Kansas State University Athletics
K-State Coordinators Preview Game at Oklahoma State
Nov 13, 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 Oklahoma State. Links to video and audio of both press conferences are above, and a transcript of select quotes are below.
MATT WELLS, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On the bye week and what was squandered due to practice numbers…
"Yeah, we definitely have low numbers, so it was a little harder to practice. Coach (Klieman) is the best I've ever been around in being creative in how to practice and trying to maintain physicality and improve, especially some of your younger and developmental players. Football is a contact sport, so you have to run into each other, but, also at the same time, trying to rest your vets – not only vets, but the guys that are playing quite a bit. So, there's a good mix. I think our guys did a good job with it. We lifted a lot, we ran, we practiced three days, but we also were smart with some of those guys' reps."
On getting a bye week after offense was playing well…
"That's a good question. I see it both ways. I see a really long season. I see tired football players at times. You know, it's a real thing. We started earlier. It's longer with the Ireland trip. Just a longer season, but there's a part of me that we've been playing well on offense and been in a rhythm. I'd like to just keep playing and practice for a few days and keep on going. We're fine. We did the same thing – we've done throwing and catching, which is your timing in this bye week, as we did the other two bye weeks. So, I'm not worried about that for this week."
On the Oklahoma State defense…
"If you look at them with the time that Clint (Bowen) has taken over, you see total yardage kind of going down. I think they line up better. When I say line up better, (I mean) sound in what they're trying to do. You watch our tape on offense, and you're like, 'Oh, he messed up,' and, 'He's out of position.' We all have it. Everybody you play has it, but I see less and less of that. I see guys running to the football and playing inspired. I see them lining up better, and their production (against them) has gotten less. They've given up less yards in the five games that since Coach Bowen took over."
On Avery Johnson's approach after nine games…
"I like the fact that he's still hungry. I think our best game is still out there. We always think that. Even with, maybe statistically, the Baylor game, but even after that game that we came off that game, we're like, 'Hey, there's still better ball out there for us.' When I say us, his mistakes – I do – I wear them on my sleeve. Those are mine. If he made a mistake, it's my mistake. I'm not any different than most coaches. We all think that. I think probably in any line of work that people are working for you, or people are playing for you, you want them to have (success). That's all I want him to do, is accomplish his goals and his dreams. If it's not his best game, if it's good enough to win, we're both happy but never satisfied. If he doesn't play well, then it's like I didn't play well. So, I love that about him. That was maybe a different answer than you thought you were going to get, but that's real talk. I love the fact that he's still searching for perfection. We'll never get it, but we're going to go chase it, and we're going to chase it together, and we're better together."
On what needs to happen to get more explosive running plays…
"Break tackles, back-shoulder cut guys, do a better job of receivers digging out safeties, trying to scheme up plays where there's not a safety that's as fast to fit to the box. That's your answer to why are you not getting more explosive run plays? Sometimes you have to break tackles. You cannot block every one of them. There'll be a safety or a corner loose. You have to run through it, and you have to run around it. You have to make him miss, and then at times you have to dig him out. Then you RPO them, and if they fit the box, you throw the ball. If they don't fit the box, you give the ball. At some point, they're going to show back up."
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what Oklahoma State's offense does well…
"It's tricky. I'm a little concerned because they've had so much evolution this year. It started off with Coach (Mike) Gundy's influence, and then as that changed and the offensive coordinator took over, they got a little bit more gadgety, probably, a little bit more exotic. Then, as that's evolved, they had some quarterback things playing Sam Jackson V at quarterback, and that turned into a little bit more of a run deal. Now with Zane Flores back at quarterback, it's a new identity yet. So, it's been evolving. It's been a difficult prep that way. We've prepped for a lot of stuff. If there's 670 snaps of offense, we've prepped for 670 snaps. I'm sure that we're going to see some things that we haven't seen, but we're just trying to work on rules and principles. That's probably the scariest thing."
On expecting Oklahoma State to change things coming off a bye week…
"Yeah, no doubt about it. They're really well coached. You're not going to see the same picture twice, off week or no off week. I think with the more time they have, the more exotic maybe they can be. They've got a good little cachet of trick plays and gadgets, too, that are going to test our eye discipline. So, that's been a big emphasis for us as well. We just have to play sound, and we have to do our jobs."
