Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman met with the media on Thursday to discuss the Wildcats' upcoming contest against Houston.
Kick-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. central and will air on ESPN2.
Transcripts of Klein and Klanderman's press conference, along with the full videos, are available below.
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLLIN KLEIN
On the first play of the TCU game…
“We've kind of had some stuff like that in and around for a minute. As Coach (Klieman) and I were working through it, it was one of the things that came up. We ended up running with it, and guys executed it well all week, so decided to go with it.”
On running tackle-over-tackle against TCU…
“Again, we've had it. I think we did it maybe once or twice last year in some scenarios and did some over-type things like that. But there was some stuff on tape and some different things that we thought gave us an advantage on some double teams. TCU ended up playing some things a little bit differently, too. They ended up just redeclaring the center. So, a little bit of a cat and mouse deal, but our guys did good with it and it was some good stuff.”
On his confidence in wide receiver Jayce Brown…
“I wasn't surprised at all to see him go out and make the plays that he did. His last couple of weeks – and even since he's been here – he's worked extremely hard, and he’s taken advantage of those opportunities when he's gotten them in practice. He was able to make some big plays for us. He deserves every bit of it, and I think there's a lot more to come there too.”
On having a top-20 scoring offense…
“I’m just trying to find the next one. It’s a credit to our guys, a credit to how they've worked together and the continuity that I think is continuing to build. They just have to keep working harder because there's more out there. I know our guys know that, and credit to all of them collectively because it's been a group effort.”
On preparing for both an odd- and even-man front from Houston…
“You know, it's definitely something that's on our mind. Who knows whether it would be just a curveball that they gave Texas or something that will be a staple for them moving forward. But, we'll be prepared for both. Fortunately, we're in a different situation because our defense plays it, and we played TCU last week who plays it. So, our guys have a lot of experience with it.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOE KLANDERMAN
On keeping TCU out of the endzone…
“I was concerned about that. Guys just played their butts off and did a good job of executing the plan and took a lot of pride in finishing the game, which was cool. It didn't matter who was in the game at the end, those guys wanted to keep them out. It was awesome to get that stop at the end.”
On improvement over the course of the season…
“I think we're playing a lot better at safety, to be honest with you. I think we made some moves there that were the correct things to do. I think we're getting a little more comfortable in our lineup at linebacker. I know we're doing a lot of toggling there. Against Oklahoma State, we definitely missed Jacob Parrish. I think we're playing a lot better around him at corner. I think guys are just getting a little bit more comfortable playing together. I think there's just a little bit more flow to what they're doing, and the execution level is a little bit higher.”
On being top-20 in scoring defense…
“I couldn't have even told you that we were, to be honest with you, but I think that's really cool. At the end of the day, though, I hope our guys were more zeroed in on just getting the next play stopped and getting out of that series, and getting out of the next quarter, and the next half, and just kind of one at a time. That's been our thing. I think early in the year there was a lot of pressure on those guys that they felt like they needed to be perfect all the time. I think that the last couple of weeks that pressure has eased off. They're just playing football and not worrying about all those kinds of things and just doing what they do. I think that's made us a lot a lot more comfortable on the field.”
On linebacker Jake Clifton filling in as a starter…
“Well, the way we look at him is that he is a starter. He plays as many snaps as a starter. He's just a really good football player. He’s tremendously sharp, very unselfish for the things that we ask him to do. He plays all three linebacker spots and plays two other spots in third down defense. We can't do what we're doing without him. It was noticeable when he was out of the lineup, too. So, while Austin Romaine gets himself back to health, I think Jake's going to continue to have to do some of those things. With how well he’s playing now, it's scary to think how well he would play if he was able to zero in on one thing or one position. Jake's been phenomenal.”
On the status of linebacker Austin Romaine…
“I think he’ll play this week. Maybe not in quite as many snaps as he was playing before the injury, but he's been practicing all week. He'll be ready to go.”
