K-State Holds Weekly Press Conference Prior to Nevada Game
Sep 14, 2021 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and select players met with members of the media on Tuesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex as Wildcats prepare for their non-conference finale against Nevada this Saturday. A complete transcript of Klieman's press conference (also streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and archived here) are posted below, in addition to comments from select players.
The Wildcats and Wolf Pack kick off at 1 p.m., on Saturday inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a game shown on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Tickets for the game can be purchased online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets or by phone at 1-800-221-CATS.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"Good afternoon, everyone. Kind of reflecting back on Saturday – first thing is what a great crowd. What a great environment. What great energy. It was fun to be back at the Bill with it filled up and coming in and seeing the tailgate lots and having our players walk through the front entrance with a bunch of fans and our band there. Then to run out of the tunnel to start the game was pretty electric for the guys, especially the ones that had not experienced that. The Will Howards and Deuce Vaughns and TJ (Smith) and Tee (Denson), some of the younger players that missed on that last year. Thank you to everybody for coming out for the game. It was an electric atmosphere. It was a lot of fun, and hopefully that continues because our guys are going to continue to work hard and see what we can make of the season. Obviously, everybody knows that we're down Skylar (Thompson). I really don't have a timetable for you guys. I know he's not out for the season – that's the positive side of things – but we're going to kind of take it week by week. He is going to be out this week, then we'll reevaluate it based on how he's feeling as well as based on what the docs say. That's kind of as far as I'll get into it with him. But, we're excited about the challenge we have. We're going to face a really good Nevada team. Tremendous offensive team with a really good quarterback, really good couple of running backs and wide receivers. Good offensive line. They want to throw it all over the yard, but they can run it and run it effectively. Then on defense, I'm familiar with their defensive coordinator. Brian Ward is a friend of mine, and Brian worked with Scottie Hazelton for a few years, worked with Steve Stanard, kind of came from the same tree that I came from from a defensive standpoint. Doesn't mean we're going to know what they're going to do by any means because he's got really good players and a really good scheme, but there is some familiarity. Brian Ward has done a terrific job, and so has Jay Norvell. Jay Norvell's done a great job at Nevada, and they're playing at a high level with a lot of seniors."
On Nevada quarterback Carson Strong...
"I think he calls a lot of the things himself at the line of scrimmage out of their tempo. Although they can go fast, they'll slow it down some so that he can get them in the right call or the call that he likes and tremendous arm strength. Mobile guy that sees so many coverages, and he's seen so much and played so many snaps. It's not easy to fool a kid like that, guys that have had that many snaps. We just have to do a great job of being able to rush the passer and be competitive on a lot of potential 50/50 throws."
On ball security...
"It wasn't just Will Howard. We fumbled a couple as running backs too even after the ball was luckily down, they stripped it a couple of times. So, something that we have to address as an offense. We have to do a better job of taking care of the football, and we have to continue to work some ball security drills because we've opened up that can of worms. It's like blocking a punt. Once you block a punt, people are going to come after you for a long time. Something that we're well aware of and need to address. Cannot turn the football over four times and expect to win a football game, and we were fortunate that we were able to do it last week."
On if Skylar Thompson can do anything at practice right now...
"Standing around at practice, but no, not at all."
On defenders making tackles and stripping the ball...
"It's something that Coach (Buddy) Wyatt and Coach Tui (Mike Tuiasosopo) work on with our guys. When you get, there if you have the ability to rake and strip the football, we always want to do that. We were fortunate at two critical times. One time, leading us to a short field, although we didn't capitalize. And then the other one really late in the game when they were driving to potentially tie the game. That was a big play, and we're able to get on both those fumbles. So, something that we actively work on in practice."
On Deuce Vaughn's ability to run between the tackles...
"Well, I told everybody before the season – he's an underrated running back. People think he's a terrific scat kind of kid out of the backfield and some jet sweep guys, and I've seen it now for a little over a year. So, it's all we've had him is that he's a terrific between-the-tackles runner. He's a powerful guy with that low center of gravity and finds a way to get tough yards. So, I've seen it since he's been here, and I think people are probably saying, 'Yeah, this kid can be an every down back.'"
On Jaren Lewis as the backup quarterback…
"You need confidence, a guy that's been in the system now for three years and maturity in the mix. Excited to see him getting more reps with our second team on offense. You don't take many when you're the third guy. He took a ton in fall camp, and I saw the great improvement that he has made over the last year. So, he's one step closer to playing. I know I've talked to Coach (Collin) Klein and Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham) about this. We're very confident in him, and if something happens or there's a situation that dictates that he could play, then we're going to have no problem using him because we've seen his growth over the last two years, and watched what he did in the spring, in the fall. He's playing with a lot of confidence, and I'm excited about what he can do."
On the separation between Will Howard and Jaren Lewis...
"I don't think it's tremendously big at all but experience. Game snaps is the biggest gap and with us going good-on-good as much as we do during the week, and Jaren will take a lot of those reps just because we need to see him take a lot of those reps. Maybe he can shrink that gap even more."
On the play of quarterback Will Howard against Southern Illinois...
"No, he didn't play tremendously well on Saturday for what our standards are for Will and what Will's standards are. Some of that was we weren't great in protection one time when he lost the ball. We missed a couple of assignments in some routes where I think the ball's put in the right spot, but we ran the wrong route. Sometimes you see it from above and you think, 'Boy, what the heck is wrong with the quarterback?' When he's expecting a route to be open in a certain spot and that kid runs the wrong route, then you hold on to it a little bit too long. He's got to make some better decisions when he does have to hold on to it too long, but I look forward to seeing Will have a full week of practice and play the way that he knows he's capable of and we know he's capable of."
