They Said It: Wildcats hold presser prior to road test
Thank you to K-State Athletics Communications for sending out the following quotes from Kansas State's weekly press conference.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
“We’re excited about the preparation this week to go to Mississippi State and play an exceptional football team. We’re starting that process right now. We had a good practice yesterday and we’ll get into the pads and nuts and bolts of the game plan today. Going back to last week, I was pleased with the way the guys played. I thought our energy was really good, especially starting the game. We challenged the guys to start really fast, which we were able to do. We did not have any let ups, which I was really pleased with. Coming out of halftime with a big lead the week before we gave up a pretty easy touchdown. This week our guys had a different mentality coming out of halftime that we continued to put the hammer down, and we were able to do that. So, I’m excited about the win, now we’ve got to turn our focus to nothing but Mississippi State because it’s an exceptional football team, and it will be a tough environment. It’s a good measuring stick. We need this game. We need to find out as a coaching staff and as players kind of where we are.”
On long scoring drives…
“We’d take the explosive plays for touchdowns too. If you have the opportunity for explosive plays, we have to get them. Without a question, it’s going to be harder to do this, to sustain 12-play drives against a defense of their caliber. We just have to do a great job of mixing things up, from efficiency in the passing game to being able to control the line of scrimmage, which, obviously, will be a difficult task. Plus just the noise and the operation will be more difficult. It’s easy to do that stuff at home. It will be a big challenge for our offense this week.”
On what is most surprising about the offense so far…
“How well they’ve understood the system, understood what we’re trying to do, but we are also having a really good success on third down, which keeps those drives alive, obviously, and keeps the time of possession and grinds out more first downs. It’s been really pleasing to us as a coaching staff to see for two-straight weeks what we’ve done offensively and sustain that. This will be a different deal this week. We are going against a defense that’s got a lot of veterans on it, a lot of size and speed. This will be a big challenge for us offensively.”
On the message to the team after two successful games...
“We haven't gotten there yet. It’s just the same thing we talked about before here - we aren’t worried about Saturday today. We have to have a great Tuesday and getting our preparation ready offensively, defensively and on (special) teams. We don’t worry about Saturday on Tuesday, we don’t worry about it on Wednesday. The first two weeks, I think the reason we’ve had success is we haven’t looked ahead. We’ve stayed on task over the course of each day in our preparation. That’s what we are trying to build here. We talk about stacking great days, and that’s what we have to do to be successful.”
On Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill…
“He’s a great player. It’s fun to watch him, hopefully it’s not going to be fun to watch him live, but he’s tremendous. Coach (Van) Malone, obviously, was around that team last year. Just seeing the way that he runs, he breaks tackles, he beats you with speed, he’s a great jump cut guy. He does everything, and they’re giving him the ball enough to make plays. I know that he’s going to be a focal point to what we are doing on defense to try and slow him down.”
On responding to pressure…
“They’ve responded pretty well, we did a two-minute drill yesterday. Today we will do some red-zone stuff and some third-down situations just to try to get the best wide receivers going against the best defensive backs and Skylar (Thompson) under pressure from our starting defensive line and linebackers. It’s going to make us better just having that competition on a daily basis. It’s still going to be an ongoing process; it just doesn’t happen on one day. It’s going to be each of those days that we do it, which are Monday and Tuesday throughout the entire year. Hopefully that’ll season us when we get into those pressure moments.”
On having players and staff on opposite sides from a year ago…
“With Van (Malone), I think he can just tell the guys about the environment, what it was like in the locker room before playing K-State, just little things like that. He may know some of the personnel. On the flip side of it, with Isaiah (Zuber) there - and there I wish him the best; I enjoyed my brief time with Isaiah - I think it is just the personnel piece. He didn’t practice last spring. From understanding our offense, I think it’s more the personnel. He knows these guys really, really well.”
