Kansas State University Athletics
K-State Coordinators Discuss Saturday’s Game at Baylor
Oct 02, 2025 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State offensive coordinator Matt Wells and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman met with members of the media on Thursday at the Vanier Family Football Complex to preview Saturday's game at Baylor. Links to video and audio of both press conferences are above, and a transcript of select quotes are below.
MATT WELLS, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On Avery Johnson's progress from game to game and what he's doing particularly well…
"He just continues to improve. When I say improve, we're looking at things like, 'I want this thrown just a half a count sooner. Can you pull the ball down and go run now? What's the clock in your head? What's the coverage – is it two man? Is it a bracket? Is it man free? Are they zoned out? Are they max dropping, dropping eight.' All of those things. I'm not going to give him so much – and he doesn't take so much that it bogs them down to thinking – but I just think more reps, more experience, and I think you saw a couple of those plays in the game – at least I did – where I didn't see him making some plays earlier in the year. It was based on coverage recognition and how quick he can decipher. These DB coaches these days do a really good job of disguising. Baylor, Paul Gonzales does a great job, and Dave (Aranda), they can disguise really, really good, so they can disguise their intentions until the last second."
You the exotic play calls against UCF...
"There's more where that came from. We didn't empty it (the playbook). There's more. The first one didn't work. More than anything, we had some injuries. We had to find ways to score. That's our job is to try to find ways to put the ball in the end zone. You didn't have JB (Bradley), Jayce (Brown), and those guys in the red zone, especially, can help you create some mismatches. So, I think there's a lot of that that goes into it, but also trying to generate some more run game was part of that as well."
On the importance of having all the front-line playmakers on the field at the same time…
"That would be huge to have everybody back together. I think you always want to play your best players, but I'll say this – it's part of football. You'll never hear an excuse from me or the Coach (Klieman) or any of our players. As you go through the season, injuries happen, and we're no different than anywhere else in the country. So, that'll never be an excuse. Is it important to your previous question that they're back? Yeah, it's awesome, absolutely, for those individuals and for our team and everything else. But, I'm really, really proud of the guys that have stepped up because you never know as a competitor when your opportunity to get inside those white lines is going to be, and you never know how long it's going to be. So, we had a lot of guys that have waited their turn either this year or they waited their turn over several years. Sterling (Lockett) and Isaac (Koch) being two of them, and Devin (Vass) being another one. You don't know when that time is going to be. For them to be able to make plays on a game day in front of fans and in important game for us and a bounce-back game for us, was huge for their confidence. It's huge for our confidence as coaches in them. So that's twofold, but I'm just happy for them. That's a part of a chapter in their college career – Sterling's first catch, and all of those guys. So, I think that's awesome to see as a coach because we're better together. This is the greatest team sport ever invented. It's never about one guy. It's never about one person. It's always about the team and the unit for us on offense. So, we had a ton of guys that have stepped up, and I think that'll help us build some more depth."
On the touchdowns by the tight ends on Saturday…
"The one was a play action down on the goal line that that I think Kansas State's kind of had for a long time. I've had it in for a long time. Will (Anciaux) did a good job of selling that. Then the other one is just a shovel to Garrett (Oakley). It was kind of a play off of a couple weeks ago, so that one's dead now. It was a play off of something we did at Arizona, so we thought it fit down there inside the five."
On Avery Johnson having his full arsenal of playmakers…
"You're loaded. You have all your weapons back, but again, just like we say, somebody else has got to step up if somebody's out or sick or injured or whatever. I've just been so proud of those guys. Important, yeah, absolutely important for those guys individually to be back, yeah. Important for Avery? Yeah, it's great, but Avery's not going to look around and not see a starting X receiver in Jerand Bradley for the last month and all of a sudden not be able to function. We don't even talk about that. That's not even an option. So, that's where I want to answer your question very respectfully and very thoroughly, but honest to goodness, it doesn't do anything to him. It doesn't do anything to me except to move chess pieces around and try to put our players in a best position for them to succeed. When the guys that have been previous starters come back, awesome. I'm fired up for them, and maybe they go back to kind of their normal positions now."
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On flipping the safety spots between VJ Payne and Wesley Fair…
"VJ's strength is his speed, his range and his communication skills. That's what makes him a special football player. When we schematically modified ourselves, he was no longer in a position where those things were being used to the greater degree because he was in the box more. Not that he's not capable of doing those things, but he's going to be much more effective in the middle of the field running the defense and communicating, which has been an issue for us in tracking the football, which is something that he does really well. Conversely, Wesley Fair, I think has a really good feel for the box. He has a really good feel for fits. He's just kind of natural in there. We talked about doing it earlier. We talked about doing it in spring ball, but VJ had been playing that position for so many years, so we just thought we'd leave it alone, but we needed a kick in the shorts. So, we had to do something. We had to play better at that position."