On Skylar Thompson not being out for the season…
"Well, I was thrilled for him personally, just because it's kind of like deja vu. I saw that same scenario a year ago in the second game, and I thought nobody deserves this. It's all for a great person as he is, and great a kid as he is, and so how hard he's worked. Life's not fair, and we all know that sometimes you're dealt those hands that you don't typically deserve. So, when I learned on Sunday, more late afternoon, that he wasn't going to be gone for the season, I reached out to him and talked to him at length and just said, 'You have to keep getting your body ready. You have to keep preparing. You have to keep doing the things nutrition wise. You have to do the best you can to keep your cardio up – which is going to be difficult – but you have to stay sharp and in meetings,' and so forth so that when that time comes, whenever that is, he's ready to go. So, I think it gave a little bit more of a lift in life to our players to say, 'We're going to get this guy back at some point.'"
On Nevada's defense...
"They're a four-down front that's really disruptive and a lot of older guys on the front. I think they have nine or 10 starters that are older, four or fifth, six-year seniors, and they've been in that system for a while now. They just play it so fast, and they know where each other fits. So, when you have a defense that is confident and with confidence in the scheme, they play fast. They've got really good players, too. They're really assignment sound. They don't beat themselves."
On K-State's special teams...
"We need to be better, bottom line. We're not poor by any means, but we put in as much time and effort as anybody in the country – I believe, in any place I've ever been – into special teams work, and we're not seeing the dividends of the time we're putting in. We talked about that as a staff. We talked about it with the guys yesterday that we're not playing poorly by any means, but we need to make a difference. We need to flip a field. We need to get a touchdown. We need to do something that provides seven points or a simple thing. We have to pin the ball inside the five when we have a chance to pin the ball inside the five. Those are the hidden yards that really exceptional special teams units like I think we have, that I believe we have, will do. So, for us, we're going to continue to work at it like we have been, and I'm looking forward to even better gains on it."
On the safety position...
"I'm pleased with the safety position. We're playing a number of guys there between J-Mac (Jahron McPherson) and Ross (Elder) at one of them, and Russ Yeast and Aamaris (Brown), and then TJ (Smith) and Cincere (Mason). We've got six guys that are playing back there, and I think they're all kind of interchangeable parts. Knock on wood we can stay healthy there so that we can keep all those guys in the rotation, but we're deep back there. I think Russ Yeast is playing really well. I think TJ is playing well. I think you're going to see better football out of TJ. I think J-Mac and Ross complement each other well and are playing well. I think both those two kids will play better. They had some injuries in fall camp that haven't had them at 100%, but I think they're getting closer there. But, I like where we are much better right now than we were last year in the secondary."
On the defensive ends...
"You don't have a guy like Wyatt (Hubert), a draftable guy that is making big time plays, but we have more depth there for sure. All of them have the ability to do things like Wyatt did. They're all young for the most part. Boom's (Bronson Massie) not, but the other three guys you mentioned are just really learning to play the position and play it so fast and play it so physical that we can cut them loose. We're going to be able to substitute and get them in and out of there. But, pleased overall with the defensive line with the amount of guys that we've played up front."
On the diamond formation being a factor...
"It can be. We need to be a little bit more efficient out of it. We had some really good plays. We had some plays that I thought were close that maybe we missed a block on. We need to block better on the perimeter. We blocked really well on the perimeter against Stanford. We didn't sustain blocks as well (against Southern Illinois). Everywhere, wide outs, tight ends, fullbacks, offensive line. We did against Stanford, and that's where I think I mentioned, we made a few second-game mistakes that you typically make in the first game. Some of that was identification of who we're blocking as well as sustaining blocks."
On dealing with mistakes...
"You don't shy away from it, for starters. You tell them we need to play better in these certain areas. There's no such thing as a bad win in college football. A win is a win, and we're going to learn from it, but we came in and had a good meeting yesterday. The players met, both sides of the ball, and we met as a team and talked about how much better we could be. If we do those little things, those little things have to happen on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in practice. They can't just happen on Saturday. If our technique is sloppy on a Wednesday, how do we expect that technique to be crisp and clean on Saturday? So, it's not like we're not practicing hard – the guys are having good energy and good focus at practice – but I think our technique can be better because a lot of the things, whether it's special teams to tackling to blocking on the perimeter, comes down to technique. If we're sloppy during the week, we're going to be sloppy on Saturday. We've got to clean it up, and the kids know it."
On the offensive line...
"I thought we played well. Same thing, I didn't think we played as well as we did against Stanford, but I thought we played well. We rushed the ball decently. We just didn't get the explosive play because of the sustaining of blocks, but we were able to create some holes. Have a couple of hits on quarterbacks that we'd like to clean up, but I thought (Josh) Rivas played really well. Rivas and (Cooper) Beebe together right now on the same side is a really good combination, and those guys are getting a lot of movement."
On the Nevada wide receivers...
"Yeah, very similar to Stanford, as far as the big-body wide receivers that come up with 50/50 balls and back shoulder fades. You'll throw it up in the area, and they find a way to come down with them. I think playing against Stanford will help us in that scenario just because we've done this before, but we have to come up with some of those 50/50 balls. You're getting a really good quarterback throwing it to them."
On Will Howard being ready to start again...
"He's going to play and prepare like I know he will be able to. Last year, his preparation was really good. Last year, I don't know if his skill set was as ready as it is now. He's 240-plus pounds. He's stronger. He's more aware of what the situation is. He is more aware of what we're doing offensively. The thing that we talked about with our players, maybe our offensive line needs to step up and help him out a little bit more. Maybe our wide receivers, tight ends and running backs can step up and help him more. So, it's not all on the quarterback position, just like on defense or on special teams. Everybody needs to raise their level of play when you lose a really good player like we did with Skylar (Thompson). It is next man up, and we have to plug in the next player at whatever position is, but the positions around those guys in the positions on the other side, they have to raise their level of play."
On quarterback Jake Rubley...
"Jake's doing a nice job. He had sustained a little bit of soft tissue injury before Stanford, so he's been down for a little while. He's finally coming back to practice full time with us on a scout-team standpoint. Really pleased with what I've seen throughout fall camp of a young man that has a chance to be a really good player here. He's probably not ready to play just because he lost a number of snaps at the end of fall camp, but I'm pleased with his progress right now."
