Thank you to K-State Athletics Communications for sending out the following coach and player quotes from Tuesday's Kansas State football press conference.

CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH

Opening Statement…

“Good afternoon everybody. Putting a little closure on Saturday, going back and looking at things, a couple of things really stuck out. One, what we had to do was stay on the field and we weren’t able to stay on the field. I think we were 1-of-12 or 1-of-13 on third downs. You can’t do that with the type of offense that we want to play, and just explosive plays too - they had 10 explosive plays for 20 (yards) or more and we had like two. Those are two big factors that we had won in the first few games and didn’t, obviously, win on Saturday. We cleaned a lot of things up as a coaching staff that we talked about on Sunday. I think the biggest thing was the amount of things we had in on third down with the two weeks to prepare. We carved that up a little bit, Mess (Courtney Messingham) and I and the offensive staff visited about that. Obviously, we’re still constructing the game plan, but we need to be a lot simpler on third down. We had a good workout yesterday in preparation for a really good Baylor team that’s 4-0. (They have) been playing well and playing with a lot of confidence, so we have our hands full this week.”

On the offensive game plan against Oklahoma State…

“I think the biggest thing was just the amount of calls that we probably had on offensively, especially on third down. Part of that is having the two weeks to prepare; you just keep looking at stuff and finding things. Efficiency of running the football in the second half on first down, I think we were 7-of-8 on four or more yards, and I would have not thought that. It doesn’t mean we were successful then, ultimately, on second or third (down), but our first down efficiency in the second half was better than I thought.”

On how crucial the next three games at home are….

“The fact that we’re just coming home in general is good because it has been since early September since we’ve been at home. I just look at this next one, forget that there’s three in a row at home. This is the most important game. It’s the most important week of preparation. Today’s the biggest day because we have to continue to improve, and that’s something that we talked about with the older guys and the captains. In all phases we need to get better. It is going to be a big week for us.”

On what is making Baylor’s rush defense effective…

“A couple things - one, it’s an older defense. (There are) a lot of upperclassmen on defense that have played a lot of football. They’re hitting their fits really fast, and I think they’re flying to the football. They’re really fast on defense. They know what they’re doing on defense. I’ve been really impressed watching those guys fly around.”

On if he has any more clarity on how long Malik Knowles will be out…

“I do not have any more clarity. It truly will be a week-to-week deal. We’re hoping he can do some things this week in practice.”

On working in other players at wide receiver…

“We’re going to look at everybody, but we also have to design some things for those guys to get open and design some things where we protect a little longer so that we can find some openings and find some cracks. Without question, we’ll look at everybody, but we’re also going to do a little bit more K-State vs. K-State this week than we did last week. We did it during the open week (but) didn’t do it much last week. We’ll get back to it so that all the wide outs are going against the top corners and top safeties during the week.”

On what has impressed him about Elijah Sullivan…

“For starters, he moved from Will linebacker to Mike backer in practice 14 or 13 of spring ball when J-Ball (Justin Hughes) got hurt. Being a Will backer for most of his life to go to play the middle doesn’t seem like a lot to the laymen people, but in football terms, that’s tough because you’re the quarterback of the defense now. He’s done a really good job of settling in there. Then when we lost Fletch (Cody Fletcher) and moved him back to Will, he had to play both spots. That’s difficult on anybody, especially someone that’s just learning a new position. I think he’s playing better and better, and I think he’s getting more comfortable. We played him at nothing but Mike last week, which I think allowed him to get comfortable and allowed him to play faster.”

On the offensive play of John Holcombe II...

“He plays fast. That’s one thing that we were excited about watching John. He gets off the football fast. He can block the point of attack. We put him at tight end during the week of practice, and he’s physical. He blocked the point of attack. He wants to be involved, and that’s a really good thing. Now, technique-wise, knowing the tight end position or the flex position is going to take some time, but he’s at least wanting to learn so that he can help our football team. So, he’s doing some really good things. Now is he ready to play 60 snaps there, no, but we’re hopeful that the more he can understand, he can be out there.”

On miscommunication when John Holcombe II came into the game at OSU...