On what stands out from last year’s game between K-State and Mississippi State…
“Kansas state had a great opportunity early on, but just weren't able to capitalize on some things. The quarterback from Mississippi State (Nick Fitzgerald) was a tremendous football player that made a ton of plays and kept drives alive. He made plays with his arm and his feet. It’s a game that we’re watching, but systematically some of the things have changed. So, we aren’t putting all of our emphasis into that. We’re looking at more of these first couple games. With what they are doing, obviously, they are looking at more our first two games rather than last year as well.”
On the quarterback uncertainty for Mississippi State impacting preparation…
“I don’t think it is going to impact it a whole lot because I think they’re going to do what they’ve done. They played a couple quarterbacks last year and they still stayed with the same system. In the middle of a game, you typically don’t change, but when they had the change to start the second half or the ending of the first half, I didn’t see much difference. I thought the young quarterback came in and did a phenomenal job and was really sharp. I’m sure for Coach (Joe) Moorhead, he was really excited because the moment wasn’t too big for that young man. He came in and played really well. Whomever they put out there at quarterback, I’m assuming it’s going to be the same formula for success - get the ball in (Kylin) Hill’s hands and be efficient in the passing game. The quarterback is always going to be a threat running the football.”
On Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill getting K-State’s attention...
“Absolutely. He’s a difference maker, he’s a phenomenal tailback and can beat you in so many different ways. We need to do a good job keeping the cup and keeping our leverage on him and doing a good job of tackling him because he breaks so many tackles. He’s a real physical runner.”
On Mississippi State’s defensive line…
“Just through two games it’s probably like us - learning a little bit more about their personnel. They’re 2-0, so however you want to look at it, they’re having success. Just different pressure packages, letting their guys go up front. I’m sure that each game that the guys played, just like each game our new guys play, they got better and better. They’ve had really good production on both sides of the ball. Obviously, they always have tremendous athletes with really good speed. They run to the football so well, and they hit you when they get to the football. That’s the thing I really see on defense for them.”
On emulating noise at practice...
“We do the jet noise, and we’ve done it for a long time and done it each week so far leading up. We did it two weeks before Nicholls, the week before Nicholls and last week. Since we were in the stadium the last couple weeks because of the weather, both the offense and defense had to deal with the noise. We’re out more on the grass right now so we can confine some of that noise just to the offense. It’s nonverbal communication that we have to get really good at. Fortunately for us, our offense has had to deal with it these last two weeks because we do it for our defense every Wednesday and Thursday.”
On Wyatt Hubert’s status for Saturday…
“I would hope so. He didn't participate yesterday. We’ll see him today even if it is limited, but hopefully he can.”
On the true freshmen catching his eye on Saturday…
“Jax (Dineen), like I mentioned because of his physicality. I thought Josh Youngblood kind of just emerged and felt more comfortable probably because he had so many snaps in the first game. A number of guys that are just getting their feet wet, whether it is Logan Wilson and Will Jones, to both the running backs, Joe (Ervin) and Jacardia (Wright). We’ve played a number of guys now. Will that continue on? We’ll have to look each week from a game-plan standpoint. Jax was the one that I think had the most production.”
On keeping Skylar Thompson level or if he seems calm…
“He’s been really calm. It’s still his daily preparation. The thing I appreciate about Skylar is he’s not getting ahead of himself. On Monday, here’s what he watches, and here’s what he makes sure from the base down and distance and choice downs what we are wanting to run. Today, he’ll look at more third-down stuff and more situational stuff. That’s what I have been really pleased with Skylar is that he is so level headed. He’s attacking today’s game plan, which is some of our third-down stuff as well as some of our choice situations.”
On playing true freshmen and its benefit in recruiting…
“I think that’s the landscape of college football now, too, more and more young players are going to play for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s the fact of the four game rule, that’s the number one reason to the fact that so many people are entering the transfer portal that rosters are depleted a little bit. We tell everybody they have the opportunity to play, nobody’s going to promise them playing time, but they have the opportunity to play. If they do the right thing and understand what they are doing physically and mentally, then they have an opportunity to help us. Once again, every week is going to be different from here on out. Of those 11 guys (that played last week), I think five or six are in the plan this week, but maybe none will be next week or just a couple. Every week is going to be different. Part of that is still the broad perspective of are we going to stay healthy at certain positions.”