On confidence in Will Howard...
"Yeah, I think we've had the question already before, but just the way he prepares and he prepared last year. He's just more ready from a skill set. He's stronger and bigger and faster and understands our offense better and will give it his all and play to the best of his ability. We, all around the map, have to play better as well."
On Deuce Vaughn's performances...
"Yeah, I'd give him the ball an awful lot as well. Give him the football and let him roll a little bit, but we have to play really well at tight end and at wide receiver so that we can open some things up. Regardless of whether it was Skylar (Thompson) in there or Will (Howard) through the first two games, we have to throw the football more efficiently. Whether that's on early downs, whether that's on third down. Our issue has become we've had too many third and seven-plus situations, which is an advantage for the defense. We need to be getting into some of those third and shorts and mediums where we can use the field space and throw some quick-game stuff on third down. If we can get more efficient throwing the football – I don't care if that's first down or third down – it's going to open more things up for Deuce."
On Deuce Vaughn's ball security...
"Yeah, it's been good. I know he's frustrated. Give the kid from Southern Illinois credit, he just banged it out of there and did a heck of a job. We have to hang on to the football. Deuce knows that. Let's hope that was his last one, and I know he hopes the same thing."
On Daniel Green returning in the second half...
"It made a huge difference. Nick Allen played well, don't get me wrong, but it's just Nick had to play every snap plus play special teams, and we end up playing an awful lot of snaps there for a while that second quarter. That really gassed Nick. So, it really helped to have Deuce, just gave us some energy, gave us a great communicator back there, gave us what I believe is a really good inside linebacker to complement Cody Fletcher. So, we're excited to have Daniel back for the whole game this week."
On getting to third and short situations...
"Well, you get them in a conflict of are we going to run it? Are we going to pass it? Are we going to have an RPO game? Are we going to use our jet game? There's just so many more things you can do on third and two to five, as opposed to third and seven plus. You're not going to get those situations like we had against Stanford where we knew the look and we can hand the ball off and then you allow people to just lay their ears back, and you're not getting people sucked up on any play action. Linebackers are staying in coverage. The man coverage plays at the sticks, so to speak, more on third and long. So, if we can get into more of those third and short to third and medium, I think it opens up more things for Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham) to be able to say, 'Hey, we can run the football.' The other thing is, we had a fourth and three or fourth and four late in that second quarter where we went for it. If we don't get a good gain on whatever, it was third and long run, we probably punt that thing away. You guys see the landscape of college football is changing. Possessions are so valuable. You only get maybe 10 to 12 possessions, potentially, in the game. There's more and more people across the country going for it on fourth down now at an alarming rate. More and more people are going for it. But if you're in that fourth and one through four, the odds are you have a potential better chance of getting that and being able to sustain a drive. So for us, we have to find a way to get to more the one to four, one to five manageable rates."
On being aggressive in play calls...
"I'm going to be more aggressive with the people we have. Once again, I looked at that scenario – we were really struggling on offense at that time, and we just gave up two-straight scores. I thought we needed to get momentum for the offense, and I thought that we needed to get momentum for Will Howard. So, we'll make some great play to get the ball to Landry (Weber) on fourth and four, and then we make an error in protection, and don't pick a kid up, and, yeah, we'll take the sack. Okay, I'm okay with that. We can't fumble the ball like he did. But, if he takes the sack, maybe we still have a chance on a second down or whatever it was third down to keep that drive alive. So, it was maybe a little bit of a risky move, but I thought at that time, we needed to do that to give ourselves a chance to keep this drive alive so that we could get some momentum going into half. Plus, I knew that they were getting the ball to start the second half. I thought if we could get some kind of points in the first half, give us a little bit of life."
On the pedigree of the Nevada coaching staff...
"I don't know if a lot of our guys would remember Chris Ault as we as coaches do, but you just see their body of work and especially what they've done this year and last year, because those are the main games we're watching. You can see that these guys are an explosive group of guys offensively with big wide receivers that go catch the football, a quarterback that's confident that can get the ball around. They can put up a lot of points in a hurry."
On the early successful drive in the second half against Southern Illinois...
"One, we were going to take the football to start the game and try to score. We won the toss, we were going to take the ball. They won the toss, but they differed. We were going to take the football to try to get jump-started quickly. I was so pleased with our offense. We marched right down and got a score. Then, in the second half, if we were able to sustain that drive a little bit even though we didn't get points, was always important. Give that defense a rest and let you know that some of your adjustments are definitely working."
On the play of Ekow Boye-Doe and Julius Brents...
"Yeah, I think everybody on defense can raise their level of play a little bit. But, yeah, I think Ekow is playing at a really high level. Julius is settling in and understanding our defense more and more. I think he'll play at a higher level once he gets more and more comfortable. We're still going to play an awful lot of guys. Tee (Denson) played some. Justin Gardner played some. We still have a pretty good rotation there, but that's what we do. We're just going to play off a lot of guys."
On the wind in the second half...
"For us, really the wind was a huge factor. We came out and I asked Hank (Jacobs) before we went in what the wind was going to do, and he said it was going to pick up as the game went on. So, I wanted to have the wind in the fourth quarter. I knew that was taking the chance by kicking them the football and giving them the wind, but we had a quick three-and-out or four-and-out on defense. Then we were able to sustain that drive and took most of the quarter up. I thought that was really important because that was when it was really windy in that fourth quarter. I think it pushed their ball that the kid had a pretty good attempt at the field goal, but I just think the wind pushed it pushed it left. Ty (Zentner) had a great punt in the fourth quarter. Pin them inside the 10-yard line where it was with the wind and some of that was dictated more on the wind than it was just trying to establish the run."
SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK WILL HOWARD
On practicing this week knowing he's starting…
"I would say just working with Skylar (Thompson), he's been great. He's helped me out a lot, talked to me and just trying to keep that mentality like we've been here before. That's what we've been saying all week. We've been here before. This isn't our first rodeo with this, so we're just trying to take it one day at a time, one play at a time, changing our mentality. Just an attack mentality every day, just thinking one play at a time, not taking any steps back. I think I got a good feeling about this weekend."