“I think one of them was read wrong on a wristband. (On) one of them, I don’t think we had the right personnel out there. There’s no question they were both supposed to be out there and we had miscommunication. It can’t happen though. We have to clean it up. It absolutely can’t happen.”

On establishing the physical run game at the start of a game…

“Well, we need to have it go for 60 minutes more than just the start of the game. We need to be able to avoid 2nd and 10 and avoid 3rd and 8. I’m confident in our offensive line’s ability because we have a bunch of older guys there that know that we need to identify things and play faster and play better there. For us to be successful on offense, we have to be able to rush the football. Does that mean we have to rush it for 300 yards? No, but we have to rush it with enough success to open up the play action.”

On if they were handcuffed offensively at OSU because of the lack of running game...

“Yeah, for the most part because we couldn’t stay on the field. We couldn’t get into a rhythm. If you have an eight- nine-, 10-play drive, maybe you can get into a rhythm. All of that being said, we’re down 10-0 and Wyatt (Hubert) makes a strip-sack and we have the ball 1st and 10 and we have it 2nd and 1 at the 30 (yard line), that if we get a first down and get points out of that drive, whether it’s 10-3 or 10-7, does the game change? I don’t know but it gives us more confidence. Instead, we have a penalty and we don’t get the first down, and now it kind of took a little momentum away. Does that mean it was going to change the outcome? Not necessarily, but it would’ve helped our momentum.”

On if the staff looks at injuries differently with a bye week after the Baylor game…

“We avoid that. Fletch (Cody Fletcher) practiced yesterday. Does that mean he is going to play this week? No, but at least he’s back practicing. We had a number of guys that missed practice yesterday, but that’s pretty typical after a Big 12 game. I don’t think anybody will be out, but we just had a number of guys that missed. If Malik (Knowles) can do some things - and we’ll find out Wednesday or Thursday if he can do some things - then we’re going to play him. I just can’t tell you if he’ll be able to or not until Mindy (Hoffman) and the medical staff gets him out of the boot to see what he can do on Wednesday or Thursday.”

On one or two guys that could step up in the absence of Malik Knowles…

“It’s all of them. It’s all of them. And it’s the offensive line, and it’s the quarterbacks, it’s the running backs, it’s the defense, it’s everybody. Everybody had to play better when we didn’t have Wyatt Hubert at Mississippi State, everybody did play better. If we don’t have Malik, everybody has to raise their level of play up.”

On Cody Fletcher possibly playing four games and redshirting…

“We haven’t really discussed that just because I know how much he wants to play and how thin we are, not necessarily at the linebacker position - we are a little bit there with three - but on special teams as well.

On what it was like to show the team to new helmets and pants...

“It was pretty cool. (It’s) something we’ve been talking about for an awful long time with the white helmet and white pants. With Kenny’s (Lannou) crew and visiting with us of when we were going to pull that out. We didn’t want to do it early in the season. We wanted to wait until a conference game, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it. We needed to unveil it yesterday just so that the guys, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, had a chance to wear the helmet. That’s the biggest thing. You can’t unveil that on a Friday. The kids would freak out if they had to put a helmet on they hadn’t worn for the whole week. I didn’t want to put it out in the open week and have that out there for two weeks. So, this seemed like the right time.”

On if there are other changes in the future...

“It’s the same thing - let’s just start with this week and see where we are at. We’re just trying to get through week to week.”