On Mississippi State’s secondary…
“They’ve got tremendous speed and athleticism in the secondary. They can play zone coverage and break on the ball. They’re tremendous tacklers in both settings. But they can lock you up too and play exceptional man coverage. We have to be prepared for both. There’s certain games you watch from last year where they are playing a lot more man coverage and having really good success. Then there’s other games when they’re sitting more in their base defense and the ball is caught in front of them but there is not much after the catch because they have such tremendous team speed. I have been so impressed with their ability to tackle and not let people have much after contact.”
On John Holcombe II, Jacardia Wright and Joe Ervin getting on the field together...
“Every snap that John (Holcombe II) gets is great for him from an experience standpoint - forget just carrying the ball - it’s just understanding defenses, seeing the reads. Maybe he’s handing the ball off, maybe he’s throwing quick game. Just seeing those pictures - is it single high? Is it two-high? All looks help John immensely. It helps him more than what the running backs are seeing right now. With the running backs, those two young guys, we’re just wanting to get them carries. They weren’t in there to pass protect very much. We were just late in the game, we were ahead, so let’s see what those guys could do. Could they break tackles? Could see the holes and those things? Our hope is with Joe and Jacardia is that experience will make them better. Will it make them better in the near future in playing some more games or will it make them better in the distant future for next year in just getting them those snaps for experience.”
On Reggie Walker’s Mississippi State connection…
“Reggie will have a lot of people down there. I know he’s excited about the opportunity to see a lot of family. Reggie’s a very competitive guy. I’ve really enjoyed being around Reggie and getting to know him, how his peers feel about him electing him as captain. It’s going to be a big week for Reg.”
On the status of Cody Fletcher and Johnathan Durham…
“Johnathan will be able to for sure. We’ll find out on Wednesday with Cody. He didn’t practice yesterday and he’ll be limited today. I’ll know more about Cody probably Wednesday or Thursday, but Jonathan should be good.”
On a blanket policy for number of practices needed for an injured player to be available...
“I don't have a set policy. It’s all different. If it were Jacardia Wright and he couldn’t practice until Thursday, then that’s going to be a struggle for him. If it were James Gilbert and he couldn’t practice until Thursday, it wouldn’t be a struggle for him. It’s all based on your experience factor and how much you’re in the game plan and what position you’re playing. If you’re in a position where there is a lot of depth and we can use you for a dozen plays, we will. If it is a position where we don’t have a lot of depth, then we probably have to get the next guy ready to go for more extended time. I do not have a set policy on you have to practice a certain amount of times.”
On Joe Moorhead’s FCS experience at Fordham…
“He did a great job at Fordham. He had a great running back there, Chase Edmonds. We were at the same awards banquet in Philadelphia, and I was there with Kyle Emmanuel, who won the Buck Buchanan Award. We visited out there. (I have) a tremendous amount of respect for what Coach has done and done it the right way. He elevated that program at Fordham and had a great opportunity at Penn State, made the most of that. Obviously, he has the job at Mississippi State and doing a great job. I have so much respect for Coach. (I ) saw him at the convention this year, had a quick conversation with him. (I’m) looking forward to seeing him to pick his brain a little bit because he’s been doing this a little longer than I have at the Power Five level. (He’s) a tremendous coach, tremendous person and I’m excited to see him again.”
On measuring up against Mississippi State and facing more adversity this week...
“Wouldn’t it be fun if we didn't face any adversity the whole year? Yeah, that would be great. We know it is coming. To the upperclassmen, to the captains, to their credit, they came out ready to play and jumped on these two teams early and made a statement. I’m so happy for those guys, which told me an awful lot about they don’t worry about who we’re playing, it’s just coming ready to play. We know there’s going to be adversity and probably going to be adversity this week. There’s so many guys that have played in big games that I’m counting those guys to rise up and raising their level of play, and, more importantly challenging those guys who have not played at this level yet that it’s no different than us going at each other on a Wednesday in August when tempers are flaring and we are going ones versus one and it’s a battle. It’ll be a different atmosphere for sure, but that’s the competitive spirit and excitement you want. I am excited because our upperclassmen and captains are doing a great job of leading.”
