K-State Holds Weekly Press Conference During Bye Week
Oct 05, 2021 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman met with members of the media on Tuesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex as the Wildcats are in the midst of their lone bye week of the 2021 season. A complete transcript of Klieman's press conference (also streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and archived here) is posted below.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"Good afternoon, everyone. The bye week is coming at a good time for us. We're, in essence, about halfway through, a little bit more than halfway through when you think of all the practices we had in fall camp four weeks prior to playing Stanford and then playing five games. It comes probably at a good time. I'd rather have it come after a win so you don't have a bad taste in your mouth for a couple weeks but it's not. We have this week, we're going to spend some time on Iowa State and then quite a bit of time on ourselves with our younger players as well as with the older guys, just kind of shoring up some things, doing some self scout, doing some technique work, but these kids also need some rest. They need to get their bodies right because once we come back, then we've got a bunch of games in a row without an open week. So, we've got to get their minds right, refresh. We're going to get their bodies fresh, but we still have some work to do, and we'll spend an awful lot of time with our younger players this week. So, it comes at a good time for us."
On the younger guys he's excited to see more from in the bye week…
"There's a bunch of guys for sure. In the offensive line, Andrew Leingang is somebody that I'm really excited about because I think he will be a really, really good player here in a short time. He's down with the varsity right now as a true freshman offensive lineman. You don't see that very often, so I'm excited about what he's going to be able to do. We're looking at Jake Rubley quite a bit this week, give him some snaps and Max Marsh, from the quarterback standpoint. Those guys stick out to me on offense. DJ Giddens on offense, a running back that we think is going to be a really talented guy that just needs repetition. Then defensively, Damion Ilallio is a good, good player as a defensive tackle that needs to go against guys like Leingang and Hayden Gillum this week. Beau Palmer and Kienen Gaskin are going to be good inside linebackers. They need reps, and Krew Jackson's a long athletic outside linebacker that we're excited about. Desmond Purnell and Marvin Martin are good, young safety guys that we're excited about. So, it's a bunch of guys. I'm sure I'm missing out on some too. Chris Tennant is going to get a lot of reps this week with kicking and punting, so I'm excited for Chris and he's a really talented guy. So, the list goes on and on, but for us today, we'll work some Iowa State and then those guys will go against each other for a period of practice too."
On what they need to work on defensively before Iowa State…
"The biggest thing is getting back to some basics. Tackling and getting off blocks are the two biggest things, and letting the guys play faster. Some of that is us as coaches probably trying to do too much. We've talked about that as a defensive staff of letting them play a little bit more like they did against Stanford, and then their bodies were fresher against Stanford and Southern Illinois and Nevada, but maybe not trying to be as perfect as just let them go out and play and execute our base rules and principles. But, bottom line, we have to play faster, and sometimes you can kind of paralyze your mind by having too many thoughts going in there, but we also have to get off blocks and tackle better."
On if teams are catching up to the three-man front…
"Like a lot of the things that I listed, a lot more teams in our league are doing it. The one thing that is unique is we haven't given up the explosive plays, which we did last year. Obviously, last year was a unique, unique year, but we aren't giving up the explosive plays, and that's the encouraging thing. I think the longest run we've given up is 28 yards, which is way, way too much and that still comes down to tackling. That still comes down to getting off a block. We've given up less explosive plays, but probably too much in that nine-to-14 range where it's probably just why didn't we make that tackle? Why didn't we keep that cup? Why didn't we converge on the ball carrier or converge on the receiver quicker. We went back and looked as a staff, we weren't playing as fast for sure on Saturday. It's a really good Oklahoma team, let's not be mistaken there, as we were against Stanford and flying through their different offenses. Obviously, both are talented teams, so we've got to go back to get our bodies right and then play fast with better technique."
On using more four-man alignments…
"The other thing was the tempo with which OU was just getting lined up maybe not snapping the ball but not subbing as much as some teams do and just getting lined up really quickly. We'll work both fronts again this week with our younger players because we have some guys that are tailored more to the four down, but you're right. With us down Bronson (Massie) and down Khalid (Duke), it becomes a factor, and we don't know how long Bronson is going to be out. It's not long term, but I'm not sure how long he's going to be out. Some of the guys like Felix (Anudike-Uzomah) is going to have to play more snaps. Nate's (Matlack) is going to have to play a lot more snaps. Spencer (Trussell) is going to have to play more snaps. It's going to tax us a little bit."