On how much better prepared he is this year compared to last…
"Yeah, it feels like the game even on Saturday, it was tough. It's always tough kind of getting thrown in there like that, but I feel like the pace of the game has slowed down a lot for me. I feel like, obviously last year, as tough as it was, it gave me a lot of experience and just reps that I didn't have before this. Coming into this year, I've been here before and we've been here before. I feel like a different player physically, and I hope that we can just continue this and keep this thing going and keep this revenge story going. I feel good just taking one day at a time."
On the biggest takeaway after watching the film from Saturday…
"Turning the ball over. I would say beating ourselves, and me beating myself. At the end of the day, if we didn't turn the ball over, if we didn't set ourselves back in the chains a little bit, I think it would have been a much different ballgame. Credit to Southern Illinois. They're a good team, but we just can't beat ourselves up."
On the pressure on the K-State offense because of Nevada's scoring ability…
"I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself. I feel like we're confident as a team in our ability to score points, to produce on offense. We know that if we take care of the ball and we do the things that we've been preaching all offseason since January, it'll turn out good for us. We know we have to play some really good football. We can't have those mistakes that we made last week. We know that, and we are working on it, and we're just continuing to grind every day, one day at a time one play at a time."
SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE END FELIX ANUDIKE-UZOMAH
On the ebbs and flows against Southern Illinois…
"We have to handle that even better. We weren't really locked in. We're just like, 'Oh my gosh,' because it was Skylar (Thompson) coming out. We were locked in the first half. We were just too worried, too scared and stuff like that. Then, coming into the second half, we were just like, 'Okay, we need to work on a sudden change.' So, every sudden change we have, we need to attack it like how we did in Stanford."
On going against a potential first round quarterback…
"Yeah, I was pretty excited because he's a drop back passer. We haven't won against dropped back passers the last two games. We had a lot of sacks defensively, even all our defensive line lately, so it should be a really fun game."
On reaction to his Big 12 award this week…
"Yes, it was exciting. But during that game, there's a lot of things I did that I could have worked on myself, but I was very excited that my teammates were hyping me up. Don't get me wrong, it's exciting, but I still feel like there's things I need to work on now like my foot work."
SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER LANDRY WEBER
On confidence in Will Howard as starting quarterback…
"All the confidence in the world. It's great that we have two starting quarterbacks on our roster. We hate to see any of our teammates go down, and especially Skylar (Thompson), who just fought back from that injury, makes you a little sick to your stomach. But, there are no drop offs in confidence when Will came in. We knew we were in great hands. We're going to get this job done. We're going to keep fighting and nothing changes this week. We have all the confidence in the world."
On what was done well offensively in Saturday's game…
"A lot better than the critics probably think. Yeah, we had a few turnovers. Of course you want to get rid of those turnovers. You take those turnovers away, and we really played a more solid offensive game, then the people probably think we did. Our line was killing it up front with the run game and made a great way on that third down to go win. A lot of people don't know that SIU is a really, really good football team. They know how to win, and they believe that they can win. For us to fight and to find a way to win that game is huge for us. We had a decision to make at halftime after we got punched in the mouth and we were down at half. So, are we going to scramble or are we going to come together? It was 100% unified – let's go win this thing, and that's what we did.
On Nevada's offense…
"I hear they have a good offense. We respect their defense, so we're preparing. We like to treat everybody the same, and we also really like to focus on us. We say, 'Hey, it's about us not our opponents, whether it's Stanford, SIU, Nevada or a Big 12 opponent, we're focused on ourselves,' because if we play our best football, we can beat anybody."
On the growth and maturity of wide receiver Malik Knowles…
"Malik is doing a great job. He's stepping up as a leader. He, in fact, did a great job leading at halftime. He called the offense together and said, 'Hey, let's go guys. We're better than this, so let's get it.' It was great leadership, and I was really proud of him to see that leadership in him and see him growing up and maturing. It's awesome for Malik."
JUNIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE JAYLEN PICKLE
On being moved outside…
"In the spring, it wasn't so easy because it has been four years, five years since high school since I played out there. So, I am getting a little more used to it. You have to play a little faster and expect different types of blocks, but it definitely is a lot easier on your body not taking double-teams from a tackle and guards. For the most part, the transition has been pretty easy."
On what their preparation is like for Nevada…
"Pass-rush because they throw the ball a lot. We haven't played a team that throws the ball as much as they do. I am just working on new things, figuring out what I can and can't use against their tackles."
On trying to contain quarterback Carson Strong…
"It just depends on the quarterback type, because last week we played a quarterback that played outside the pocket a lot. So, we had a big contain plan, and I am sure that this week we will too. Probably want to keep them in the pocket."
SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK DEUCE VAUGHN
On being more confident in Will Howard compared to last year…
"I feel like it is a whole bunch more confidence just because of the fact he has had those reps during spring ball and into the summer, and then into fall camp. Not having a spring ball last year really affected him. I know exactly what he is feeling because it affected me as well, not having those reps and kind of going into the season having to play at a faster level against bigger players. Really takes a toll on me. I found myself even feeling much better coming into this season because of the spring ball and the fall camp and everything that we had against a really good defense here at K-State."
On how much confidence the team has on Will Howard's performance…
"A whole bunch of confidence. That's our guy. He's the next man up, and we are right behind him. We are all going to rise up with him, and we are going to play some football. I have 100% confidence in Will Howard and what he can do. That's just from the whole aspect that as a football team, we often need to play better. Every single week we have to progress, and now that Will is in there, we have another capable quarterback that is going to be able to go out there and get a W for us. He's shown that last year against TCU and teams of that nature. So we have to go out there – we can't really change anything – we have to go out there, and we got to play football. We got to progress every single week. We have to be better as a football team."
On describing Will Howard as a person…
"He is a fantastic person. He is somebody I'd like to call a great friend. He is really somebody that embodies everything that I embody. From being a caring person, to genuine, he's funny, he is somebody in the locker room that is going to make you laugh, and he is somebody that I feel like I can call a best friend for the rest of my life."
