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Transcript: Tuesday press conference (10.8.19)

Thank you for K-State Athletics Communications for providing much of the transcript we are sharing below from Tuesday's Kansas State football press conference.

All videos provided by Matt Hall.

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CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH

Opening Statement…

“Good afternoon everybody. Our guys are anxious to get back to work today. (We) have a big important week ahead of us. We had a good meeting yesterday, team meeting and practice, although we were just in spiders. Today we’ll be in full pads. Obviously, we need to make a number of corrections; identifying those and making sure we hit on those things. I know the players and coaches were disappointed from Saturday because we didn’t meet the expectations that we want to have. It’s something we’re going to learn from and move forward. It’s easy to praise everybody when you’re successful, and it’s easy to be negative when you’re not successful. I think sometimes in this world we’re probably too negative. So, we’re going to emphasize the things that have to get corrected and continue to work and continue to grow with the guys because that’s the only thing we can do and the only thing we know how to do. (We) just get back to work and go play.”

On how the younger players have been able to contribute through five games…

“Because we’ve put them in positions in practice, for starters, to try to give them the sense of what it would be like in a game because of how we practice. I think there’s a lot of pressure and stress in the practice setting that helps them. You also don’t know how they’re going to perform when the lights really go on. I’ve been pleased. I know that the future’s now, but the future’s also bright because we’re playing an awful lot of guys. They’re still a handful of guys that we discussed about on Sunday that are really close to playing. Whether that means we’re going to play them the rest of the games or just play the four. This will be a big week because we are going to put those guys into a lot of situations where they’re going, maybe not against a first-team guy, but maybe against a guy that’s maybe the third wide out and he’s the third corner to see how close they are, because we are going to move them forward.”

On wide receiver Joshua Youngblood and running back Joe Ervin contributing…

“Josh, obviously, had high expectations coming in, and we all knew about Josh. He is somebody we’ve visited about with you guys at length. Each week in practice, I just see him gaining more confidence. He played fast on Saturday. I take the kick returns, for example. A couple of them - we’ll get him corrected, I don’t think he should bring them out - but he’s a true freshman and we have to help him in those situations. But the moment wasn’t too big for him. He hit the hole hard and played with some urgency. Even away from the ball sometimes, he does a really good job of getting open or a really good job of blocking. As far as Joe, with us losing Jordon (Brown) for a little bit, we wanted to get another back involved that had a little bit of juice like Joe does, so we gave him a few carries, and we were really pleased with what we saw. Same thing (as Joshua) - the stage wasn’t too big for him, and I think moving forward, you’ll see more of both of those guys.”

On metrics or stats he pays attention to other than points...

“The easy thing would be turnover margin, but I think the one that we have looked at through the first five weeks is the explosive plays - 20 yards or more. It’s an emphasis on defense that we have to limit and eliminate. Most of that stuff is tackling. With us being in more single-high stuff with one free safety, you’re going to give up a back shoulder fade on a corner for 22 yards - all of us can live with that - but we can’t give up an explosive play where we have him pinned in or we should make a tackle. Then offensively, we need to have a few more explosive plays. Some of those are protection, some of those are making a guy miss, some of those are getting open, all of those things. That’s probably the biggest statistic that we need to get flipped.”

On how long it takes the light switch for a true freshman to turn on...

“Everybody’s different. Josh (Youngblood) is further ahead simply because I think he did a phenomenal job during the summer of trying to learn as much as he could from the older guys, and it just came to him a little bit easier. Positions are different, wideout maybe is a little bit easier. I keep going back - and I’ve said this to you before - Cooper Beebe is one of the most impressive freshmen that I’ve seen. Cooper Beebe will be a great football player for Kansas State, but he’s a true freshman that’s not quite ready to play in Big 12 and more from a mental side of things. So every position may be different, every player may be different, but those are just two pretty good examples.”

On lessons learned through the first two games of Big 12 play…

“Just try not to out-think yourself sometimes. I think we did a little bit during the delay at Oklahoma State trying to reinvent the wheel because we had an hour and a half. ‘Let’s see what else we can draw up. What other things we can create.’ Sometimes all the things you work on, you should have just stuck with. I think they start with me. More than anything, we just continue to learn our talent and what we are capable of having. What are we capable of making a lot of adjustments at the quarterback position? Probably. Are we capable of making a lot of adjustments at the corner position? Probably. At certain positions, we’re not as experienced. We can’t do that.”