On the fourth-down play that went for a long touchdown against Bowling Green...
“I told him (Skylar Thompson) when he came off the field, I said, ‘I hope that shows you how much confidence we as a staff have in you.’ He knows we have tremendous confidence in him, but I knew that he was going to get us in the right play and he was going to execute it. If it wouldn’t have been successful, if they would have called it back or something, I wouldn’t have changed my thought. I think it’s really important, especially at that position, that you instill as much confidence in those guys as you can to say, ‘Hey this is your game. It’s 4th and 3, go make a play.’ One thing that we talking about prior to that snap is that the ball was going to be in his hands, whether it be a run pass option, we were just going to throw quick game. But, they ended up pressing and Skylar thought Malik (Knowles) could beat him on a fade route and gave him a shot. It shows you as much about Malik as well of making a big play on fourth down.”
On going for the home run on fourth down in other situations…
“It all depends. It depends on the field position, the situation, all those things. I can’t answer that based on week to week what we’d do.”
On the heat and humidity affecting the game…
“Absolutely it does. We’ve had some heat and humidity here, but not near enough and not as much as we’re going to have down in Starkville. We’re hoping that it is going to be hot. At least it is going to be humid here these next few days. We were outside yesterday, although the sun wasn’t out, it was at least humid, so we were able to get outside. I’m hopeful and confident that all the training that these guys did in July when it was really humid, was hot with Coach (Chris) Dawson - when chips are down and you’re tired and gassed, boy you really have to fight through it. I’m hoping that helps us as well as these next few days. The fact that it’s a non-conference game and we can take a few more bodies helps us as well. We full well know that we are going to have to rotate a number of bodies in there early on so that we stay as fresh as we can in the second half.”
On the importance of getting pressure on the quarterback…
“That’s an area we know we have to continue the guys to challenge and improve, is our pass rush. I think we’ve had some really good individual pass-rush situations. Once again, we haven’t had that many plays to do it in that many critical situations. We’ve played a lot of backups and not the starters. Where we have to get better at is working together, whether it’s a tackle and an end in a gain or two tackles on a gain, whatever it may be. We’ve got to continue to improve upon in that area. I know there’s a lot of veteran guys who have had a lot of success, just not getting in the right situation. Maybe that’s no different than its a critical 3rd and 8 in the game on Saturday. Can one of those veteran guys made a big play for us?”
On having any experience against an SEC team...
“I don’t. There was a game they were trying to schedule with Alabama when we were at North Dakota State, and I’m glad that they didn’t do that. Obviously, I’m excited about the opportunity. (I’ve) been down to that area and spoke at Georgia a couple of years ago. I got to see the environment and all that stuff. It’ll be a great experience for all of us. As a coaching staff, we’ve got a number of coaches that have been in and coached against the SEC for a number of years. Our players are excited about the opportunity to go down there. They know as well as I do that this is not a win-at-all-costs game. We need to play our best football to have a chance to be successful, but we’re going to go in there with the hope and the thought that if we play our best, we have an opportunity to be successful. That’s all I’m hoping for, that we play our best football on Saturday and see where we’re at.”
On the opportunity to showcase K-State on ESPN after College Gameday…
“Sure it is, but I think you hope that you measure yourself every week. I don’t care if we’re on whatever station. You get an opportunity to tee it up, and you only get 12 opportunities all year and none of them our guaranteed. We have a couple of guys that have lost their seasons whether it’s (Adam) Harter or Justin Hughes. You never know when it’s your last play. I don’t care where we’re playing, who we’re playing, you have an opportunity to play this game - it’s the greatest game out there - you make sure you’re prepared for yourself, make sure you’re prepared for your teammate and your brother next to you so we can put your best foot forward each Saturday.”