On Skylar Thompson staying in the pocket more against Oklahoma…
"Well, we talked late in the week when we thought he had a chance to play that he needed to be really smart with what he does outside of the pocket and make sure he knew where his check downs were, make sure he knew where his safety valve receivers were. I didn't want him running around and ad-libbing, but I didn't say that to him either, because you want the young man to say, 'I'm clear to play, let me go play.' I think it made him a better player, to be honest with you, on Saturday. You go back and look at that game that kid played really, really well, and Skylar's a tremendous football player, and we missed him for a couple of weeks. Will (Howard) and Jaren (Lewis) did a nice job, but there's a sixth-year guy that's done this for an awful long time that knows the receivers, knows the offense. I'm excited – even though we suffered a disappointing loss – I'm excited about where we can go with him only probably getting better, but he stayed in the pocket and did a great job continuing to look downfield."
On the aggression of the offense against OU…
"Well, I'm not sure what you mean truly by aggression, other than the fact that we knew we had to score points against these guys. Every game is different. We knew Oklahoma was going to put up points. I didn't know what Nevada was going to do. I didn't know what Stanford was going to do, but the game as those things played out, we were going to do a good enough job on defense, that you could be probably more conservative on offense. But in our league, you have to be more aggressive, because there's a lot of talented offenses out there. When you have an experienced quarterback, you want to not hold them back or hold him back, and we talked about that with the receivers and the offensive line that if we had some of those situations where we could stay on the field, I trusted those guys. I trusted the sixth-year quarterback that on 4th and 4 we ought to be able to convert. 4th and 8 is a little bit tougher, but I've been in the situation a few times and I haven't second guessed myself, but I also know you need touchdowns to win. I go back to two situations – last year against West Virginia we took a field goal to go up 3-0. 4th and the same situation. Do I second guess myself? Should have gone for a touchdown, well we've got our points, whatever. A few weeks later, we had to answer a drive of Iowa State that they went down and scored. We took it all the way down at 1st and Goal at the three, it's 4th and Goal at the two, and I didn't second-guess myself, like, 'We've got to play, let's go.' Don't get it. 'Boy, you should have taken points,' or, 'Why would you do that?' I was not going to do that this year. If we were going to be in that situation with a veteran offense, we're going to go try to get touchdowns. Now, if it's 4th and 8, maybe it's a different story, but 4th and 2, I hope we have enough space that we can dial something up and execute."
On the play of offensive lineman Cooper Beebe…
"Cooper played really well, and he's playing at a really high level. He's playing at an all-conference level, and I think there's more in Cooper. I think he can be even better than he's played, but he's playing at a really high level."
On if he thought about more up-tempo against Oklahoma…
"We always are aware of that, and I know that we gave Skylar (Thompson) a couple of different options, but some of it was a little bit based on whether we were in bounds or out of bounds. Was the play clock rolling or not? I wanted to make sure that he felt comfortable in everything that we did to not get too far ahead of ourselves, not just for that game, but for the next six or seven or eight games. So, it's always talked about with Skylar, but I thought Skylar had complete control of what we were doing out there."
On starting the second half better offensively…
"Well, we should have had an 80-yard touchdown on the third play of the third quarter and we had a miscommunication between two great football players, Skylar Thompson and Deuce Vaughn. We have an 80-yard touchdown, or whatever it was, a 78-yard touchdown, and those two had a missed connection or it's a touchdown. There was nobody in the middle of the field. That's a miscommunication between the two guys. It's not something that you look at and say, 'Boy, what are we doing wrong to start the second half?' We had things dialed up, we just miscommunicated for those two guys, and those are our best two guys. That's just going to happen. It happens all across all levels of football. We have been better in certain times on defense. We weren't as good this time, but I was afraid sooner or later they were going to figure this out because we played pretty well in the first half of Oklahoma. Something that we for sure got to be better at is when we come out the second half."
On if Cody Stufflebean pushing for playing time…
"He's getting better, not probably quite ready just simply because he moved over from tight end so late in the process. He's going to get a bunch of reps this week, and he's getting closer. I hope there's enough improvement this week that he may be able to get into the mix, whether it's against Iowa State or hopefully soon after."
On the receivers taking a step forward against Oklahoma…
"Well, when Skylar (Thompson) is throwing it around and feeling really confident like he was, everybody's a viable option. When your opportunity comes, he's going to put it on you. You got to make a play, and he put it on guys. We made plays, and he knew where his safety valve was. He knew what we were doing with Landry (Weber). He knew what we were doing with Deuce Vaughn. If they took away a vertical that we were trying to get to Malik (Knowles) or Philip (Brooks) or somebody else, that's okay. 'It's not there right now. Rather than holding it and taking a sack, it's not there right now. I'm going to get the thing out of my hand.' Everybody knew they were a viable option, and I think that's going to help us move forward."
