After the first game of 2022, Chris Klieman came away pleased with the performance of his football team. Mentioning that he was pleased with Malik Knowles’ opening play of the game and Seth Porter’s ability to find the seams early on punt coverage to force a block and Des Purnell touchdown.

When asked about how it changes your coaching after a quick score, it “makes you happier than you were ten seconds before.”

There was little negativity from Klieman despite some prodding questions about a lack of attack in the air. Adrian Martinez didn’t light up the box score, but his head coach stayed away from sounding any alarms.

“He handled everything really well…I thought Adrian did really good with the operational stuff…obviously we missed some stuff…I thought he played really well and played within himself…we didn’t turn the football over.”

Klieman also made it clear that he feels comfortable with what they have accomplished through the air in practice and that new offensive coordinator Collin Klein and the passing game can get things ironed out.

It wasn’t just about what K-State might have failed to achieve through the air, the former FCS coach Klieman wanted to be sure to point out that he was “impressed with Coach Nielsen’s defense.”

Other notable things to come from the Wildcats’ head coach were his praise for how Jake Rubley handled getting into the game and the mental state he was in.

Finally, Klieman’s thoughts on the defense seemed to resemble what the majority of people who watched the K-State thrashing of South Dakota had in mind. Especially considering the revelation at the end of the press conference that the Cats' defense lost a few guys after Tuesday’s practice for this week’s game.

Missouri transfer Shawn Robinson missed tonight’s game with something that came up, but he was spotted on the field after the game. North Dakota State transfer safety Josh Hayes also missed tonight’s game. Klieman was hopeful that both could return for next week’s big matchup with SEC-foe Missouri. The coming days will be filled with breaking down what the Tigers have to offer as Klieman admitted he didn’t watch any of Missouri earlier this week in their win versus Louisiana Tech.