Quotes from Kansas State football's weekly Tuesday press conference
Sep 02, 2003 | Football
KANSAS STATE HEAD COACH BILL SNYDER
On McNeese State...
"They have an awfully talented coaching staff. I think they have good, quality players. I think they have experience in their program. I think they have 17 returning starters on offense and defense plus a kicker. If you look at their starters on offense and defense, there is only one sophomore in the group and all the rest are junior and seniors. So, they have experience in the system itself and they have experience playing at a very high level - having played for the national championship last year and being the No. 1-ranked football team in the country this year at the Division I-AA level."
On the success of McNeese State...
"As far as them playing against other Division I-A schools, they played well against Texas A&M a couple of years ago. They beat a Louisiana-Monroe team last year and really played awfully well against Nebraska last year. They don't have access to all and everything that a lot of Division I-A schools do, but they certainly have some very talented young people and they do a lot with what they have."
On the talent of McNeese State...
"They have some very, very fine players - players, who could play at any level you want them to. And yet, it's difficult to have a roster full of Division I-A players. Now, they've got guys there that can play Division I-A football. Do they have the numbers that Division I-A schools do? For the most part, no."
On the lines being the difference between Division I-A programs and Division I-AA programs...
"I'm speaking for all Division I-AA schools that could run the gamet. It's just hard for anybody to find tremendously talented offensive and defensive linemen. We're in an age where everyone weighs 300+ pounds and are bigger then ever before in the history of the game. And now, the 300 pounders are 4.7, 4.8, 4.9 guys in the 40, so that's a tremendous specimen that can do that and there aren't a lot of them who can carry that kind of weight. To have enough that can go around with five on offense and four on defense and to have depth to go around to 117 Division I-A schools, that's not an easy task."
On Roderick Royal of McNeese State...
"He's a good player, really good player. He's got all the honors to support that. He's a physical player. He runs quickly. You want young guys that play those positions that will really attack the line of scrimmage and he really does that ... does it extremely well."
On scheduling McNeese State...
"We scheduled this particular ballgame, because there wasn't anybody else out there and this was going to be the 12th ballgame. When we scheduled McNeese, we didn't have the 12th ballgame with the University of California. It was important to get a 12th game, an additional home game. Being uncertain with the status of the California game we felt it was necessary to do so. They were the best I-AA school out there and there weren't very many, if any others that were available.
"If you're going to schedule a Division I-AA school, you want the best that you can possibly get and McNeese is the best at that level. You'd like for them to present some things for you to work on. UMass, is a team in a week that is going to throw the ball around a considerable amount and we wanted to have that opportunity to see that two weeks in a row with them and Marshall."
On what the team has improved on over two weeks...
"As I was telling our players yesterday, 'as soon as you get a certain aspect of your game corrected, it really is kind of inappropriate to move away from it and think that you've got it all fixed because things resurface again. They can and they will so it's important to stay on top of all of it.' Obviously there are some immediate issues that have presented themselves in each of the first two ballgames. In the first week, it was a little more directed toward some repair work with the defense and last week it is a little bit more directed toward some repair work to the offense. In both weeks there were some good and bad things that took place with the kicking game. You want to improve yourself in each and every aspect and give equal focus to all aspects of your game in the course of any given week."
On Rashad Washington...
"I've got a great appreciation for Rashad Washington. Rashad wants to to be, and he's on virtually every special teams unit and he's addressed the issue with me about wanting to be there. If there has been a problem with a certain position on special teams he said, 'hey let me go do it.' You appreciate someone with that kind of approach. That to me is a team-invested approach Rashad has and we have a few guys like that, but we probably don't have enough."
On the health of Darren Sproles...
"I don't think that there is any doubt about his toughness. I don't know what the test would be; he's just a tough, young guy. He's out running around; he took some snaps last night and he will be alright. He is tough and he will stay that way."
PLAYER QUOTES
ANDREW SHULL, SR, DE
On if they've improved since last week...