On Daniel Imatorbhebhe's playing time against Oklahoma…
"We had a small package for him because he thought he could go. He didn't practice all week. I should say he was very, very limited on Thursday and thought there were a few things that he could do, made a big, big catch. But, just the way the game was going, I don't think he was going to be the best option for us, and we need to get him healthy."
On the 3-3-5 defense going against Big 12 offenses…
"A lot of people have specific answers to things, and we also go back and look at what we've done in the past. We weren't very successful against Iowa State running last year. A lot of things went into that, but the year before we were pretty successful. Well, wasn't the greatest weather day here. Iowa State's the prime example simply because they do a lot of what we're trying to do on defense. There's a few simple differences, but more similarities than differences, but that is no question in the back of our mind because they see this every day in practice. There's a lot of teams that are doing this that are having success. If you do what you do, it still comes down to execution. It still comes down to, 'That's my gap,' or, 'That's my man,' or, 'I have to get off a block and have to make tackles in space.' That's something we have to continue to improve upon."
On Malik Knowles' confidence as a returner…
"Tons and tons of confidence, and tons of credit to the guys that are blocking on that because we made some great blocks. We've got a lot of veteran guys in the back of that with (Nick) Lenners and (Nick) Allen and (Cody) Fletcher creating some seams. There's a bunch of guys that are a big factor in that. Phillip (Brooks), as far as being an off-returner and knowing how because there's a sequence to what he does as well. We spend a lot of time on it, and always have since I've been here. I know previous to that they spent a lot of time on the return game. You just don't see very many opportunities as much anymore in the kick-return game. So many kickers are so good at kicking it out of the end zone, but we're fortunate enough to kick it from the 20. We work that situation a lot by kicking it from the 20 because there's more distance for you. Because kickers try to kick it deep, there's more distance, but sometimes it helps you and it did."
On the performance of Landry Weber against Oklahoma…
"I know what a competitor he is, and I know when he had the surgery it was touch and go. He was going to be ready for Stanford, and that was our goal. I told him, 'We're going to kind of manage your body through fall camp, to make sure that you can play in the Stanford game.' I just want him to play and have the experience, but probably middle of August, and I saw him with the spring in his legs, and saw him being able to cut and drive and accelerate and I told him, 'Landry, you look like the same kid I saw in 2019.' Maybe that clicked to him, as well, like, 'You know what, I do feel that good. I'm glad somebody notices it,' because he was hurting all last year. He was just a shell of himself. He would tell you that. So, I knew that he had potential to have the type of game that he had on Saturday from a production standpoint. All the stats, you can throw out the window, whether that kid catches one ball, six balls or zero, the plays that he makes in the run game blocking are instrumental. He blocked so well against Nevada, and we rushed the ball for whatever it was, and all the offensive line, tight ends and running backs get the credit and stuff, but those wide receivers are doing a really good job blocking downfield. Landry leads that because he challenges those guys."
On the improved passing game helping the rushing attack…
"It's going to help, and we still feel like there's more guys that can contribute. We've really felt that Chabastin's (Taylor) getting healthier. Nobody forgets about C-Bas for sure, but what some people fail to realize is that it was a December injury. That's usually a nine-month injury – and sometimes longer – and he's starting to gain the strength and starting to gain the confidence that he's going to be a factor for sure this year. Kade Warner is going to continue to grow in our system and be a factor. Tyrone Howell is going to continue to learn our system and be a factor, Jaelon Travis, Keenan Garber made a big play. So, I like where we're headed as long as we continue to work and continue to understand that when an opportunity comes, I don't know when that's going to be, I've got to be ready to deliver."
On Bronson Massie's injury status…
"Yeah, he's out for a while, I don't know if that's two weeks or if that's four weeks. I would say that would be the max it would be. So, two weeks is an outside shot with Iowa State. Four weeks, obviously miss a few games, but it's an upper body injury that we feel like he's going to recover from. It's just a matter of, is it going to take two or four weeks? Can he do enough rehab to get himself potentially ready? I would say he might be able to."
