CHEEZ-IT BOWL: OKLAHOMA VS FLORIDA STATE

December 26, 2022

Marvin Mims

Camping World Stadium

Oklahoma Sooners

Press Conference

Q. Can you talk about the season you guys had offensively? How do you feel like you guys adjusted in the first year in the system?

MARVIN MIMS JR.: Yeah, first year in the system, proven system, great offensive coordinator. Quarterback, who has been in. I feel like it has gone really well. There are sometimes that we have been a little down, but just a burst of offense of what we have shown and put on film. How we can play every day at a level that's pretty high. I feel really good about it.

We had a lot of new offense and older guys on the offense and younger guys on the offense, and we are all on the same learning curve. So, I feel like we did really good in the offense this year. Of course places to build, but that's every team in the country.

Q. What is the mindset going into a bowl game where you don't know exactly who you're going to have and some guys have to make their own decisions? What is the mindset of the guys who are here in terms of coming together for a bowl game?

MARVIN MIMS JR.: Kind of like the same thing all year. I mean, you just want to play, get out on the field and have fun with your brothers, but at the same point you are rolling with who you are rolling with. If you are a younger guy, who is getting more opportunities, you have to go out there and put it on film. You have to go out there and play because as a younger guy, a couple years ago, I had a bowl game, I got more reps. In a couple weeks, you have new guys coming to take your spot.

So those reps really do matter and they actually show, and especially in practices. If you are fortunate to get out in the game, you have to make the most of it. At the end of the day just come out and have fun with your brothers and play football.

Q. What would you describe the first season like under a new coaching staff and where you guys are going?

MARVIN MIMS JR.: It was definitely a drastic change, two years under Coach [Lincoln] Riley for me, and then adapt into a new coaching staff third year, a bunch of new players, a lot of old faces leaving, so it definitely a whole new experience.

I feel like as a first team under Coach [Brent] Venables, I feel like we responded pretty well to all the demands, the way he wanted his program to look, his culture to be.

Just for the future with the younger guys coming up and all that stuff, it's going to look real good. Just from the off-the-field stuff, on-the-field, guys getting used to it this first year, and now people knowing what it looks like in year two and being able to lead the young guys and help them come up.

Q. Florida State's defense, they are pretty aggressive at coverage. Is that exciting going up against a team that you feel like is probably going to challenge you a little bit?

MARVIN MIMS JR.: Of course, it is always exciting to go against good competition. 9-3 football team, good defense, athletic DBs, long, fast, tall, the whole bundle. It is exciting to go against. It is fun to go against tougher competition. You really see what you are made of yourself. So, it's really fun. I'm looking forward it. Great DBs, great secondary, really good safeties, really good corners, and I'm just looking forward to it.

Q. Does a bowl game have a feel that it's going to be more wide open, like a more exciting kind of offensive showcase for both teams, do you feel like?

MARVIN MIMS JR.: When you think of a bowl game, you think of the glitz and glamour. As an offensive player, I love shootouts, when I'm watching football and stuff like that, just being an offensive guy.

It is going to be a tough game. It is going to be a nail-biting game for sure. We are going to have to go out there and play really good football. They are a really good football team on the other side.

But an offensive powerhouse game would be amazing. I love those games, high-scoring games. But we have to be ready for anything that comes out there. We are going to have to adjust. There is going to be adversity, and we are just going to go out there and play football.

Q. Winning is the ultimate goal, but how much does pride play a motivating factor for this year's team since there has not been a losing season since 1998?

MARVIN MIMS JR.: Not even thinking about the losing season, but how we are going to finish off as a team. This year has not gone the way we wanted it to, but at the end of the day, we still have one more game to be able to set the record straight and go out and play against a really good football team. So looking forward to it.

Q. How impressed have you been with Dillon?

MARVIN MIMS JR.: Coach Lebby hit on it. A guy that knew the X's and O's, whenever he first got here, brought all of us under his wing. It is great to have him out there. He has been in this offense and he knows just about everything Coach Levy knows.

It is great to have him out there, just play-making ability, putting the ball in the right spot, right reads all the time. I mean, it is great to have him out there, especially whenever we have questions and have to adjust in mid-game. Having him out there is really good and special for our offense.

Q. Throughout your career, Oklahoma has been the higher-ranked team and team with more prestige. And now, the roles are reversed right now, Florida State has had a good year and you guys have struggled a little bit. Do you guys embrace the challenge to be a perceived underdog for once?

MARVIN MIMS JR.: Yeah, I kind of look at it the same way as I have my past two years. Honestly, especially playing in the Big 12, everybody wants a shot at Oklahoma. No matter how the season is going. When they play Oklahoma, they are going to bring their best. Especially if we are down, they want to get their win, and they want to get their shot. If we are up, they want to get that upset and stuff like that.

Last year, when we played Oregon after Coach Riley left, we were the underdogs against them, too, and we went out and had fun and played football. There is a lot of pride in that game for sure without a head football coach.

Same for this game, too. We are just going to let it loose, have fun. Really good football team other side of the ball, and just go out there and just -- it's the last game no matter what, just play.