The Wildcats and Wolf Pack kick off at 1 p.m., on Saturday inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a game shown on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Tickets for the game can be purchased online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets or by phone at 1-800-221-CATS.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"Good afternoon, everyone. Kind of reflecting back on Saturday – first thing is what a great crowd. What a great environment. What great energy. It was fun to be back at the Bill with it filled up and coming in and seeing the tailgate lots and having our players walk through the front entrance with a bunch of fans and our band there. Then to run out of the tunnel to start the game was pretty electric for the guys, especially the ones that had not experienced that. The Will Howards and Deuce Vaughns and TJ (Smith) and Tee (Denson), some of the younger players that missed on that last year. Thank you to everybody for coming out for the game. It was an electric atmosphere. It was a lot of fun, and hopefully that continues because our guys are going to continue to work hard and see what we can make of the season. Obviously, everybody knows that we're down Skylar (Thompson). I really don't have a timetable for you guys. I know he's not out for the season – that's the positive side of things – but we're going to kind of take it week by week. He is going to be out this week, then we'll reevaluate it based on how he's feeling as well as based on what the docs say. That's kind of as far as I'll get into it with him. But, we're excited about the challenge we have. We're going to face a really good Nevada team. Tremendous offensive team with a really good quarterback, really good couple of running backs and wide receivers. Good offensive line. They want to throw it all over the yard, but they can run it and run it effectively. Then on defense, I'm familiar with their defensive coordinator. Brian Ward is a friend of mine, and Brian worked with Scottie Hazelton for a few years, worked with Steve Stanard, kind of came from the same tree that I came from from a defensive standpoint. Doesn't mean we're going to know what they're going to do by any means because he's got really good players and a really good scheme, but there is some familiarity. Brian Ward has done a terrific job, and so has Jay Norvell. Jay Norvell's done a great job at Nevada, and they're playing at a high level with a lot of seniors."
On Nevada quarterback Carson Strong...
"I think he calls a lot of the things himself at the line of scrimmage out of their tempo. Although they can go fast, they'll slow it down some so that he can get them in the right call or the call that he likes and tremendous arm strength. Mobile guy that sees so many coverages, and he's seen so much and played so many snaps. It's not easy to fool a kid like that, guys that have had that many snaps. We just have to do a great job of being able to rush the passer and be competitive on a lot of potential 50/50 throws."
On ball security...
"It wasn't just Will Howard. We fumbled a couple as running backs too even after the ball was luckily down, they stripped it a couple of times. So, something that we have to address as an offense. We have to do a better job of taking care of the football, and we have to continue to work some ball security drills because we've opened up that can of worms. It's like blocking a punt. Once you block a punt, people are going to come after you for a long time. Something that we're well aware of and need to address. Cannot turn the football over four times and expect to win a football game, and we were fortunate that we were able to do it last week."
On if Skylar Thompson can do anything at practice right now...
"Standing around at practice, but no, not at all."
On defenders making tackles and stripping the ball...
"It's something that Coach (Buddy) Wyatt and Coach Tui (Mike Tuiasosopo) work on with our guys. When you get, there if you have the ability to rake and strip the football, we always want to do that. We were fortunate at two critical times. One time, leading us to a short field, although we didn't capitalize. And then the other one really late in the game when they were driving to potentially tie the game. That was a big play, and we're able to get on both those fumbles. So, something that we actively work on in practice."
On Deuce Vaughn's ability to run between the tackles...
"Well, I told everybody before the season – he's an underrated running back. People think he's a terrific scat kind of kid out of the backfield and some jet sweep guys, and I've seen it now for a little over a year. So, it's all we've had him is that he's a terrific between-the-tackles runner. He's a powerful guy with that low center of gravity and finds a way to get tough yards. So, I've seen it since he's been here, and I think people are probably saying, 'Yeah, this kid can be an every down back.'"
On Jaren Lewis as the backup quarterback…
"You need confidence, a guy that's been in the system now for three years and maturity in the mix. Excited to see him getting more reps with our second team on offense. You don't take many when you're the third guy. He took a ton in fall camp, and I saw the great improvement that he has made over the last year. So, he's one step closer to playing. I know I've talked to Coach (Collin) Klein and Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham) about this. We're very confident in him, and if something happens or there's a situation that dictates that he could play, then we're going to have no problem using him because we've seen his growth over the last two years, and watched what he did in the spring, in the fall. He's playing with a lot of confidence, and I'm excited about what he can do."
On the separation between Will Howard and Jaren Lewis...
"I don't think it's tremendously big at all but experience. Game snaps is the biggest gap and with us going good-on-good as much as we do during the week, and Jaren will take a lot of those reps just because we need to see him take a lot of those reps. Maybe he can shrink that gap even more."
On the play of quarterback Will Howard against Southern Illinois...
"No, he didn't play tremendously well on Saturday for what our standards are for Will and what Will's standards are. Some of that was we weren't great in protection one time when he lost the ball. We missed a couple of assignments in some routes where I think the ball's put in the right spot, but we ran the wrong route. Sometimes you see it from above and you think, 'Boy, what the heck is wrong with the quarterback?' When he's expecting a route to be open in a certain spot and that kid runs the wrong route, then you hold on to it a little bit too long. He's got to make some better decisions when he does have to hold on to it too long, but I look forward to seeing Will have a full week of practice and play the way that he knows he's capable of and we know he's capable of."
On Skylar Thompson not being out for the season…
"Well, I was thrilled for him personally, just because it's kind of like deja vu. I saw that same scenario a year ago in the second game, and I thought nobody deserves this. It's all for a great person as he is, and great a kid as he is, and so how hard he's worked. Life's not fair, and we all know that sometimes you're dealt those hands that you don't typically deserve. So, when I learned on Sunday, more late afternoon, that he wasn't going to be gone for the season, I reached out to him and talked to him at length and just said, 'You have to keep getting your body ready. You have to keep preparing. You have to keep doing the things nutrition wise. You have to do the best you can to keep your cardio up – which is going to be difficult – but you have to stay sharp and in meetings,' and so forth so that when that time comes, whenever that is, he's ready to go. So, I think it gave a little bit more of a lift in life to our players to say, 'We're going to get this guy back at some point.'"