On replacing Austin Romaine at linebacker…
"It's going to be by committee. You're not going to replace him with one guy. He's extremely valuable to us. Fortunately, Des Purnell is there, and he has room to carry some of that burden on his shoulders. The Asa Newsoms, the Gabe Powers, the Rex Van Wyhes, the Beau Palmers of the world, those guys are going to have to go. They've been playing in games, so it's not like they haven't been capable of doing that, but their role has increased now. When it gets to be the heat, they need to be able to withstand the heat. It will be exciting to see how those guys respond to that."
On what Austin Romaine brings to the table that is hard to replace…
"Calm leadership. I had this talk, actually, with Colby McCalister yesterday, who has been out all season, but there are certain guys that I think that when they're in the game, they just calm things down. VJ Payne is one of those guys. When he's out there, I think guys are just more relaxed. They just feel more comfortable. Austin Romaine is one of those guys. When he's out there, it doesn't matter how fast things are going, what's happening, the circumstances of the game, when he's out there and you're a defensive lineman and you turn and see him, you feel pretty dang good about what's going on or our ability to get a stop. Hopefully, those guys that are going to be taking his place can earn that. I think Des (Purnell) is one of those guys, certainly. When those two guys are out there in tandem, it's satisfying for me. Now somebody else is going to have to take that role."
On getting the defense fired up after a loss and bye week…
"Guys know what's at stake here. We still have a quarter of the season left. My message to them on Monday was simply it hasn't been the season that we hoped to have, but defensively – and I assumed there was going to be some growing pains, and there were, certainly – we've gotten better as things have gone on, even despite the injuries and despite some of the obstacles that we've had, we're improving. These last three games are really going to be the litmus test to see how far we've come since August. We have two road games and different styles. It's going to be a challenge. It's always been tough for us in Stillwater, as Coach mentioned, I know, on Monday. He had the same message for the team. It's really a great challenge for us. So, I don't think they need motivation. I think they understand what's going on. They'll be ready to play."
MATT WELLS, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On the bye week and what was squandered due to practice numbers…
"Yeah, we definitely have low numbers, so it was a little harder to practice. Coach (Klieman) is the best I've ever been around in being creative in how to practice and trying to maintain physicality and improve, especially some of your younger and developmental players. Football is a contact sport, so you have to run into each other, but, also at the same time, trying to rest your vets – not only vets, but the guys that are playing quite a bit. So, there's a good mix. I think our guys did a good job with it. We lifted a lot, we ran, we practiced three days, but we also were smart with some of those guys' reps."
On getting a bye week after offense was playing well…
"That's a good question. I see it both ways. I see a really long season. I see tired football players at times. You know, it's a real thing. We started earlier. It's longer with the Ireland trip. Just a longer season, but there's a part of me that we've been playing well on offense and been in a rhythm. I'd like to just keep playing and practice for a few days and keep on going. We're fine. We did the same thing – we've done throwing and catching, which is your timing in this bye week, as we did the other two bye weeks. So, I'm not worried about that for this week."
On the Oklahoma State defense…
"If you look at them with the time that Clint (Bowen) has taken over, you see total yardage kind of going down. I think they line up better. When I say line up better, (I mean) sound in what they're trying to do. You watch our tape on offense, and you're like, 'Oh, he messed up,' and, 'He's out of position.' We all have it. Everybody you play has it, but I see less and less of that. I see guys running to the football and playing inspired. I see them lining up better, and their production (against them) has gotten less. They've given up less yards in the five games that since Coach Bowen took over."