On the defense's response to the targeting calls earlier this year…
"We work so many fundamentals and tackling drills, but the guys are smart enough to realize tackling is the biggest lost art in football. Of the six catches that Landry made, he made three or four guys miss on every one of his catches, and those are good players that he's making miss. Malik's making guys miss, and everybody knows Deuce Vaughn makes everybody miss a little bit. It's the lost art in football that typically the team that tackles best in even games is the team that's going to win. The hard thing is, because of the Daniel Green situations and stuff and concussions, we can't go out there and say, 'Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we're going to the ground. Now we're tackling these dudes, and we're going to the ground.' What if a kid has an AC separation or what if the kid hurts himself doing that? There's so many things that make it harder to truly tackle to the ground in practice. Now, we tackle donuts, and we tackle popsicles, and we form up on each other, do everything we can. Some of it is just more trusting your angles and knowing, 'If I'm coming inside out, and I got to trust that guys coming outside in, that he doesn't cut me off.' That's what we did early in the season really well. We have to get back to that."
On Taiten Winkel's progression…
"Yeah, he's been really, really solid and kicking with a lot of confidence. I think he's missed one that he's probably mad at because it was a chip shot for him. When he gets into even a small rut at practice, he'll figure it out on his own, and that's really great for kickers to be able to do. There's not a bunch of guys that know a ton about kicking on the staff. So, those guys use so many outside sources to help them out, but he's kicking with a lot of confidence."
On if the Big 12 reached out regarding the onside kick reviews…
"I know they did with Gene (Taylor). I know that Gene had a conversation. I know Gene is out of town. It's not going to change, so we'll leave it at that."
On dealing with the mental side of sports…
"Everybody needs to be on the mental side of sports. That's one of the reasons that we have guys like Ben Newman in our program. Guys need to take advantage of guys like Ben that can help them through some of those things. Jacardia (Wright) doesn't mean to fumble, it was a technique error as well, had it in the wrong arm, things that we were teaching, but you're going to make mistakes. Unfortunately, it was a really poor time, but we've got to continue to believe in the kid, and we have to have continued support for the kid because he cares. That's one thing I know about Jacardia (Wright). He cares."
On Daniel Green's play following his targeting calls…
"I think it was more Oklahoma. I don't think he thought about it on Saturday. That'd be a question for him maybe, in due time, but it's got to weigh on him. There's no question about that, and we try to do some of those drills against things that don't move, and that's the hard thing. It's easy to do drills when that popsicle or that donut's not going to move, but the hardest thing for all of us – and this is not to say that the calls were wrong at all – is when the target changes, offensively or defensively, the target changes. It doesn't stay the same and kids lower their shoulders and lower their helmets, and both sides of the ball do it. That's the hardest thing, I know, from an officiating standpoint to be able to decide is. I know one thing, there was no intent on Daniel's (Green) part on either time that he got ejected for targeting. All that being said, that's the rule, and with the crown of the helmet, we've got to keep his eyes on it."
On if there are more injuries this year than usual…
"I don't know that for a fact. There's always going to be those injuries that you're like, 'Boy, we're getting hammered at this position,' and this year it happens to be defensive end more than any spot. Bigger, faster, stronger doesn't always mean more durable, and that's the thing that when we played, there weren't as many of these injuries back in the 80s and even the 90s. All of a sudden now, with the advent of so much strength and conditioning and so much speed and explosiveness and the weight training, I think it's been great for guys to be able to get bigger, faster, stronger. There's probably something to that from an injury factor because you see it not just at Kansas State, you see it across the landscape of all football."
On who he will be watching this week coming back from injury…
"Reggie Stubblefield. Reggie is a really good football player. He played a little bit in Stanford, a little bit against Southern Illinois and had kind of a big game against Nevada and got injured and missed the trip to Oklahoma State and was coming back and got a handful of snaps against OU this week. He's got a cast on his hand, that's one thing, but he's got some other ailments that we've got to get him healthy because he allows us to play a true nickel defense that we have to be able to get to."
On how much more Skylar Thompson can improve moving forward…
"A bunch, just with practice time that he's missed, all the practice time, all the timing with tight ends and receivers and stuff. That's what I'm excited about, because I think he played a really, really good game. I'm so excited for him, but his best football is still going to be in front of him."
On both teams having a bye week like when he was at NDSU preparing for National Championships…
"I never would think about that. Different circumstances, probably as well. For us, it's a chance to get a bunch of coaches out on the road for starters. I'm sure they're (Iowa State) going to work on us, just like we're going to work on them. I also know that you got to get your bodies healthy because this next game is an important game, but then there's the next one and that's the most important one, and there's so much season left that you want to make sure that you position yourself health wise to be as good as you can for the next seven weeks."
