answer than you probably wanted, but I think those are two great voices, and I think there’s a few more in there.

On whether he saw the shirtless guys in the south end zone whipping their shirts around:

I can’t do it at all on a field. I don’t know. So tell me what happened.

Oregon State fans, there was a bunch of guys, students up there, who took their shirts off and were whipping them around.

(Loudly) I think that’s awesome, man. That’s cool. I’m glad to hear about that. I might have to take a look next time and hopefully there’ll be more of them.

On whether he gave a Knute Rockne-style speech at half:

I wouldn’t say that. It happened because of the players. Players did a good job. All I did was try to point out some things that I thought they had done well, and some things that I thought they didn’t do well, and how they could make it be more better. And I might have said it with an elevated voice, but they said it to each other, and they went out and made it happen. That’s because of them.

On the offensive line’s role in the turnaround:

I think they did a really good job, and I think you saw it develop as the game went on. And that was my message to that group was the fact that they have to keep pounding and overcome these guys, you know? You need to go out there and take the field. I’m bigger, I’m stronger, I’m tougher, and I don’t care if we’re playing them for the Green Bay Packers. That’s the attitude you need to have and go about it that way, and I think that they kept grinding and grinding, and I think they were able to then break it and make it work to our advantage. And I think it’s because of the way they went about playing.

On the coaching staff sparking an attitude change:

Well, I think you look at it, we’re professionals. And these kids, this coaching staff is professionals. And, you know, there’s what goes into doing this is more than just what people see out there on the field. You know, we’re pops away from home, we do a lot of things for all of these guys, you know. We bring them here, we coach them, we teach them, we teach them things that have nothing to do with football. And so there’s wrenches, and that’s where, again, I take my hat off to the coaching staff because the coaches are all going to go home to wives that want to know, hey, where are we going to live and what’s the new job going to be? When situations like that all come about, they’ve got to be able to channel that and focus because the thing that is the most important is these players. And so, I think you take a look at these guys, and your profession says coach, that’s your title, that’s what you do. They embrace that, and they made it about the kids and the players. Our young men, and how they could help them be more better. So, I think that that’s a lot of stress and like I’ve said before to some of you: we’re the ones that are the adults in the room. we’re the leaders. We’ve got leaders amongst the team, but it’s our responsibility to lead the team. And I think the staff led the guys and helped them get to the point that they needed to and find where the opportunity now lies. There were some messages that we gave to them throughout the course of the week and being able to, you know, you got to make a situation more comfortable. You got to find with the opportunity. You can find bad at everything you do in life, it doesn’t matter. (Picks up water bottle) You know, y’all tell me, is that half full or is it half empty? Oh, that some buck looks pretty near full to me, okay? And that’s the way you got to make it. And if you look at a situation that way, where you find the good, then you’re going to impact the people that are around you that are maybe not seeing it yet. And so this coaching staff, I think, helped spark that, those leaders that we talked about help sparked that in a way that these guys worked throughout the course and the way they got it to that point. And so, I think it says a lot for those guys. I don’t know if I completely answered your question or not, but that’s the way we went about it. And I think the group effort that took place was really cool.

On whether players were letting loose frustrations:

I do think that there’s truth in that, yes. You can see it and you saw it in the way that they played, because it became a little bit more free and not tense, because when you got the weight of the world on you, you end up being a little bit more tense ‘cause the weight of the world is pretty damn heavy. But when all of a sudden, you spark a little success and now you’re doing a little more free. And again, if you just trust your eyes and your training, then things good things are going to happen. But then it requires some success to take place with that. Some wins, you know. Every play is its own deal. If I could have some wins within the battle. So, if I had to pay attention to this play, you know, yesterday’s history, last play is history, the next play ain’t here yet. The only one I can effect is this one right now, and if I can do it free flowing, then I’m gonna do it better, if that makes sense. And so, yes, I do think that we saw that go, and that’s what we had talked to the players about, you know, could get the momentum to happen when it starts to happen, you can make some things happen. … Some of us talked earlier in the week, you know, Have we finished one of those opportunities earlier in the season? This may have been able to happen sooner for us. Well, it happened now, and that’s all that matters. All that matters is the moment, is now. And our next opportunity is the next one, and we’ve got a period of time to get ready for that, if that answers your question.

On Gabarri Johnson’s performance:

Well, I think you’re going to continue to see that. That’s something that we’ve been working to get done over the past few weeks anyway, just trying to get him more and more involved. And we were able to make that happen more so today, and he took advantage of his opportunity. And that’s all I can do, all any of us can do when we get the opportunity, what are you going to do with it? Go run with it. And force your way. Make it. Make sure damn well we can’t afford to take you off the field. And then everybody should have that attitude towards it. I’m real proud of him, man. He did an awesome job. He sparked some great plays, and he’s got some ability with, you know, he’s got some ability that people have to deal with because you can’t just worry about this (throwing motion), you got to worry about what he’s able to do with it’s run game or throw. And he made big plays doing that tonight. So, that was cool. I look forward to seeing more of it. I think we’ve got a good crew of quarterbacks.