On the back-up quarterbacks…
“I was pleased with both of them being able to complete a pass or two. That was the big key for us. Obviously, there are some different things we do with John (Holcombe II) than we do with Nick (Ast), but I was pleased that we threw a couple of strikes outside in somewhat critical situations for them. Every situation, I don’t care if its fifth-year senior or a redshirt freshman or a true freshman, no matter what time of game it is, it’s your opportunity. I was really pleased. I know Nick had a really good completion to Seth (Porter) or to Landry (Weber) on a 3rd and 2 or a 3rd and 3, and he had another one on maybe a 4th and 1 or 4th and 2 to Josh Youngblood. Those are big plays for him from a confidence standpoint. Collin (Klein) and I visited again this week - each week we’ll just see who has the better week, but they’re both in the plan. We could use both of them.”
On what Skylar Thompson has to do to be successful against Mississippi State...
“He just has to play within himself, play within the system and the scheme and take what the defense gives him. Right now, he has been able to take some shots with some people that have been playing some press because of the fact that everybody had to come up closer to the line of scrimmage and try to stop the run. This week we don’t know, are we are going to see man or are we going see zone? He’s has to do a great job of just seeing the big picture, seeing what he sees, and between he, Mess (Courtney Messingham) and Coach (Collin) Klein, get us in the best play and play within himself.”
SKYLAR THOMPSON, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK
On the leadership stepping up when the team has adversity…
“Our leadership is going to show. We have some great guys, all seven of our captains are upperclassmen or guys that do a great job of leading, and it’s going to be important for us to bring everyone together whenever that may present itself. I trust what I’ve done for this football team and the sacrifice that I’ve put in to lead this football team to know when things are going to get challenging. We experience some rough patches that there are going to be some eyes turned to me if not everybody’s eyes to see how I’m responding and how I’m dealing with it. I just have to keep on keeping on. That’s the biggest thing, and stay positive. That’s the most important aspect is just being positive. It’s so contagious being positive, even when it’s hard to be positive. I’m going to mentally prepare myself for how I’m going to handle those things if they do present themselves to where it’s not going to be brand new to me. I trust our leadership, trust my teammates and trust our coaching staff. We’ll be fine. It’s just very important that we stick together whenever we face some adversity because it’s going to happen.”
On facing little adversity thus far…
“I wouldn’t take back anything from the first two games. I feel like we played great, and we can’t control that stuff, obviously. But it’s just going to be something new to us if that is going to happen. We’ll be fine. Coach Klieman is a great leader, and he will get us prepared for that and our whole coaching staff will as well. It’s going to come down to our leadership and the guys on our football team sticking together. When times get harder, that’s when you have to come closer together and not pull apart and separate. It’s going to be important that I remind our team of that and James (Gilbert) and Adam Holtorf and (Dalton) Schoen and (Denzel) Goolsby, all those guys that are in leadership roles to step up and let’s bring it together and call people out if it’s not like that. When times get hard, if you are going to back out and fall away from our football team, then we don’t want you. We are going to keep going without you. Everybody on our team is so bought into our goals are and what our mission is. I know we will be ready to go whenever that happens.”
ADAM HOLTORF, SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN
On quarterback Skylar Thompson…
“He’s got a ton of confidence out there. You can tell that he’s doesn’t get flustered by situations and he’s able to handle that extremely well this year. To know that he is going to go out there and give it his all is something that motivates a lot of us, and I think a lot of people feed off of that. I think it’s helped our offense out a lot this year.”
On the touchdown throw on fourth down…
“I was excited. I knew the play call, so I knew we were throwing the ball. I didn’t know we were taking a shot like that. You kind of just stop when you see the ball release and go, it’s a moment of pause then you see that he put the ball on him and Malik (Knowles) caught it. It was extremely exciting just because, I told Coach Klieman when they were reviewing the call before the PAT, I love the call. Not only going for it, but taking a shot like that on fourth down was extremely exciting.”
On coaches having confidence in the offense…
“I think the confidence is to put it in our hands to make the play. As long as we continue to execute and have success with it, there’s no reason for him to stray from that. He’s got a lot of confidence in us and I appreciate that confidence and it means a lot to all of us.”
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