On Nevada's defense...
"They're a four-down front that's really disruptive and a lot of older guys on the front. I think they have nine or 10 starters that are older, four or fifth, six-year seniors, and they've been in that system for a while now. They just play it so fast, and they know where each other fits. So, when you have a defense that is confident and with confidence in the scheme, they play fast. They've got really good players, too. They're really assignment sound. They don't beat themselves."
On K-State's special teams...
"We need to be better, bottom line. We're not poor by any means, but we put in as much time and effort as anybody in the country – I believe, in any place I've ever been – into special teams work, and we're not seeing the dividends of the time we're putting in. We talked about that as a staff. We talked about it with the guys yesterday that we're not playing poorly by any means, but we need to make a difference. We need to flip a field. We need to get a touchdown. We need to do something that provides seven points or a simple thing. We have to pin the ball inside the five when we have a chance to pin the ball inside the five. Those are the hidden yards that really exceptional special teams units like I think we have, that I believe we have, will do. So, for us, we're going to continue to work at it like we have been, and I'm looking forward to even better gains on it."
On the safety position...
"I'm pleased with the safety position. We're playing a number of guys there between J-Mac (Jahron McPherson) and Ross (Elder) at one of them, and Russ Yeast and Aamaris (Brown), and then TJ (Smith) and Cincere (Mason). We've got six guys that are playing back there, and I think they're all kind of interchangeable parts. Knock on wood we can stay healthy there so that we can keep all those guys in the rotation, but we're deep back there. I think Russ Yeast is playing really well. I think TJ is playing well. I think you're going to see better football out of TJ. I think J-Mac and Ross complement each other well and are playing well. I think both those two kids will play better. They had some injuries in fall camp that haven't had them at 100%, but I think they're getting closer there. But, I like where we are much better right now than we were last year in the secondary."
On the defensive ends...
"You don't have a guy like Wyatt (Hubert), a draftable guy that is making big time plays, but we have more depth there for sure. All of them have the ability to do things like Wyatt did. They're all young for the most part. Boom's (Bronson Massie) not, but the other three guys you mentioned are just really learning to play the position and play it so fast and play it so physical that we can cut them loose. We're going to be able to substitute and get them in and out of there. But, pleased overall with the defensive line with the amount of guys that we've played up front."
On the diamond formation being a factor...
"It can be. We need to be a little bit more efficient out of it. We had some really good plays. We had some plays that I thought were close that maybe we missed a block on. We need to block better on the perimeter. We blocked really well on the perimeter against Stanford. We didn't sustain blocks as well (against Southern Illinois). Everywhere, wide outs, tight ends, fullbacks, offensive line. We did against Stanford, and that's where I think I mentioned, we made a few second-game mistakes that you typically make in the first game. Some of that was identification of who we're blocking as well as sustaining blocks."
On dealing with mistakes...
"You don't shy away from it, for starters. You tell them we need to play better in these certain areas. There's no such thing as a bad win in college football. A win is a win, and we're going to learn from it, but we came in and had a good meeting yesterday. The players met, both sides of the ball, and we met as a team and talked about how much better we could be. If we do those little things, those little things have to happen on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in practice. They can't just happen on Saturday. If our technique is sloppy on a Wednesday, how do we expect that technique to be crisp and clean on Saturday? So, it's not like we're not practicing hard – the guys are having good energy and good focus at practice – but I think our technique can be better because a lot of the things, whether it's special teams to tackling to blocking on the perimeter, comes down to technique. If we're sloppy during the week, we're going to be sloppy on Saturday. We've got to clean it up, and the kids know it."
On the offensive line...
"I thought we played well. Same thing, I didn't think we played as well as we did against Stanford, but I thought we played well. We rushed the ball decently. We just didn't get the explosive play because of the sustaining of blocks, but we were able to create some holes. Have a couple of hits on quarterbacks that we'd like to clean up, but I thought (Josh) Rivas played really well. Rivas and (Cooper) Beebe together right now on the same side is a really good combination, and those guys are getting a lot of movement."
On the Nevada wide receivers...
"Yeah, very similar to Stanford, as far as the big-body wide receivers that come up with 50/50 balls and back shoulder fades. You'll throw it up in the area, and they find a way to come down with them. I think playing against Stanford will help us in that scenario just because we've done this before, but we have to come up with some of those 50/50 balls. You're getting a really good quarterback throwing it to them."
On Will Howard being ready to start again...
"He's going to play and prepare like I know he will be able to. Last year, his preparation was really good. Last year, I don't know if his skill set was as ready as it is now. He's 240-plus pounds. He's stronger. He's more aware of what the situation is. He is more aware of what we're doing offensively. The thing that we talked about with our players, maybe our offensive line needs to step up and help him out a little bit more. Maybe our wide receivers, tight ends and running backs can step up and help him more. So, it's not all on the quarterback position, just like on defense or on special teams. Everybody needs to raise their level of play when you lose a really good player like we did with Skylar (Thompson). It is next man up, and we have to plug in the next player at whatever position is, but the positions around those guys in the positions on the other side, they have to raise their level of play."
On quarterback Jake Rubley...
"Jake's doing a nice job. He had sustained a little bit of soft tissue injury before Stanford, so he's been down for a little while. He's finally coming back to practice full time with us on a scout-team standpoint. Really pleased with what I've seen throughout fall camp of a young man that has a chance to be a really good player here. He's probably not ready to play just because he lost a number of snaps at the end of fall camp, but I'm pleased with his progress right now."
On confidence in Will Howard...
"Yeah, I think we've had the question already before, but just the way he prepares and he prepared last year. He's just more ready from a skill set. He's stronger and bigger and faster and understands our offense better and will give it his all and play to the best of his ability. We, all around the map, have to play better as well."