On how long he is expecting to be without Jordon Brown…

“Boy, I would still say he’s still a few weeks away. I would be knocking on wood for Oklahoma. I know he’s not going to be with us this week, and I doubt for next week.”

On the progress of the running game...

“I think we were obviously much better this past week than we were against Oklahoma State. I thought we ran the ball with some success against Baylor. What we have to eliminate is the negative plays. We’re getting seven, we’re getting eight, we’re getting nine (yards). Then we miss a block, we miss a read, we miss a cut, then, all of a sudden, you lose two, you lose three. That’s the thing we have to eliminate, and it’s everybody. It’s not the O-line, it’s not the backs, it’s not the tight end and it’s not the quarterback. It’s a collective group that we have to eliminate the negative plays.”

On making adjustments and making things simpler...

“I think you always have to do that, absolutely. I think you always have to. We talked a little bit on Sunday and Monday - moving forward, what’s going to be our identity because over the next seven weeks, this is what we have and what we’re going to do. We also know we have to be able to run the football. We have to be able to stop the run, however we do that. Are we more of a pressure team on defense? Are we more of a man team? Are we more of a zone team? Those are things that we’re looking at throughout this entire week. We’re focusing on Kansas State more than we are TCU. Same thing on the offensive side - are we better running the ball spread out? Are we better running the ball condensed? Are we better running the ball under center? Are we better running the ball out of shotgun? We’ll do all those things because I think that’s what makes it more difficult to defend is when you can do more things, but you also have to be able to hang your hat on something.”

On recruiting more community-college players or staying the course with developing freshmen...

“I think you have to have a mix of both. You look at the offensive line position - it’s a great position in the fact that there’s so many upperclassmen. Yes, you’re going to look at a junior college player there, but do they fit? Can they get out early or are they a May guy? Can you find a high school guy that is 280 and can be 310 in a year? Can you find a high school guy that is 240 and is 310 in three years? Those are the things that we’re tossing around every day up there, but that’s just one position. So I don’t think we would say, ‘Nope, sorry. We’re only going to take high school kids,’ or, ‘You know what guys? We have to go find eight junior college kids.’ I never will do that just because I still am a long-term plan guy. To somebody’s point earlier - we have some really good freshmen. So if we keep recruiting really good freshmen, we’re going to have a solid foundation for longer.”

On the four-game redshirt rule getting players experience without burning the year…

“We have to be cautious. Like Josh (Joshua Youngblood) - he’s just going to play. Joe Ervin I think has played in a couple. We have to make some decisions, but part of that is Jordon Brown. I don’t want to burn a guy’s shirt if he can’t help us substantially, play a bunch of snaps for us. The guys know about it, that’s the thing. The players are more educated on it now of, ‘How many games I’ve played. Am I playing enough? Everybody wants to play. Every freshman wants to play. It’s us trying to tell those guys, ‘Trust me. In four years, when you’re a redshirt senior, you’re going to look at me and say, ‘Thank you for holding my year so I’m able to play as a 22-year old.’’”

On the last two games and small details turning into negative plays...

“I don’t think it’s maddening. I don’t want to put my whole life on that. I understand it’s a process, and I understand, is it ability? Is it coaching? Is it scheme? Is it lack of experience under our scheme? I think we look at everything. The one thing I promise everyone in here is, there’s no stone unturned. We’re up there all day Sunday, all night Sunday night and Monday night trying to find the things, trying to see what will make us better. I think that’s the challenge and that’s the thing that excites me so much is, you’re right, I haven’t been in this position before, but it excites me because I knew when I took the job that there were going to be challenges. I think the greater challenge is, the greater reward. That’s what we’ve expressed to the coaches and guys is that’s why we have to stay the course.”

You mentioned earlier you were overthinking some things as coaches in those Big 12 games. Do you feel like it was at all, maybe, trying to learn how to coach in the Big 12, or is it just that was that game?

"No. That has nothing to do with that. I don't think that is... No, not at all. That hour and a half (the lightning delay he referenced earlier at Oklahoma State)... I said one game, I didn't say multiple Big 12 games we did that; I said one game. That was one game. Once again, it doesn't matter what level you are at. We beat Iowa State. We beat Kansas State. We beat KU. We beat Iowa. We beat Minnesota at a different level, and uou guys always want to emphasize that level. I'm just going to keep telling you football is football. You guys can believe what you want, and I'll believe what I want."