On the defense's effort against UCF…
"I was happy with the enthusiasm that they played with. It was fun to see those guys having some fun. It's just not been that way. Even when we've played well in stretches, it's not been that way. We haven't played well consistently enough to feel good about ourselves. So, I was happy with that, but now the question is, are we tough enough to sustain it?"
On the long UCF passing touchdown before halftime…
"Well, what I saw was red. I thought, honestly, for a second, I thought he was going to make the play, but when we went back and looked at it, that's an inexcusable thing to happen. We were in Cover 2, and nobody on earth throws a seam route into Cover 2, which is the dumbest thing you could do as a quarterback. Part of the problem on that one was just the technique. We were a little tight alignment-wise. As they started to continue to try to run the football, we kept getting closer and closer to the line of scrimmage. All of a sudden, he's standing at seven yards when he needs to be at 11 yards, and inches matter in this game."
On Baylor running back Bryson Washington…
"He's a load. He has great vision, and I think he sees things really well. I remember playing against the guy that was hurt a couple years ago (Dawson Pendergrass) when he was here. I think he's a heck of a football player, but this guy, to me, is as good as there is. He's a load. He plays about 15 pounds heavier than I think he is, and I think he's just really patient with what they do. Offensive line-wise, they're mush ball. They're going to step with their inside foot, just kind of try to move people, and he's just very patient in there. He's not a big bounce guy, but he's going sit in there and be patient until something opens up, and then when it opens up, he hits it like a lightning bolt. So, we just have to get population around as much as we can."
On defensive lineman Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder…
"He had a really good game (against UCF), and it's fun to see him getting better. He had a good one early in the year, then he was injured again, and now he's coming back. He's helping us a lot inside. In a game like this, it's going to be 95 degrees and who knows how many snaps. It will be all hands on deck, I might have to strap up and see how many snaps I can get out of this thing too."
On the tackling against UCF…
"I'm not pleased with that right now. I think we've got miles to go that way. I don't know what to attribute that to. I thought early in the first half, we were snapping people. We were tackling really well, and then as the game went on, we were dripping off things. We weren't playing enough snaps. There were previous weeks where we were playing so many snaps that sometimes I attribute that to fatigue. I don't know last week what the issue was other than we've got to finish. We got to put our foot on somebody's neck and finish the job. We got away from that maybe a little bit toward the end of the game last week."
MATT WELLS, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On Avery Johnson's progress from game to game and what he's doing particularly well…
"He just continues to improve. When I say improve, we're looking at things like, 'I want this thrown just a half a count sooner. Can you pull the ball down and go run now? What's the clock in your head? What's the coverage – is it two man? Is it a bracket? Is it man free? Are they zoned out? Are they max dropping, dropping eight.' All of those things. I'm not going to give him so much – and he doesn't take so much that it bogs them down to thinking – but I just think more reps, more experience, and I think you saw a couple of those plays in the game – at least I did – where I didn't see him making some plays earlier in the year. It was based on coverage recognition and how quick he can decipher. These DB coaches these days do a really good job of disguising. Baylor, Paul Gonzales does a great job, and Dave (Aranda), they can disguise really, really good, so they can disguise their intentions until the last second."
You the exotic play calls against UCF...
"There's more where that came from. We didn't empty it (the playbook). There's more. The first one didn't work. More than anything, we had some injuries. We had to find ways to score. That's our job is to try to find ways to put the ball in the end zone. You didn't have JB (Bradley), Jayce (Brown), and those guys in the red zone, especially, can help you create some mismatches. So, I think there's a lot of that that goes into it, but also trying to generate some more run game was part of that as well."
On the importance of having all the front-line playmakers on the field at the same time…
"That would be huge to have everybody back together. I think you always want to play your best players, but I'll say this – it's part of football. You'll never hear an excuse from me or the Coach (Klieman) or any of our players. As you go through the season, injuries happen, and we're no different than anywhere else in the country. So, that'll never be an excuse. Is it important to your previous question that they're back? Yeah, it's awesome, absolutely, for those individuals and for our team and everything else. But, I'm really, really proud of the guys that have stepped up because you never know as a competitor when your opportunity to get inside those white lines is going to be, and you never know how long it's going to be. So, we had a lot of guys that have waited their turn either this year or they waited their turn over several years. Sterling (Lockett) and Isaac (Koch) being two of them, and Devin (Vass) being another one. You don't know when that time is going to be. For them to be able to make plays on a game day in front of fans and in important game for us and a bounce-back game for us, was huge for their confidence. It's huge for our confidence as coaches in them. So that's twofold, but I'm just happy for them. That's a part of a chapter in their college career – Sterling's first catch, and all of those guys. So, I think that's awesome to see as a coach because we're better together. This is the greatest team sport ever invented. It's never about one guy. It's never about one person. It's always about the team and the unit for us on offense. So, we had a ton of guys that have stepped up, and I think that'll help us build some more depth."