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"Good afternoon, everyone. The bye week is coming at a good time for us. We're, in essence, about halfway through, a little bit more than halfway through when you think of all the practices we had in fall camp four weeks prior to playing Stanford and then playing five games. It comes probably at a good time. I'd rather have it come after a win so you don't have a bad taste in your mouth for a couple weeks but it's not. We have this week, we're going to spend some time on Iowa State and then quite a bit of time on ourselves with our younger players as well as with the older guys, just kind of shoring up some things, doing some self scout, doing some technique work, but these kids also need some rest. They need to get their bodies right because once we come back, then we've got a bunch of games in a row without an open week. So, we've got to get their minds right, refresh. We're going to get their bodies fresh, but we still have some work to do, and we'll spend an awful lot of time with our younger players this week. So, it comes at a good time for us."
On the younger guys he's excited to see more from in the bye week…
"There's a bunch of guys for sure. In the offensive line, Andrew Leingang is somebody that I'm really excited about because I think he will be a really, really good player here in a short time. He's down with the varsity right now as a true freshman offensive lineman. You don't see that very often, so I'm excited about what he's going to be able to do. We're looking at Jake Rubley quite a bit this week, give him some snaps and Max Marsh, from the quarterback standpoint. Those guys stick out to me on offense. DJ Giddens on offense, a running back that we think is going to be a really talented guy that just needs repetition. Then defensively, Damion Ilallio is a good, good player as a defensive tackle that needs to go against guys like Leingang and Hayden Gillum this week. Beau Palmer and Kienen Gaskin are going to be good inside linebackers. They need reps, and Krew Jackson's a long athletic outside linebacker that we're excited about. Desmond Purnell and Marvin Martin are good, young safety guys that we're excited about. So, it's a bunch of guys. I'm sure I'm missing out on some too. Chris Tennant is going to get a lot of reps this week with kicking and punting, so I'm excited for Chris and he's a really talented guy. So, the list goes on and on, but for us today, we'll work some Iowa State and then those guys will go against each other for a period of practice too."
On what they need to work on defensively before Iowa State…
"The biggest thing is getting back to some basics. Tackling and getting off blocks are the two biggest things, and letting the guys play faster. Some of that is us as coaches probably trying to do too much. We've talked about that as a defensive staff of letting them play a little bit more like they did against Stanford, and then their bodies were fresher against Stanford and Southern Illinois and Nevada, but maybe not trying to be as perfect as just let them go out and play and execute our base rules and principles. But, bottom line, we have to play faster, and sometimes you can kind of paralyze your mind by having too many thoughts going in there, but we also have to get off blocks and tackle better."
On if teams are catching up to the three-man front…
"Like a lot of the things that I listed, a lot more teams in our league are doing it. The one thing that is unique is we haven't given up the explosive plays, which we did last year. Obviously, last year was a unique, unique year, but we aren't giving up the explosive plays, and that's the encouraging thing. I think the longest run we've given up is 28 yards, which is way, way too much and that still comes down to tackling. That still comes down to getting off a block. We've given up less explosive plays, but probably too much in that nine-to-14 range where it's probably just why didn't we make that tackle? Why didn't we keep that cup? Why didn't we converge on the ball carrier or converge on the receiver quicker. We went back and looked as a staff, we weren't playing as fast for sure on Saturday. It's a really good Oklahoma team, let's not be mistaken there, as we were against Stanford and flying through their different offenses. Obviously, both are talented teams, so we've got to go back to get our bodies right and then play fast with better technique."
On using more four-man alignments…
"The other thing was the tempo with which OU was just getting lined up maybe not snapping the ball but not subbing as much as some teams do and just getting lined up really quickly. We'll work both fronts again this week with our younger players because we have some guys that are tailored more to the four down, but you're right. With us down Bronson (Massie) and down Khalid (Duke), it becomes a factor, and we don't know how long Bronson is going to be out. It's not long term, but I'm not sure how long he's going to be out. Some of the guys like Felix (Anudike-Uzomah) is going to have to play more snaps. Nate's (Matlack) is going to have to play a lot more snaps. Spencer (Trussell) is going to have to play more snaps. It's going to tax us a little bit."