On what goes into cleaning up missed assignments…

“You just said it both - breaking it down in film and then taking what you learned in the classroom to an individual setting in practice where you’re just working with your own position, to maybe a group setting, where you’re working with the tight ends and O-linemen or the running backs and quarterbacks, (then) taking it into a team setting, where you’re working against the first defense, to taking it into a scout-team setting. It’s repetition, repetition, repetition. The one thing that we need to do a better job of is, you can watch something and feel like you understand how to block it, how to scheme it up, how to make sure you’re in the right fit on defense, but when the pictures change, which they always do every Saturday because not everybody lines up in the same things that you practiced, you just have to be ready to adapt and adjust. I’ll be honest - with us just being three games into our tenure here, there’s a lot adapting and adjusting we haven’t been able to do yet. You look at the three games we have had, we had two blowout wins where we played a half, then we played a really good football game at Mississippi State. We have two games of things to evaluate and continue to try to adapt and adjust when people do some things differently. That’s something that nobody wants to hear, but we’re going to go through some of those growing pains, and we have to find our way through those and make sure we eliminate some of those mistakes. All of that being said, our kids played their absolute tails off for 60 minutes, and with seven minutes, left we’re down 10 and have a chance to get a stop on 3rd and 3. That tells me these kids never gave up, they were battling all the way to the end and we had a chance late.”

On the special teams at Oklahoma State…

“Well, I was really pleased with Blake (Lynch) because he came and banged in a couple of long field goals that we’re going to need him to continue to be accurate and continue to have great confidence. I thought Devin (Anctil) punted the ball well. We need to shore up some things in protection on punt. It wasn’t maybe as close as it may have looked live to a block, but we need to shore things up. We’re always trying to get better at the return game. Obviously, we had the big one against Mississippi State, but that’s an ongoing battle of always trying to improve on our return game.”

On the leadership of linebacker Elijah Sullivan…

“He’s done more by example. I want him to be more vocal, but when you weren’t the vocal guy and all of a sudden you’re thrust into that role, sometimes it takes time to feel comfortable, to get out of your comfort zone. He’s starting to do that. He can do it by his play because everybody really respects how fast he plays, how hard he plays. I want him, and I’ll challenge him, to be more vocal, but I just love the way he’s playing and how fast he’s playing. There are no loafs. There are no plays off. That kid plays at a million miles an hour, and that’s what I so appreciate is when you turn on film, you say, ‘Boy, that kid loves the game and loves to play.’ Now, can he be more vocal? You bet, and we need him to be more vocal.”

On how hard quarterback Skylar Thompson took the loss at Oklahoma State…

“You know, he took it hard, just like I took it hard, just like everybody that cares takes it hard. I had a pretty good visit with him in my office yesterday. A couple things, one, how proud I was of the way he competed and how he never gave in and never got down and he never got discouraged. Even if he did, he didn’t show it, he just kept battling. Then we talked about some things schematically that we’d like to maybe make some adjustments on; some things, schematically, that I would like for him to be more involved with. That’s the progression of a quarterback. That’s the progression of somebody that’s still learning our system. I know that as highly competitive as he is, I’m excited to watch him continue to grow as we move forward this year.”

On his initial thought on the name, image and likeness bill passed in California...

“It was going to come sooner or later. I still think there’s going to be a bunch of layers to it that we’re going to learn about over the next three and four years. So, I know the landscape of the NCAA and all of those things are changing. Let’s just see how we all adapt to it over the next three or four years. Did I make an initial thought on it? Not really, just because it’s kind of a long ways away, but I know that we need to - probably in off-seasons - be proactive on what we’re going to do.”

On if Kansas needs to pass a similar law if more states do...

“I don’t really have an opinion on it.”

On what the staff learned on two drives at OSU where they picked up nine yards but no first downs…

“Well, pretty simple, you need to get a first down. I don’t mind us taking a shot like we did to Nick Lenners on the one. That was a really well-designed play, and they covered it pretty well, but we still had an opportunity there. You still need to be able to get a yard on third, fourth down, whatever it may be. That’s the frustrating part that I know Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham) and the offensive staff are continuing to battle and continuing to understand that we have to stay on the field. I thought our defense did a nice job, but we have to stay on the field. They (Oklahoma State) only had 60-some plays; they were just really productive 60-some plays. If we could’ve gotten our play count into the 60s and limited them another 10 snaps, it would’ve helped us. We just have to stay on the field.”