On Deuce Vaughn's performances...
"Yeah, I'd give him the ball an awful lot as well. Give him the football and let him roll a little bit, but we have to play really well at tight end and at wide receiver so that we can open some things up. Regardless of whether it was Skylar (Thompson) in there or Will (Howard) through the first two games, we have to throw the football more efficiently. Whether that's on early downs, whether that's on third down. Our issue has become we've had too many third and seven-plus situations, which is an advantage for the defense. We need to be getting into some of those third and shorts and mediums where we can use the field space and throw some quick-game stuff on third down. If we can get more efficient throwing the football – I don't care if that's first down or third down – it's going to open more things up for Deuce."
On Deuce Vaughn's ball security...
"Yeah, it's been good. I know he's frustrated. Give the kid from Southern Illinois credit, he just banged it out of there and did a heck of a job. We have to hang on to the football. Deuce knows that. Let's hope that was his last one, and I know he hopes the same thing."
On Daniel Green returning in the second half...
"It made a huge difference. Nick Allen played well, don't get me wrong, but it's just Nick had to play every snap plus play special teams, and we end up playing an awful lot of snaps there for a while that second quarter. That really gassed Nick. So, it really helped to have Deuce, just gave us some energy, gave us a great communicator back there, gave us what I believe is a really good inside linebacker to complement Cody Fletcher. So, we're excited to have Daniel back for the whole game this week."
On getting to third and short situations...
"Well, you get them in a conflict of are we going to run it? Are we going to pass it? Are we going to have an RPO game? Are we going to use our jet game? There's just so many more things you can do on third and two to five, as opposed to third and seven plus. You're not going to get those situations like we had against Stanford where we knew the look and we can hand the ball off and then you allow people to just lay their ears back, and you're not getting people sucked up on any play action. Linebackers are staying in coverage. The man coverage plays at the sticks, so to speak, more on third and long. So, if we can get into more of those third and short to third and medium, I think it opens up more things for Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham) to be able to say, 'Hey, we can run the football.' The other thing is, we had a fourth and three or fourth and four late in that second quarter where we went for it. If we don't get a good gain on whatever, it was third and long run, we probably punt that thing away. You guys see the landscape of college football is changing. Possessions are so valuable. You only get maybe 10 to 12 possessions, potentially, in the game. There's more and more people across the country going for it on fourth down now at an alarming rate. More and more people are going for it. But if you're in that fourth and one through four, the odds are you have a potential better chance of getting that and being able to sustain a drive. So for us, we have to find a way to get to more the one to four, one to five manageable rates."
On being aggressive in play calls...
"I'm going to be more aggressive with the people we have. Once again, I looked at that scenario – we were really struggling on offense at that time, and we just gave up two-straight scores. I thought we needed to get momentum for the offense, and I thought that we needed to get momentum for Will Howard. So, we'll make some great play to get the ball to Landry (Weber) on fourth and four, and then we make an error in protection, and don't pick a kid up, and, yeah, we'll take the sack. Okay, I'm okay with that. We can't fumble the ball like he did. But, if he takes the sack, maybe we still have a chance on a second down or whatever it was third down to keep that drive alive. So, it was maybe a little bit of a risky move, but I thought at that time, we needed to do that to give ourselves a chance to keep this drive alive so that we could get some momentum going into half. Plus, I knew that they were getting the ball to start the second half. I thought if we could get some kind of points in the first half, give us a little bit of life."
On the pedigree of the Nevada coaching staff...
"I don't know if a lot of our guys would remember Chris Ault as we as coaches do, but you just see their body of work and especially what they've done this year and last year, because those are the main games we're watching. You can see that these guys are an explosive group of guys offensively with big wide receivers that go catch the football, a quarterback that's confident that can get the ball around. They can put up a lot of points in a hurry."
On the early successful drive in the second half against Southern Illinois...
"One, we were going to take the football to start the game and try to score. We won the toss, we were going to take the ball. They won the toss, but they differed. We were going to take the football to try to get jump-started quickly. I was so pleased with our offense. We marched right down and got a score. Then, in the second half, if we were able to sustain that drive a little bit even though we didn't get points, was always important. Give that defense a rest and let you know that some of your adjustments are definitely working."
On the play of Ekow Boye-Doe and Julius Brents...
"Yeah, I think everybody on defense can raise their level of play a little bit. But, yeah, I think Ekow is playing at a really high level. Julius is settling in and understanding our defense more and more. I think he'll play at a higher level once he gets more and more comfortable. We're still going to play an awful lot of guys. Tee (Denson) played some. Justin Gardner played some. We still have a pretty good rotation there, but that's what we do. We're just going to play off a lot of guys."
On the wind in the second half...
"For us, really the wind was a huge factor. We came out and I asked Hank (Jacobs) before we went in what the wind was going to do, and he said it was going to pick up as the game went on. So, I wanted to have the wind in the fourth quarter. I knew that was taking the chance by kicking them the football and giving them the wind, but we had a quick three-and-out or four-and-out on defense. Then we were able to sustain that drive and took most of the quarter up. I thought that was really important because that was when it was really windy in that fourth quarter. I think it pushed their ball that the kid had a pretty good attempt at the field goal, but I just think the wind pushed it pushed it left. Ty (Zentner) had a great punt in the fourth quarter. Pin them inside the 10-yard line where it was with the wind and some of that was dictated more on the wind than it was just trying to establish the run."
SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK WILL HOWARD
On practicing this week knowing he's starting…
"I would say just working with Skylar (Thompson), he's been great. He's helped me out a lot, talked to me and just trying to keep that mentality like we've been here before. That's what we've been saying all week. We've been here before. This isn't our first rodeo with this, so we're just trying to take it one day at a time, one play at a time, changing our mentality. Just an attack mentality every day, just thinking one play at a time, not taking any steps back. I think I got a good feeling about this weekend."