On Skylar Thompson staying in the pocket more against Oklahoma…
"Well, we talked late in the week when we thought he had a chance to play that he needed to be really smart with what he does outside of the pocket and make sure he knew where his check downs were, make sure he knew where his safety valve receivers were. I didn't want him running around and ad-libbing, but I didn't say that to him either, because you want the young man to say, 'I'm clear to play, let me go play.' I think it made him a better player, to be honest with you, on Saturday. You go back and look at that game that kid played really, really well, and Skylar's a tremendous football player, and we missed him for a couple of weeks. Will (Howard) and Jaren (Lewis) did a nice job, but there's a sixth-year guy that's done this for an awful long time that knows the receivers, knows the offense. I'm excited – even though we suffered a disappointing loss – I'm excited about where we can go with him only probably getting better, but he stayed in the pocket and did a great job continuing to look downfield."
On the aggression of the offense against OU…
"Well, I'm not sure what you mean truly by aggression, other than the fact that we knew we had to score points against these guys. Every game is different. We knew Oklahoma was going to put up points. I didn't know what Nevada was going to do. I didn't know what Stanford was going to do, but the game as those things played out, we were going to do a good enough job on defense, that you could be probably more conservative on offense. But in our league, you have to be more aggressive, because there's a lot of talented offenses out there. When you have an experienced quarterback, you want to not hold them back or hold him back, and we talked about that with the receivers and the offensive line that if we had some of those situations where we could stay on the field, I trusted those guys. I trusted the sixth-year quarterback that on 4th and 4 we ought to be able to convert. 4th and 8 is a little bit tougher, but I've been in the situation a few times and I haven't second guessed myself, but I also know you need touchdowns to win. I go back to two situations – last year against West Virginia we took a field goal to go up 3-0. 4th and the same situation. Do I second guess myself? Should have gone for a touchdown, well we've got our points, whatever. A few weeks later, we had to answer a drive of Iowa State that they went down and scored. We took it all the way down at 1st and Goal at the three, it's 4th and Goal at the two, and I didn't second-guess myself, like, 'We've got to play, let's go.' Don't get it. 'Boy, you should have taken points,' or, 'Why would you do that?' I was not going to do that this year. If we were going to be in that situation with a veteran offense, we're going to go try to get touchdowns. Now, if it's 4th and 8, maybe it's a different story, but 4th and 2, I hope we have enough space that we can dial something up and execute."
On the play of offensive lineman Cooper Beebe…
"Cooper played really well, and he's playing at a really high level. He's playing at an all-conference level, and I think there's more in Cooper. I think he can be even better than he's played, but he's playing at a really high level."
On if he thought about more up-tempo against Oklahoma…
"We always are aware of that, and I know that we gave Skylar (Thompson) a couple of different options, but some of it was a little bit based on whether we were in bounds or out of bounds. Was the play clock rolling or not? I wanted to make sure that he felt comfortable in everything that we did to not get too far ahead of ourselves, not just for that game, but for the next six or seven or eight games. So, it's always talked about with Skylar, but I thought Skylar had complete control of what we were doing out there."
On starting the second half better offensively…
"Well, we should have had an 80-yard touchdown on the third play of the third quarter and we had a miscommunication between two great football players, Skylar Thompson and Deuce Vaughn. We have an 80-yard touchdown, or whatever it was, a 78-yard touchdown, and those two had a missed connection or it's a touchdown. There was nobody in the middle of the field. That's a miscommunication between the two guys. It's not something that you look at and say, 'Boy, what are we doing wrong to start the second half?' We had things dialed up, we just miscommunicated for those two guys, and those are our best two guys. That's just going to happen. It happens all across all levels of football. We have been better in certain times on defense. We weren't as good this time, but I was afraid sooner or later they were going to figure this out because we played pretty well in the first half of Oklahoma. Something that we for sure got to be better at is when we come out the second half."
On if Cody Stufflebean pushing for playing time…
"He's getting better, not probably quite ready just simply because he moved over from tight end so late in the process. He's going to get a bunch of reps this week, and he's getting closer. I hope there's enough improvement this week that he may be able to get into the mix, whether it's against Iowa State or hopefully soon after."
On the receivers taking a step forward against Oklahoma…
"Well, when Skylar (Thompson) is throwing it around and feeling really confident like he was, everybody's a viable option. When your opportunity comes, he's going to put it on you. You got to make a play, and he put it on guys. We made plays, and he knew where his safety valve was. He knew what we were doing with Landry (Weber). He knew what we were doing with Deuce Vaughn. If they took away a vertical that we were trying to get to Malik (Knowles) or Philip (Brooks) or somebody else, that's okay. 'It's not there right now. Rather than holding it and taking a sack, it's not there right now. I'm going to get the thing out of my hand.' Everybody knew they were a viable option, and I think that's going to help us move forward."