On Avery Johnson's approach after nine games…
"I like the fact that he's still hungry. I think our best game is still out there. We always think that. Even with, maybe statistically, the Baylor game, but even after that game that we came off that game, we're like, 'Hey, there's still better ball out there for us.' When I say us, his mistakes – I do – I wear them on my sleeve. Those are mine. If he made a mistake, it's my mistake. I'm not any different than most coaches. We all think that. I think probably in any line of work that people are working for you, or people are playing for you, you want them to have (success). That's all I want him to do, is accomplish his goals and his dreams. If it's not his best game, if it's good enough to win, we're both happy but never satisfied. If he doesn't play well, then it's like I didn't play well. So, I love that about him. That was maybe a different answer than you thought you were going to get, but that's real talk. I love the fact that he's still searching for perfection. We'll never get it, but we're going to go chase it, and we're going to chase it together, and we're better together."
On what needs to happen to get more explosive running plays…
"Break tackles, back-shoulder cut guys, do a better job of receivers digging out safeties, trying to scheme up plays where there's not a safety that's as fast to fit to the box. That's your answer to why are you not getting more explosive run plays? Sometimes you have to break tackles. You cannot block every one of them. There'll be a safety or a corner loose. You have to run through it, and you have to run around it. You have to make him miss, and then at times you have to dig him out. Then you RPO them, and if they fit the box, you throw the ball. If they don't fit the box, you give the ball. At some point, they're going to show back up."
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what Oklahoma State's offense does well…
"It's tricky. I'm a little concerned because they've had so much evolution this year. It started off with Coach (Mike) Gundy's influence, and then as that changed and the offensive coordinator took over, they got a little bit more gadgety, probably, a little bit more exotic. Then, as that's evolved, they had some quarterback things playing Sam Jackson V at quarterback, and that turned into a little bit more of a run deal. Now with Zane Flores back at quarterback, it's a new identity yet. So, it's been evolving. It's been a difficult prep that way. We've prepped for a lot of stuff. If there's 670 snaps of offense, we've prepped for 670 snaps. I'm sure that we're going to see some things that we haven't seen, but we're just trying to work on rules and principles. That's probably the scariest thing."
On expecting Oklahoma State to change things coming off a bye week…
"Yeah, no doubt about it. They're really well coached. You're not going to see the same picture twice, off week or no off week. I think with the more time they have, the more exotic maybe they can be. They've got a good little cachet of trick plays and gadgets, too, that are going to test our eye discipline. So, that's been a big emphasis for us as well. We just have to play sound, and we have to do our jobs."
On replacing Austin Romaine at linebacker…
"It's going to be by committee. You're not going to replace him with one guy. He's extremely valuable to us. Fortunately, Des Purnell is there, and he has room to carry some of that burden on his shoulders. The Asa Newsoms, the Gabe Powers, the Rex Van Wyhes, the Beau Palmers of the world, those guys are going to have to go. They've been playing in games, so it's not like they haven't been capable of doing that, but their role has increased now. When it gets to be the heat, they need to be able to withstand the heat. It will be exciting to see how those guys respond to that."
On what Austin Romaine brings to the table that is hard to replace…
"Calm leadership. I had this talk, actually, with Colby McCalister yesterday, who has been out all season, but there are certain guys that I think that when they're in the game, they just calm things down. VJ Payne is one of those guys. When he's out there, I think guys are just more relaxed. They just feel more comfortable. Austin Romaine is one of those guys. When he's out there, it doesn't matter how fast things are going, what's happening, the circumstances of the game, when he's out there and you're a defensive lineman and you turn and see him, you feel pretty dang good about what's going on or our ability to get a stop. Hopefully, those guys that are going to be taking his place can earn that. I think Des (Purnell) is one of those guys, certainly. When those two guys are out there in tandem, it's satisfying for me. Now somebody else is going to have to take that role."
On getting the defense fired up after a loss and bye week…
"Guys know what's at stake here. We still have a quarter of the season left. My message to them on Monday was simply it hasn't been the season that we hoped to have, but defensively – and I assumed there was going to be some growing pains, and there were, certainly – we've gotten better as things have gone on, even despite the injuries and despite some of the obstacles that we've had, we're improving. These last three games are really going to be the litmus test to see how far we've come since August. We have two road games and different styles. It's going to be a challenge. It's always been tough for us in Stillwater, as Coach mentioned, I know, on Monday. He had the same message for the team. It's really a great challenge for us. So, I don't think they need motivation. I think they understand what's going on. They'll be ready to play."
– 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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