On if he has had any different thoughts on the Big 12 through two games...

“No. I think it’s pretty much what I thought it would be. Even the two games we’ve played, the two defenses have been an aggressive style. Offensively, you’ve got to have weapons, bottom line. You have to have weapons. Whether it’s wideouts, running backs, quarterbacks. I’ve been really impressed, but it also goes to show you, it doesn’t matter what you did one week, it doesn’t mean you’re going to win the next week. I don’t know if anybody would have thought Texas Tech would have beaten Oklahoma State, and sure enough, they did. So that’s why I look at it big picture and say, ‘We have to focus on this week and getting our work done and getting better to face the next opponent,’ and not worry about, ‘Well, what’s in game three down the line and game nine down the line?’ We just have to focus on our job.”

On if he keeps bye week routines the same or change them up in season...

“I think it all depends on when they are. If we had this in week nine, I think everybody is beat to heck, and you have to be smart with them. We just came off a bye week, we played two games, then we have another bye week. So, we are doing things a little bit differently, simply because this is the last bye week we have. We want to get some looks at some younger players. So, we’ll put guys in positions. We’ll even scrimmage on one day a little bit with the young guys that maybe we haven’t played as much. We now will look at more of where’s the areas we’ve struggled at? Here’s an area we’ve struggled in - the high red-zone, between the 25 and 35-yard line. Getting things established there. So we’ll look at it and say, ‘We’re going to go our one offense against our one defense and work in that high red zone. We’ll do that today and we’ll find another area tomorrow rather than saying, ‘Ok, we’ll just spend two solid weeks on TCU.’”

On the play of wide receiver Phillip Brooks against Baylor…

“I saw that coming with Phillip because I think he gets better and better. I think with Phillip, it’s just a confidence level. He’s a really quiet, reserved guy, but he’s a competitor. I was really pleased to see him be one of the go-to guys and make play after play. I know that Skylar (Thompson) was excited to see that. The kid made plays. I think Sammy Wheeler made a couple of really good plays that’s going to help us, and Dalton Schoen played one of his best games. So, even though we didn’t have Malik (Knowles), some other guys stepped up. Josh Youngblood is another one.”

On what has impressed him about Devin Anctil…

“His ability to place the football. He’s got a great leg, everybody knows that. (He) gets the ball off on time. The ability to directionally punt the ball where we ask him to punt it, whether it was into the wind or with the wind, that’s tough to do. As he progresses and continues to improve on all of his mechanics, I think he has the ability to punt on Sundays.”

On if he had better depth at North Dakota State the last few years compared to now…

“Yeah, but we were there for eight years. You have everybody that’s in the upper midwest that knows nothing about any other school because there’s not a whole lot going on in North Dakota. They all wanted to walk-on there. To kids in western North Dakota, the only school in the country is North Dakota State. The great thing about the state of Kansas is there’s so many junior colleges here, there’s a bunch of Division II schools here, that everybody comes here. That’s a credit to the state and it gives kids more opportunities. In the state of North Dakota, there’s not that many opportunities. So, we were able to get a ton of kids a partial scholarship or to get to walk-on because that was their goal, that was their dream. So, if you have those kids for five years, they’re obviously going to improve.”

On his message to the senior class and facing adversity…

“Basically just to challenge them. If you see something, say something. Take ownership. Sometimes it's a correction, it’s not to chastise somebody or just to rip somebody. I think sometimes it’s just to coddle somebody, put your arm around them and say, ‘Hey, here’s what you have to do to be successful. Follow me. Watch what I do in the weight room. Watch what I do at practice.’ To the younger players, especially the ones that aren’t playing, I get it. Every freshman, every redshirt freshman wants to be the guy to play. Some of them are ready, some of them are not. Sometimes they need to be told, ‘You’re not there yet, but let me help you get there.’ I’m pleased with the seniors that we have because they keep hearing that message, and it’s not just once in a while message. It’s been going on since I got here. I think more and more, go back to our deal, they’re trying to take and they are taking more ownership.”

On troubles with short yardage…

“Boy, it’s one thing. Maybe it’s a missed block. Maybe we missed the hole. That’s another thing that I would say is frustrating to Mess (Courtney Messingham) for sure - it’s 3rd and 1, it’s 4th and 1 - for us not to be able to get those. That’s one of the areas that we’re going to work on, whether it’s red zone, a 3rd and 1 period, a 4th and 1 period, because those are frustrating, without question. We collectively have to be able to get those. That’s everybody. That could be a call, to an execution, to a play.”