On Daniel Imatorbhebhe's playing time against Oklahoma…
"We had a small package for him because he thought he could go. He didn't practice all week. I should say he was very, very limited on Thursday and thought there were a few things that he could do, made a big, big catch. But, just the way the game was going, I don't think he was going to be the best option for us, and we need to get him healthy."
On the 3-3-5 defense going against Big 12 offenses…
"A lot of people have specific answers to things, and we also go back and look at what we've done in the past. We weren't very successful against Iowa State running last year. A lot of things went into that, but the year before we were pretty successful. Well, wasn't the greatest weather day here. Iowa State's the prime example simply because they do a lot of what we're trying to do on defense. There's a few simple differences, but more similarities than differences, but that is no question in the back of our mind because they see this every day in practice. There's a lot of teams that are doing this that are having success. If you do what you do, it still comes down to execution. It still comes down to, 'That's my gap,' or, 'That's my man,' or, 'I have to get off a block and have to make tackles in space.' That's something we have to continue to improve upon."
On Malik Knowles' confidence as a returner…
"Tons and tons of confidence, and tons of credit to the guys that are blocking on that because we made some great blocks. We've got a lot of veteran guys in the back of that with (Nick) Lenners and (Nick) Allen and (Cody) Fletcher creating some seams. There's a bunch of guys that are a big factor in that. Phillip (Brooks), as far as being an off-returner and knowing how because there's a sequence to what he does as well. We spend a lot of time on it, and always have since I've been here. I know previous to that they spent a lot of time on the return game. You just don't see very many opportunities as much anymore in the kick-return game. So many kickers are so good at kicking it out of the end zone, but we're fortunate enough to kick it from the 20. We work that situation a lot by kicking it from the 20 because there's more distance for you. Because kickers try to kick it deep, there's more distance, but sometimes it helps you and it did."
On the performance of Landry Weber against Oklahoma…
"I know what a competitor he is, and I know when he had the surgery it was touch and go. He was going to be ready for Stanford, and that was our goal. I told him, 'We're going to kind of manage your body through fall camp, to make sure that you can play in the Stanford game.' I just want him to play and have the experience, but probably middle of August, and I saw him with the spring in his legs, and saw him being able to cut and drive and accelerate and I told him, 'Landry, you look like the same kid I saw in 2019.' Maybe that clicked to him, as well, like, 'You know what, I do feel that good. I'm glad somebody notices it,' because he was hurting all last year. He was just a shell of himself. He would tell you that. So, I knew that he had potential to have the type of game that he had on Saturday from a production standpoint. All the stats, you can throw out the window, whether that kid catches one ball, six balls or zero, the plays that he makes in the run game blocking are instrumental. He blocked so well against Nevada, and we rushed the ball for whatever it was, and all the offensive line, tight ends and running backs get the credit and stuff, but those wide receivers are doing a really good job blocking downfield. Landry leads that because he challenges those guys."
On the improved passing game helping the rushing attack…
"It's going to help, and we still feel like there's more guys that can contribute. We've really felt that Chabastin's (Taylor) getting healthier. Nobody forgets about C-Bas for sure, but what some people fail to realize is that it was a December injury. That's usually a nine-month injury – and sometimes longer – and he's starting to gain the strength and starting to gain the confidence that he's going to be a factor for sure this year. Kade Warner is going to continue to grow in our system and be a factor. Tyrone Howell is going to continue to learn our system and be a factor, Jaelon Travis, Keenan Garber made a big play. So, I like where we're headed as long as we continue to work and continue to understand that when an opportunity comes, I don't know when that's going to be, I've got to be ready to deliver."
On Bronson Massie's injury status…
"Yeah, he's out for a while, I don't know if that's two weeks or if that's four weeks. I would say that would be the max it would be. So, two weeks is an outside shot with Iowa State. Four weeks, obviously miss a few games, but it's an upper body injury that we feel like he's going to recover from. It's just a matter of, is it going to take two or four weeks? Can he do enough rehab to get himself potentially ready? I would say he might be able to."
On the defense's response to the targeting calls earlier this year…
"We work so many fundamentals and tackling drills, but the guys are smart enough to realize tackling is the biggest lost art in football. Of the six catches that Landry made, he made three or four guys miss on every one of his catches, and those are good players that he's making miss. Malik's making guys miss, and everybody knows Deuce Vaughn makes everybody miss a little bit. It's the lost art in football that typically the team that tackles best in even games is the team that's going to win. The hard thing is, because of the Daniel Green situations and stuff and concussions, we can't go out there and say, 'Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we're going to the ground. Now we're tackling these dudes, and we're going to the ground.' What if a kid has an AC separation or what if the kid hurts himself doing that? There's so many things that make it harder to truly tackle to the ground in practice. Now, we tackle donuts, and we tackle popsicles, and we form up on each other, do everything we can. Some of it is just more trusting your angles and knowing, 'If I'm coming inside out, and I got to trust that guys coming outside in, that he doesn't cut me off.' That's what we did early in the season really well. We have to get back to that."
