Kansas State Wildcats College Football Pregame Quote, 11/03/2020

Good afternoon everybody. It’s kind of a different day around here for a Tuesday. All of our players are off for the election. We visited about that a number of times, and I’m excited for our guys to be able to express their opinions and views on the election and be able to vote. We had a practice on Sunday coming off of a long road trip. We came back and had about an hour-long practice on Sunday evening, didn’t have a lot of time to gather a bunch of information as far as Oklahoma State game planning wise, but we were able to get a few things done. Yesterday, which typically would’ve been our first practice of the week, just basically in helmets and jerseys. We put on shoulder pads and had a typical Tuesday on Monday and were able to get some good work done with the guys. From a coaching staff standpoint, we’re a little behind from a game-planning perspective. We’re kind of getting caught up on that throughout the day today, and then we’ll reconvene with the guys tomorrow and have a pretty heavy practice just putting all the final game plans in that we would typically do on Tuesday will be on Wednesday now. Interesting week in how we have to handle it, but I know the guys are handling it well.

On if Oklahoma State is more complete this season:

They’re a good football team this year for sure. We’ve watched cutups of last year, and they handled us relatively easily at their place last year. They’re a really experienced defense that flies around, very aggressive and don’t miss tackles. They’re going to blitz you and put constant pressure on you. Offensively, we have our hands full because they can beat you at every level in the fact that the quarterback can beat you with his arm or his feet. Two great running backs. One everybody knows about, but they have two really talented running backs. At wide receiver, I think they have one of the best wide receivers in the country in (Tylan) Wallace, so we’ll have our hands full trying to come up with a great plan. You can’t stop them, but you have to slow them down.

On the West Virginia offensive attacking the middle of the field last week:

They had success in whatever ways they wanted to. We didn’t play very well. Give those guys credit. They were able to run the football, which opens things up in the middle because your linebackers are coming downhill a little bit more. Then, the play action can get you behind. One play in particular, we got caught in a pressure, dropped coverage and they got a 58-yard play. That was more of a bust than anything else, but we need to play better in all phases.

On the progress of defensive back AJ Parker and tight end Briley Moore:

AJ practiced limited yesterday, so it was good to see him out there. Briley, we didn’t practice him yesterday, but he’s doing all of his treatments. I know he’s starting to feel a little bit better. Hopefully we’ll have more of an idea on Wednesday or Thursday with both those guys.

On if it just wasn’t their day or if there were bigger issues at West Virginia:

Good question. I don’t know. We’ll find out how we respond when adversity strikes. We’ll find out the character and resolve of our guys. You have to attack the adversity. We didn’t play well. It was on the road, and we fell behind and had a hard time digging ourselves out of it. All that being said, in the second quarter, we had our opportunities. We could’ve been in a competitive game or even potentially ahead, and instead they made the plays and we didn’t. You have to evaluate that and make your corrections, but you can’t sit and dwell on it because you need to move on. In this league, everybody has the ability to put points on the board and everybody has the ability to play good enough defense and stop you. We just need to learn from it, get better and move forward.

On the health of running back Deuce Vaughn:

I thought he was healthy, yeah. He was fine. He didn’t practice a bunch last week because of an issue, but he was healthy for the game. Once again, as talented as that young man is, you have to find ways to take him away. West Virginia did that. We thought we had some creative ways to get him the football, but we couldn’t have time to throw it or whatever else happened. So, once again, give West Virginia the credit they deserve.

On Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard:

We gave up the explosive play via the run last year. We cannot do that to be successful. We have to limit those explosive plays. We need to tackle better. We need to fit things better. We didn’t fit things very well in the run game last year. Obviously, that’s been a point of emphasis and will continue to be throughout the week. We have to make sure that he doesn’t have a huge day, or everything opens up. If he has a huge day, then we’re stacking the box with more and more guys, and then it creates all sorts of other issues. We have to come up with a great game plan, and that’s what today is. We were able to piece together a few things yesterday, but today from a coaching-staff standpoint, we need to go through all the tape to see what gives us the best chance to be successful.

On the disruptive defensive players needing to step up against Oklahoma State:

We feel one of the strengths of our team is our defensive line. You’re right, Wyatt Hubert and Drew Wiley have played really well for us. Khalid Duke is playing well. Bronson Massie and Eli Huggins, and (we) keep rotating guys in. We have to play really well up front to try to slow down Oklahoma State a little bit. Playing a number of linebackers and defensive backs, we have to continue that rotation. Oklahoma State wants to play 100 plays against you. We need to make sure that we’re able to stay fresh, and that’s one thing we’ve been able to do is rotate a lot of guys at all levels of the defense. We’re going to have to do the same thing because it’s a game where they’re going to want to run up-tempo and try to get a bunch of plays. We need to make sure we have fresh athletes in there.

On the Oklahoma State punt team against the K-State return unit:

Hopefully we can get them to punt a few times. That’s the first thing. You’re 100 % right. We have to do a great job at the line of scrimmage to get our punt return started. That’s what we always talk about is just getting it started. If we can get it started and not get it disrupted by guys going down quickly and forcing a fair catch, Phillip (Brooks) is a pretty talented guy. Guys understand leverages and using their tools in blocking players, and Phillip reads those things really well. For us to be successful, we need to be able to flip the field somewhere along the line, whether that’s a punt return, kick return or whatever it may be, so that we can get a shorter field for our offense.