On how much better prepared he is this year compared to last…
"Yeah, it feels like the game even on Saturday, it was tough. It's always tough kind of getting thrown in there like that, but I feel like the pace of the game has slowed down a lot for me. I feel like, obviously last year, as tough as it was, it gave me a lot of experience and just reps that I didn't have before this. Coming into this year, I've been here before and we've been here before. I feel like a different player physically, and I hope that we can just continue this and keep this thing going and keep this revenge story going. I feel good just taking one day at a time."
On the biggest takeaway after watching the film from Saturday…
"Turning the ball over. I would say beating ourselves, and me beating myself. At the end of the day, if we didn't turn the ball over, if we didn't set ourselves back in the chains a little bit, I think it would have been a much different ballgame. Credit to Southern Illinois. They're a good team, but we just can't beat ourselves up."
On the pressure on the K-State offense because of Nevada's scoring ability…
"I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself. I feel like we're confident as a team in our ability to score points, to produce on offense. We know that if we take care of the ball and we do the things that we've been preaching all offseason since January, it'll turn out good for us. We know we have to play some really good football. We can't have those mistakes that we made last week. We know that, and we are working on it, and we're just continuing to grind every day, one day at a time one play at a time."
SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE END FELIX ANUDIKE-UZOMAH
On the ebbs and flows against Southern Illinois…
"We have to handle that even better. We weren't really locked in. We're just like, 'Oh my gosh,' because it was Skylar (Thompson) coming out. We were locked in the first half. We were just too worried, too scared and stuff like that. Then, coming into the second half, we were just like, 'Okay, we need to work on a sudden change.' So, every sudden change we have, we need to attack it like how we did in Stanford."
On going against a potential first round quarterback…
"Yeah, I was pretty excited because he's a drop back passer. We haven't won against dropped back passers the last two games. We had a lot of sacks defensively, even all our defensive line lately, so it should be a really fun game."
On reaction to his Big 12 award this week…
"Yes, it was exciting. But during that game, there's a lot of things I did that I could have worked on myself, but I was very excited that my teammates were hyping me up. Don't get me wrong, it's exciting, but I still feel like there's things I need to work on now like my foot work."
SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER LANDRY WEBER
On confidence in Will Howard as starting quarterback…
"All the confidence in the world. It's great that we have two starting quarterbacks on our roster. We hate to see any of our teammates go down, and especially Skylar (Thompson), who just fought back from that injury, makes you a little sick to your stomach. But, there are no drop offs in confidence when Will came in. We knew we were in great hands. We're going to get this job done. We're going to keep fighting and nothing changes this week. We have all the confidence in the world."
On what was done well offensively in Saturday's game…
"A lot better than the critics probably think. Yeah, we had a few turnovers. Of course you want to get rid of those turnovers. You take those turnovers away, and we really played a more solid offensive game, then the people probably think we did. Our line was killing it up front with the run game and made a great way on that third down to go win. A lot of people don't know that SIU is a really, really good football team. They know how to win, and they believe that they can win. For us to fight and to find a way to win that game is huge for us. We had a decision to make at halftime after we got punched in the mouth and we were down at half. So, are we going to scramble or are we going to come together? It was 100% unified – let's go win this thing, and that's what we did.
On Nevada's offense…
"I hear they have a good offense. We respect their defense, so we're preparing. We like to treat everybody the same, and we also really like to focus on us. We say, 'Hey, it's about us not our opponents, whether it's Stanford, SIU, Nevada or a Big 12 opponent, we're focused on ourselves,' because if we play our best football, we can beat anybody."
On the growth and maturity of wide receiver Malik Knowles…
"Malik is doing a great job. He's stepping up as a leader. He, in fact, did a great job leading at halftime. He called the offense together and said, 'Hey, let's go guys. We're better than this, so let's get it.' It was great leadership, and I was really proud of him to see that leadership in him and see him growing up and maturing. It's awesome for Malik."
JUNIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE JAYLEN PICKLE
On being moved outside…
"In the spring, it wasn't so easy because it has been four years, five years since high school since I played out there. So, I am getting a little more used to it. You have to play a little faster and expect different types of blocks, but it definitely is a lot easier on your body not taking double-teams from a tackle and guards. For the most part, the transition has been pretty easy."
On what their preparation is like for Nevada…
"Pass-rush because they throw the ball a lot. We haven't played a team that throws the ball as much as they do. I am just working on new things, figuring out what I can and can't use against their tackles."
On trying to contain quarterback Carson Strong…
"It just depends on the quarterback type, because last week we played a quarterback that played outside the pocket a lot. So, we had a big contain plan, and I am sure that this week we will too. Probably want to keep them in the pocket."
SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK DEUCE VAUGHN
On being more confident in Will Howard compared to last year…
"I feel like it is a whole bunch more confidence just because of the fact he has had those reps during spring ball and into the summer, and then into fall camp. Not having a spring ball last year really affected him. I know exactly what he is feeling because it affected me as well, not having those reps and kind of going into the season having to play at a faster level against bigger players. Really takes a toll on me. I found myself even feeling much better coming into this season because of the spring ball and the fall camp and everything that we had against a really good defense here at K-State."
On how much confidence the team has on Will Howard's performance…
"A whole bunch of confidence. That's our guy. He's the next man up, and we are right behind him. We are all going to rise up with him, and we are going to play some football. I have 100% confidence in Will Howard and what he can do. That's just from the whole aspect that as a football team, we often need to play better. Every single week we have to progress, and now that Will is in there, we have another capable quarterback that is going to be able to go out there and get a W for us. He's shown that last year against TCU and teams of that nature. So we have to go out there – we can't really change anything – we have to go out there, and we got to play football. We got to progress every single week. We have to be better as a football team."
On describing Will Howard as a person…
"He is a fantastic person. He is somebody I'd like to call a great friend. He is really somebody that embodies everything that I embody. From being a caring person, to genuine, he's funny, he is somebody in the locker room that is going to make you laugh, and he is somebody that I feel like I can call a best friend for the rest of my life."
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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