On Baylor’s offensive backfield and quarterback Charlie Brewer…

“I think they’re really good at the skill positions, and it starts with the quarterback. I think he’s a tremendous football players. (He) can beat you with his arm, can beat you with his legs. (He) keeps plays alive really, really well. I was really impressed with him, obviously, watching the first few games where they had some blowout wins, but against Iowa State, that does an awful lot of things on defense - pressures and different pictures - I thought he managed the game exceptionally well. Then, on the two-minute drive, he won the game. He just flat won it because he just made plays. It starts with him, but they have really good backs and receivers. “

On emphasizing the fact that Baylor is good at blocking kicks…

“You bet. It’s always a big emphasis, but those things do alarm us, just like when we had the big return against Mississippi State. I know that people know that special teams is always good at K-State, but I think that made Oklahoma State put that much more emphasis on it. Same thing with us - they (Baylor) have blocked a number of kicks. A lot of it is penetration and guys getting after it and refusing to be blocked because it’s not like they had anybody free coming. They did a great job of and got the penetration and were able to get the block. Just your technique, you’re fundamentals, all the things you work on from the spring to fall camp. You have to make sure you show up in that phase of the game.”

On taking losses harder because they have been few and far between...

“You take them harder, I’ll be honest. At North Dakota State, every win felt like a relief, and that’s terrible to say. It really is terrible to say that it as a relief because you were a target every week. Everybody circled that game every week for eight years. So, you won a game, and I’d come home and say, ‘Man, why am I not enjoying this? I’m more relieved.’ So when you did lose, it just tore your heart out and it does. I’m a competitor by nature, and I was really frustrated in myself that we didn’t win. I was frustrated in general that we didn’t play our best football. But, I think it’s going to reveal a lot of things from character, resolve, the leadership. It starts with me then spreads out through Mess (Courtney Messingham) and Haze (Scottie Hazelton), to the staff, to the players. When adversity strikes, you better be able to rise up, and that’s the message we’ve given the guys and we’ve talked about it as a staff. Nobody wants to lose, everything’s worse during the week. That’s just the reality of it. Sometimes people get lost in the fact that you win a game you shouldn’t win, you still won the game. Nobody’s at the end of the season is going to say, ‘You know what? You should’ve been 7-5 but you’re 8-4.’ I’d say, ‘So, we were 8-4.’ It’s like, ‘You shouldn’t have won a National Championship because you should’ve lost game whatever.’ ‘So, we won the National Championship.’ That’s all that people worry about at the end of the year. So losing stinks.”

On if Baylor does something unique…

“I think the unique thing is that they transformed their defense from the last time K-State played them. The last time that K-State played them, obviously I wasn’t a part of that of that, but (Alex) Barnes ripped them. They were in a lot of four-down and now they are in a ton of three-down. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know if that had anything to do with the schematic change, but they are much more three-down. Whatever we saw in last year’s game we don’t want to even use because it’s so different last year to this year.”

On adjusting to different defenses…

“We have to identify it better, more than anything. We have to identify the stacks, so to speak, and the levels of the linebackers so that we don’t give up that penetration. You’re exactly right. You can get the edge if you can stop the penetration. If you can’t stop the penetration, you can’t get the edge, you can’t crease them inside. That’s something that, obviously, we learned an off lot, I hope, from Saturday, the inside penetration, especially in a three-down front with backers and against Baylor their safeties will be blitzing a lot.”

On his favorite detail of the white helmet…

“I don’t have one. It’s all different and new to you guys. I don’t get caught up in it. We could wear whatever, and we better play better and play well in what we’re in. So, no, I don’t get caught up in the uniforms.”

SKYLAR THOMPSON, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK

On his favorite part of the new helmet…

“I like the cursive Cats on the front part of the helmet. (That’s) probably the coolest detail I like. I think it all looks good. I like how it’s pretty simple. It’s not too much or too flashy, but it looks really clean.”