On if he thought about going for a touchdown instead of a field goal early against West Virginia:

You can easily say, in hindsight, that we should’ve gone for a touchdown there. Early in the game, trying to get points as well as we just had three shots from the two-yard line and didn’t get in. So, maybe from a rhythm and momentum standpoint, if we take another shot and don’t get in there, maybe it would’ve even hurt our confidence more. Bottom line is we can’t put ourselves in that position. We’re 2nd and Goal at the two or whatever it was, and we can’t get in the end zone. We need to be able to score. That’s been kind of where we’ve been the last few weeks. We had a couple of short fields against KU and didn’t get touchdowns and had to settle for field goals. The way we’re going to play and the way we need to play, we need to be able to convert those into touchdowns in the red zone. Whether it’s that play or another play in different games, we have to be more productive and get touchdowns.

On how quarterback Will Howard responds to mistakes in practice:

He’s good in that respect. Coach (Collin) Klein does a great job, and we go on to the next play and coach on the run and get him schooled up and we move on to the next play. You have to have a short memory a little bit. You have to have it in the back of your mind. You can’t have mistakes where you’re turning the football over, but we still have to push the ball down field. We still have to be able to run the correct routes for him to get the ball out on time. We have to be able to protect so he knows he’s going to have a cleaner pocket to throw the football. It’s a culmination of things where maybe it was an errant throw to maybe a wrong route or maybe a busted protection, and then all the sudden hands are all over you and maybe you get a tipped ball or something. You have to realize that this kid is a true freshman that’s playing high level football and learning on the run. More than anything, I like the way he handles things and like the way he handles himself. He’s leading our offense whether it’s a 55-14 or a 37-10. That can’t change because he has to be the catalyst that leads the offense.

On what defensive tackle Drew Wiley means to the defense:

I think he’s been the MVP of the defense this year. He plays a ton of snaps. He loves to play the game, and that’s what’s so fun to watch is Drew loves to practice and compete. He likes to go to meetings and the walk throughs. He has a great time with the guys. He’s disruptive. He’s tough to block one on one. He’s doing things in the run game. He’s doing things in the pass game. We’re starting to design a lot of things around him because he is such a playmaker. We knew he was going to be a good player this year. We were really confident in that. He’s been our most productive guy for six games. I’m so excited in his senior season that he’s having this great a year.

On Drew Wiley taking steps forward in conditioning and preparation:

He has that will and desire to compete and be his best. He was a part-time player, at least last year for us, the year I had with him because we had (Jordan) Mittie and (Trey) Dishon in there, so he was a rotating guy. He said, ‘I’m going to be the guy, I’m going to be the Trey Dishon or the Mittie that is a playmaker’. He’s a really competitive guy and works so hard at it whether at the weight room or at practice. He doesn’t take any plays off. So, for a younger player to watch Drew Wiley compete everyday and on every play, it’s a great thing for a young kid to model your game off of what Drew Wiley does.

On the challenges Oklahoma State’s offense provides:

It’s really challenging. That’s why we have to do a great job of what we call complimentary football. We have to be able to stay on the field offensively and be able to churn out first downs, even if it’s not a scoring drive. We have to be able to take four or five minutes off the clock, get some first downs and limit some of their opportunities. If they’re getting 100 plays, we’re in trouble. That’s what they want to have, so for us, we have to be able to slow down the rush. You can’t just sit in Cover 2 the whole game and let them run the football, but in the same respect, we have to pick and choose our chances on when we’re going to be aggressive with a run blitz or whatever it may be because you have some receivers on the edge that can make plays.

On communicating with Will Howard after Saturday’s game:

I’m getting a chance to visit with him today. I didn’t sit in on the meeting with Coach (Collin) Klein. I had other engagements, but he and I always get a chance during the week to visit. One of those days, we’ll get a chance.

On the touchdown drive right before the half at West Virginia:

It was good because he (Will Howard) made some tight throws in tight windows, and we were able to move the ball down the field in a two-minute setting. The thing that impressed me most was that they took all the short routes away because time was running out. We were able to get behind on a post, and he didn’t say that he needed to keep methodically moving us down the field. He took a shot on the post and made a great throw. Malik (Knowles) got behind the corner, and it was great to see for the momentum. We just needed to keep that momentum. Our problem was they got the ball to start the second half and took six minutes off the clock and got a field goal. We needed a quick stop to get the ball back to the offense so that we could continue on with what we did. We weren’t able to do that.

On what other tight ends can step up if Briley Moore can’t play:

Just the same ones, Sammy (Wheeler) and Nick (Lenners) have taken the lion’s share of it. Konner Fox will sprinkle in a little bit. Jax (Dineen) can play tight end or fullback, or (Mason) Barta. We have a number of guys there, but Briley is a pretty special talent. We knew he was probably going to be out Sunday and Monday. We were hoping to get him back potentially Tuesday. Obviously, Tuesday is off so now we need to look and see where we’re at on Wednesday. I know that he is progressing.

On the production from the wide receivers:

I think it’s a combination of everything in the fact that we haven’t sustained drives. That’s not the wide receivers’ fault. That’s not the quarterback’s fault. Sometimes it’s the defense because we can’t get off the field. We haven’t had enough plays, I don’t think. You throw in the fact that we’ve had a running back that’s been pretty dynamic, and when he’s had the ball, good things have happened. We’re going to get him the football, and we’ve had a tight end that’s been dynamic as well. When you have the limited number of plays we’ve had, sometimes it doesn’t go all around. Guys have to be unselfish. We’re winning. We’re 4-2, 4-1 in the Big 12. Let’s be happy we’re getting the Ws. The catches and throws may come, but right now there’s a couple of guys making some big-time plays, so we need to get them the football.

On Briley Moore’s importance to the offense:

He moves the chains. He makes the tough catch. He can catch a ball on 3rd and 8 for five yards and get nine and get a first down. He can block the edge at the point of attack. He does so many things. He can flex out or be the fullback in the backfield. 100 percent he’s a guy that makes our offense so much better because of his versatility.