On third down offense...

“We just have to keep working harder at them. We have to keep emphasizing them. We have to keep putting ourselves in position to work on those situations. We’re looking at those this week. We’re going to put them against our first defense and say, ‘Here’s the situation. Play this coverage. Play this pressure. Play this blitz. Mix them. Play man, play whatever,’ so that we can maybe go against faster guys on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I’ve been pleased with our scout team, but it’s different. You don’t have AJ Parker covering somebody; you have a true freshman. We need to increase that competition level. That’s why this week is so important. It’s going to be so valuable to us. We’ll probably do more of that moving forward after we get through this week as far as we get into week eight and nine going good versus good a little bit more just to increase that competition.”

On doing live tackling during the week off…

“Yeah, we will do that. Once again, (with) NCAA rules, you can only do so much of it. That’s a frustrating thing we have to get better at. The one thing is that they know it, that’s the thing. It’s not like it’s an absolute whiff. It’s more wrapping up. It’s more grabbing cloth, wrapping up. You see it, that’s the thing. I see those positives. I see it a number of times, but the few times you don’t see it, it’s frustrating. So, it’s something we’ll continue to emphasize.”

On having some of the best community colleges in Kansas…

“It’s great because we’re within driving distance to go see them, go check them out, have them come over. It’s still a fit. It’s still the right situation. You still have to do a great job of recruiting because that’s the other benefit of the great system we have here in junior college is everybody in the country comes to these junior colleges to find guys.”

BLAISE GAMMON, SENIOR TIGHT END

On correcting mistakes…

“It just comes down to execution and that’s what we are going to be really focused on during the bye - making the blocks, sustaining, finishing and making plays in the passing game, getting open for Skylar (Thompson). If we can convert some of those to stay on the field and keep drives going, that’s going to be huge.”

On the rushing offense…

“I think we have done some good stuff. We improved from Oklahoma State, but it’s the little things. It’s one or two guys not being able to sustain or finish a block. If we can make those happen and get over the hump, we’ll see that success again. That’s what we are going to be working on all this week and next week going forward, just trying to improve and focus on those things because we need to be able to run the ball to work our whole offense.”

On the impact the true freshmen have made…

“I think you saw a couple guys out there do a great job. They’ve been extremely locked in and driven to work and get their opportunity. We have full confidence in them, and we look forward to them getting out there more and making some more plays.”

JOSHUA YOUNGBLOOD, FRESHMAN WIDE RECEIVER

On making an impact in the game…

“It felt great just knowing that they are trying to increase my role a little bit. I feel like I did some good things, but I have a lot of things to work on. So, it was just good to get out there and get some more plays.”

On deciding to return a kickoff or not…

“I just have to listen to my coaching. They say if it goes over your head, take a knee and I should’ve done that.”

On what improvements he has made since the start of the season…

“Getting out of my cuts and just trying to break tackles. That’s something that I’ve really tried to work on and get better at.”

ADAM HOLTORF, SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

On the struggles on third down…

“It all starts with communication, and I think that was uncharacteristic with our few issues like that. Communication and getting movement is always key in any play, but especially in short yardage.”

On the potential for big plays…

“I think we are extremely close. We are so close to being able to convert those plays and so close to other situations of small gains being big gains. We are really close with things, and continuing to get better. It’s just focusing on continued improvement.”

On the mood of the team…

“Mood is great in the locker room. Obviously there’s a lot of frustration because of how things have went the past two weeks, but Coach has stressed to leave it in the past and use it as fuel. Continue to work and improve.”

JAMES GILBERT, SENIOR RUNNING BACK

On the execution…

“It doesn’t matter what Coach (Courtney) Messingham calls, we have to execute as players. At times we have been consistent and had explosive plays, but it’s not there every play. So, I feel like we have to get better at practice and that starts with the players.”

On the importance of the bye week…

“It’s important because we need to look ourselves in the mirror and identify who we are as a football team. We want to be a physical, smash-mouth football team on offense, defense and special teams. So, I feel like this bye week will get us back to our dominant details and just seeing who we are as a football team again.”

On watching film and execution…

“We watched film yesterday with the coaches. I watched the film several times, but we watched it with the coaches yesterday and I definitely left some plays out there. I feel like our team on offense and guys would like to have some plays back and execute better. It comes down to us as players, not the coaches. So, we have to execute and have more confidence.”

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