On Taiten Winkel's progression…
"Yeah, he's been really, really solid and kicking with a lot of confidence. I think he's missed one that he's probably mad at because it was a chip shot for him. When he gets into even a small rut at practice, he'll figure it out on his own, and that's really great for kickers to be able to do. There's not a bunch of guys that know a ton about kicking on the staff. So, those guys use so many outside sources to help them out, but he's kicking with a lot of confidence."
On if the Big 12 reached out regarding the onside kick reviews…
"I know they did with Gene (Taylor). I know that Gene had a conversation. I know Gene is out of town. It's not going to change, so we'll leave it at that."
On dealing with the mental side of sports…
"Everybody needs to be on the mental side of sports. That's one of the reasons that we have guys like Ben Newman in our program. Guys need to take advantage of guys like Ben that can help them through some of those things. Jacardia (Wright) doesn't mean to fumble, it was a technique error as well, had it in the wrong arm, things that we were teaching, but you're going to make mistakes. Unfortunately, it was a really poor time, but we've got to continue to believe in the kid, and we have to have continued support for the kid because he cares. That's one thing I know about Jacardia (Wright). He cares."
On Daniel Green's play following his targeting calls…
"I think it was more Oklahoma. I don't think he thought about it on Saturday. That'd be a question for him maybe, in due time, but it's got to weigh on him. There's no question about that, and we try to do some of those drills against things that don't move, and that's the hard thing. It's easy to do drills when that popsicle or that donut's not going to move, but the hardest thing for all of us – and this is not to say that the calls were wrong at all – is when the target changes, offensively or defensively, the target changes. It doesn't stay the same and kids lower their shoulders and lower their helmets, and both sides of the ball do it. That's the hardest thing, I know, from an officiating standpoint to be able to decide is. I know one thing, there was no intent on Daniel's (Green) part on either time that he got ejected for targeting. All that being said, that's the rule, and with the crown of the helmet, we've got to keep his eyes on it."
On if there are more injuries this year than usual…
"I don't know that for a fact. There's always going to be those injuries that you're like, 'Boy, we're getting hammered at this position,' and this year it happens to be defensive end more than any spot. Bigger, faster, stronger doesn't always mean more durable, and that's the thing that when we played, there weren't as many of these injuries back in the 80s and even the 90s. All of a sudden now, with the advent of so much strength and conditioning and so much speed and explosiveness and the weight training, I think it's been great for guys to be able to get bigger, faster, stronger. There's probably something to that from an injury factor because you see it not just at Kansas State, you see it across the landscape of all football."
On who he will be watching this week coming back from injury…
"Reggie Stubblefield. Reggie is a really good football player. He played a little bit in Stanford, a little bit against Southern Illinois and had kind of a big game against Nevada and got injured and missed the trip to Oklahoma State and was coming back and got a handful of snaps against OU this week. He's got a cast on his hand, that's one thing, but he's got some other ailments that we've got to get him healthy because he allows us to play a true nickel defense that we have to be able to get to."
On how much more Skylar Thompson can improve moving forward…
"A bunch, just with practice time that he's missed, all the practice time, all the timing with tight ends and receivers and stuff. That's what I'm excited about, because I think he played a really, really good game. I'm so excited for him, but his best football is still going to be in front of him."
On both teams having a bye week like when he was at NDSU preparing for National Championships…
"I never would think about that. Different circumstances, probably as well. For us, it's a chance to get a bunch of coaches out on the road for starters. I'm sure they're (Iowa State) going to work on us, just like we're going to work on them. I also know that you got to get your bodies healthy because this next game is an important game, but then there's the next one and that's the most important one, and there's so much season left that you want to make sure that you position yourself health wise to be as good as you can for the next seven weeks."
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/ FootballK-State FB | Welcome back Collin Klein
Monday, December 08
K-State FB | Head Coach Collin Klein Radio Interview
Friday, December 05
K-State FB | Head Coach Collin Klein Official Introductory Event
Friday, December 05
K-State FB | Thank You Coach Klieman
Wednesday, December 03