On the touchdowns by the tight ends on Saturday…
"The one was a play action down on the goal line that that I think Kansas State's kind of had for a long time. I've had it in for a long time. Will (Anciaux) did a good job of selling that. Then the other one is just a shovel to Garrett (Oakley). It was kind of a play off of a couple weeks ago, so that one's dead now. It was a play off of something we did at Arizona, so we thought it fit down there inside the five."
On Avery Johnson having his full arsenal of playmakers…
"You're loaded. You have all your weapons back, but again, just like we say, somebody else has got to step up if somebody's out or sick or injured or whatever. I've just been so proud of those guys. Important, yeah, absolutely important for those guys individually to be back, yeah. Important for Avery? Yeah, it's great, but Avery's not going to look around and not see a starting X receiver in Jerand Bradley for the last month and all of a sudden not be able to function. We don't even talk about that. That's not even an option. So, that's where I want to answer your question very respectfully and very thoroughly, but honest to goodness, it doesn't do anything to him. It doesn't do anything to me except to move chess pieces around and try to put our players in a best position for them to succeed. When the guys that have been previous starters come back, awesome. I'm fired up for them, and maybe they go back to kind of their normal positions now."
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On flipping the safety spots between VJ Payne and Wesley Fair…
"VJ's strength is his speed, his range and his communication skills. That's what makes him a special football player. When we schematically modified ourselves, he was no longer in a position where those things were being used to the greater degree because he was in the box more. Not that he's not capable of doing those things, but he's going to be much more effective in the middle of the field running the defense and communicating, which has been an issue for us in tracking the football, which is something that he does really well. Conversely, Wesley Fair, I think has a really good feel for the box. He has a really good feel for fits. He's just kind of natural in there. We talked about doing it earlier. We talked about doing it in spring ball, but VJ had been playing that position for so many years, so we just thought we'd leave it alone, but we needed a kick in the shorts. So, we had to do something. We had to play better at that position."
On the defense's effort against UCF…
"I was happy with the enthusiasm that they played with. It was fun to see those guys having some fun. It's just not been that way. Even when we've played well in stretches, it's not been that way. We haven't played well consistently enough to feel good about ourselves. So, I was happy with that, but now the question is, are we tough enough to sustain it?"
On the long UCF passing touchdown before halftime…
"Well, what I saw was red. I thought, honestly, for a second, I thought he was going to make the play, but when we went back and looked at it, that's an inexcusable thing to happen. We were in Cover 2, and nobody on earth throws a seam route into Cover 2, which is the dumbest thing you could do as a quarterback. Part of the problem on that one was just the technique. We were a little tight alignment-wise. As they started to continue to try to run the football, we kept getting closer and closer to the line of scrimmage. All of a sudden, he's standing at seven yards when he needs to be at 11 yards, and inches matter in this game."
On Baylor running back Bryson Washington…
"He's a load. He has great vision, and I think he sees things really well. I remember playing against the guy that was hurt a couple years ago (Dawson Pendergrass) when he was here. I think he's a heck of a football player, but this guy, to me, is as good as there is. He's a load. He plays about 15 pounds heavier than I think he is, and I think he's just really patient with what they do. Offensive line-wise, they're mush ball. They're going to step with their inside foot, just kind of try to move people, and he's just very patient in there. He's not a big bounce guy, but he's going sit in there and be patient until something opens up, and then when it opens up, he hits it like a lightning bolt. So, we just have to get population around as much as we can."
On defensive lineman Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder…
"He had a really good game (against UCF), and it's fun to see him getting better. He had a good one early in the year, then he was injured again, and now he's coming back. He's helping us a lot inside. In a game like this, it's going to be 95 degrees and who knows how many snaps. It will be all hands on deck, I might have to strap up and see how many snaps I can get out of this thing too."
On the tackling against UCF…
"I'm not pleased with that right now. I think we've got miles to go that way. I don't know what to attribute that to. I thought early in the first half, we were snapping people. We were tackling really well, and then as the game went on, we were dripping off things. We weren't playing enough snaps. There were previous weeks where we were playing so many snaps that sometimes I attribute that to fatigue. I don't know last week what the issue was other than we've got to finish. We got to put our foot on somebody's neck and finish the job. We got away from that maybe a little bit toward the end of the game last week."
– k-statesports.com –
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Football, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Football, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
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