"I think we did. We made some improvements, but we've still got some improvements to make. (This week) we played with a passion. Guys were moving around and we were running to the ball. We just had a lot better passion than we did the previous week."
On his performance Saturday...
"I was pleased. I'm not content with what happened, but I think that if we continue to improve as a front seven and if I continue to improve then by the end of the year we can be pretty good."
On the younger players...
"The young guys bring a lot of emotion, a lot of hard work and dedication. You see guys that haven't ever started before, guys like Jermaine Berry, who were just flying around. It's something that is very good to see."
On what he's trying to improve...
"It's more consistency than anything else. I'm still sack-less through two games and that's a big deal to me. But I think that stuff will come in time. I don't think it's something you can push. I just have to be one of those guys when we get in a tight jam, I can get in there and be a playmaker."
On having a tough mental focus...
"If you had a bad play, that's just something you need to forget about and move on to the next one. I think that's something we all need to focus on."
On playing a I-AA team...
"You're here playing Division I football and even though they are Division I-AA, it doesn't matter. Every game counts. If we lose, they are going to count it in the scorebook as a loss. It matters."
TRAVIS WILSON, SR, FB
On the threat of injury...
"I wouldn't say it scares me. Everybody's got a chance (to get hurt) in every profession. You can walk across the street and get hit by a bus, so it's not really scary. You've just got to do what you've got to do."
On the team's mental focus...
"This team keeps trucking right along. We always talk about going 1-0. That drops down to if a player goes down, somebody else has got to step in and step up. I don't think the team lost their mental attitude at all."
On outlook for this week...
"We take it week by week and game by game. We take each opponent as serious as the next, so we're going to keep going with our theme, 1-0."
On the strengths of McNeese State...
"They run around. They have a great defense. They have a lot of team speed. They come after the ball and it looks like they hit pretty good."
On playing a Division I-AA team...
"I don't think it really matters that they're a I-AA team. I mean, they were 13-2 last year and they played a few opponents that we played last year. We have our hands full this week against McNeese State."
ELL ROBERSON, SR, QB
On playing a I-AA team...
"We just have to get better and use this game as a stepping stone."
On improvements from the previous week...
"I think we got better in some areas and in some areas, we need to improve. We took a step back, I think, in running. Our receivers stepped up again this week and made some big catches, but I didn't throw the ball as well as I should have. We're working hard and trying to correct the mistakes."
On Darren Sproles...
"He's a hard worker. He goes hard all the time. He never wants to come off the field, even when he had the little nick on the side, he wanted to get back in there, but the situation didn't let him."
On his performance Saturday...
"It had to do with the wet balls I was getting and not following through all the way. You've really got to follow through when the ball is wet. I was throwing off my back foot a little bit. But it can all be corrected this week."
On Jermaine Moreira...
"He's coming along real well. He's a young guy and is learning the offense still. He's got some good coaches and the wide receivers are really trying to help him out to get him on the field because he's got talent. He runs good routes and if he could just pick it up, he'll be all right for us."
DANNY MORRIS, SR, RB
On the team's outlook...
"Coach Snyder keeps it in our head to take it one game at a time. Don't ever overlook anybody. So we just keep one game at a time all the time."
On his teammates injuries...
"We just look at it like one of our soldiers got wounded, so you've got to pick up the slack for one of your wounded soldiers. When it's your time to step up, you've got to go play."
On his preparation this week...
"I've taken a lot more reps, but basically it's been the same preparation as I have throughout the whole year and last year. Nothing has really changed."
JERMAINE MOREIRA, FR, DB
On whether he expected to get so much playing time...
"I knew going in that I was going to get some playing time, so it didn't really surprise me. It feels really good to play in front of so many people. The crowd is something new. It's a first-time deal and it feels so exciting."
On the help of Ell Roberson...
"He's teaching me the plays and everything on the field. Game experience, what to do if this happens""