On what Coach Klieman said to him after the Oklahoma State game…

“He just told me that he was really proud of the way I battled and didn’t give up, and the way that I led our football team even through the midst of a lot of adversity. He just told me to keep doing what I’m doing, control what I can control and keep trying to get better each and every day. He said it would pay off for me. It was a good heartfelt conversation. We are on the same page, myself and the rest of the team with him. Obviously, it was a tough loss, but the energy and spirit in our team is nothing is changed, same with our coaches. We know we need to correct some things and get better at some things, so that’s what we are going to focus on this week (to) get ready to go play Baylor, because there’s a lot of similarity between what Baylor does and what Oklahoma State did. They’re probably going to watch the Oklahoma State film and see what they had success with, and we’ll have a chance to see it again. Who knows what the case may be, we just need to be ready to make adjustments. I think that’s the biggest key is it’s kind of hard. There’s not a lot of similar personnel groupings in the Big 12 to what we do as far as the heavier stuff, so it’s hard to anticipate exactly what a team is going to do to us or play us. We just have to be able to adjust better on the sidelines.”

On the team’s mood after a loss…

“I think it definitely woke some people up, that we can obviously be beat and we aren’t invincible. We have to come to work every day and not take a day for granted, because anybody can beat us. This conference is pretty deep from top to bottom, and there’s not a give me win. I think that kind of opened everybody’s eyes that we really need to bring it each and every game, but I would say the mood and the attitude is the same. The guys in the locker room are still really upbeat and excited. It’s a great opportunity for us to bounce back and get back on track going into a bye week. I think it’s just about us focusing on little details and going back and watching the film. There’s just so many little detailed things that, if we did right, it might have changed the outcome of the game. Not converting on a couple short-yardage third downs on their side of the 50, just a lot of what-ifs. You can’t control those things or look back. It’s just about focusing on today and this week and just putting that behind us and letting that fuel us for this week. We just have to stick together and not turn on each other, which I know is not the case at all, we have a great group of guys in our locker room that really love each other and care for each other, and we want to win. There’s nobody that was more disappointed than our team and our coaching staff. You could tell guys cared in the locker room, I’ll tell you that. There was a lot of emotion going on. Guys were pretty upset. That was good for me to see as one of the leaders on the team. I think people being bought in is not a problem. So we just need to focus on the little things and be ready to go play Baylor this weekend.”

AJ PARKER, JUNIOR CORNERBACK

On the alternate uniforms…

“We are very excited. That’s something that you always dream about, getting new uniforms, a new helmet and new pants. So we are excited to have that and glad Coach Klieman brought them for us. I love the helmets - all white helmets are nice. I like the helmets.”

On how long new uniforms had been talked about…

“Since I’ve been here. It’s been one of those things where we’ve always talked about new uniforms or change something here for just one game or something. As players, we always look forward to a uniform change up. We always had hope. We did something every year, like the camo (helmets) that one year. So we’ve always done something, but this is the one year that we changed the helmet and the pants.”

WYATT HUBERT, SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE END

On the team’s mindset…

“The mindset is pretty positive right now. We lost one game, and it was a tough loss. The thing that’s positive about it is that all those mistakes that we made are definitely fixable mistakes and that's just one side of it.”

On the new uniforms…

“The new uniforms are definitely something cool and change up the program. I don’t know if you guys believe in the saying, ‘Look good, feel good, play good,’ but there's a lot of guys who believe in that saying. It’s definitely nice to have a little bit of swag on this team with such traditional uniforms. I think we are going to keep those traditional uniforms, those will always be in the program just like teams like Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, that will always have their traditional, throwback uniform. It’s always nice to change it up a little bit.”

JAMES GILBERT, SENIOR RUNNING BACK

On what stood out the most against Oklahoma State...

“As players, we didn’t execute at a high level like we usually do. It wasn’t the play calling because we watched the film and there were opportunities for big plays to happen, we just didn’t execute and that’s on us. We’ll get better. We couldn’t wait to get out to practice yesterday and execute a little bit better.

On what plays stood out after watching the film...

“There were a couple times that Coach (Courtney) Messingham pointed out six or seven plays where we could have made an explosive play and got into the red zone or score a touchdown. So, we just have to execute as players. It’s not the play calling, it’s not nothing else. We just have to believe and execute better.”

On the Oklahoma State defensive front…

“It was pretty good. They gave us a lot of different looks that we weren’t prepared for, but I feel like in the second half, we started figuring out what to do and move the ball better. They were a good football team.”

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