MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder and select players met with members of the media Tuesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex prior to K-State’s Senior Day game against Iowa State on Saturday. The contest inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium is set for a 2:30 p.m., kickoff and will be shown nationally on ESPN2. Selected comments from Snyder’s press conference (archived here) are posted below, along with a collection of comments from players.
Tickets for the game against the Cyclones begin at less than $40 apiece when selecting a Wildcat 4-Pack, and those can be purchased by clicking here. Additionally, fans can buy tickets for the all-inclusive Wabash Landing for $125 apiece, which can be purchased by clicking here.
Tickets can always be purchased by calling 1-800-221-CATS or visiting the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum. Fans can also preorder bowl tickets by visiting the K-State Bowl Information page here.
K-State Football Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Bill Snyder
On depth of the quarterback position…
“What he (Skylar Thompson) has done is evident and that is the nature of the game. You hope you can have enough depth to overcome some of the issues created by injuries. We are thankful to have depth in the quarterback spot. I would like to have that kind of depth everywhere.”
On Skylar Thompson…
“He has come along quite fine. He is a bright young fellow and very conscientious. He wants to succeed and help his team. He is willing to do all that he can. He engages the information well. He is able to process well and quickly. He is a young guy that seems to have a great deal of poise and does not get rattled. Poise is probably his number one asset.”
On Iowa State…
“I thought they were a very fine football team last year and the year before that. The staff has done a wonderful job of coaching them. They have the right approach to develop another program. It is not something that just happened. It has been in development for a period of time. They are doing it the right way. They have young guys that have that Midwestern work ethic and they are disciplined. I have seen the progress over the years because of the kind of the youngsters they have and how good of a job they are doing coaching them.”
On defending ISU wide receiver Allen Lazard…
“It is a challenge for everybody. He is a good athlete who can jump. There are not many people that can play on the defensive side of the ball in the secondary that can have the ability to reach heights. The receiver has the advantage because the defender cannot touch him until he touches the ball. If they put it up in exactly the right spot it is a real challenge. You hope your guys can get up and get a hand on it. He is a good, talented young guy.”
On defensive back Duke Shelley…
“The interception that he made was an excellent play. The coverage that got underneath the post forced the quarterback to throw a little higher than he wanted. Duke did a wonderful job being in the right position on the defender. That was something he had not done in a couple other snaps in the ballgame, and they got completions out of it. Overall, considering how much they threw the ball deep and underneath, we played well enough to win.”
On finishing the season strong…
“Each and every game that we have had has had a tremendous amount of significance. Even though we have won six ballgames, there is no guarantee you get a bowl offer. The outcome of this ballgame would have an impact on that. The idea that it is going to be Senior Day becomes highly significant to the seniors in our program and their families. All those things are significant. Outside of that, the next one is the next one and it becomes the most important because of that. If you do go to a bowl game, it is good to have that feeling of winning a ballgame that three or four weeks you have until you play. It is a good time to reflect back on.”
On running back Alex Barnes…
“He has done well during the course of the year and done well against some quality opponents. I do not have any negative thoughts about his performance level. He has done very good.”
On Iowa State’s defense…
“They have always been good, and they have just gotten better and better. They are a team that plays hard from snap to whistle. They are sound in what they do. Everybody is where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. The do not have an inordinate amount of defensive schemes. They just execute what they do well, and they are going to play hard until the very end. They are a physical football team. You do not see defensive linemen getting back off the ball. They run well from the front to the second level linebackers and third level backs.
“The second thing is their coverage schemes are a little different than what we have seen or any team presents that we have played against. That part of it takes a great deal of recognition. Some of that recognition has to come after the snap in order to find exactly what their schematic approach is. Above all, they are very sound in what they do and they play so aggressive.”
Junior Wide Receiver Byron Pringle
On the Oklahoma State game being a relief…
“It was a little bit of a relief, but you have to build consistency. It cannot just be one game out of the year. You have to do it week in and week out.”
On adjusting to a different quarterback…
“There is really no difference because they are being taught a certain way, and we as receivers are being taught a certain way. We all understand that the ball is going to come, and we know it is going to come when we get to a certain yard marker.”
On finishing the regular season strong…
“It would be a really good thing to finish strong and everyone wants to. We are not a team that quits and we feel that we are going to finish strong. We have the ability to do it. Every player is putting in the work and buying into it.”
Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Skylar Thompson
On assessing the way he played…
“I thought I played well, but there were a lot of things I left out there and did not do well. It was a lot better watching that game film compared to West Virginia. I had a shaky start and underthrew a couple throws. In the first drive, we just ran it. I think I ran for 60 yards and a score. That took some nerves out of me a bit and gave me a better feeling in my gut.”
On the Oklahoma State win rebuilding some confidence…
“It definitely helps. A win over the 13th-ranked team in the country on the road, which is a top team in our conference, gives us a lot of confidence. Moving forward, this is a big game. We have another game left versus Iowa State, which is a great, great football team. It is going to be another tough ballgame. Going into every game this year, we knew we were capable of winning.”
On going into Senior Day…
“It is all about the seniors and how much they invested in this football program. I cannot say enough about Jesse (Ertz), Trent (Tanking), Brogan (Barry), and all those seniors. They helped me so much since I have been on campus with adjusting to college and this football program. It is going to be a big day and we need to go get a win for those guys.”
On if he had any nerves at Oklahoma State…
“Yes, whenever I am not nervous, I should not be playing football anymore. They were good nerves though. I was just trying to wrap my mind around playing in Boone Pickens Stadium versus the 13th-ranked team in the country as a freshman. I am very fortunate to be given that opportunity. I really wanted to go get a win, and after we had that really good drive to kick off the game, I knew we had a shot to win the game. Byron (Pringle) had a great day, and our offensive line did a great job. I do not think I got touched on some of those balls. The receivers, coaches, special teams and defense all deserve a ton of credit. Everyone played exceptionally well. We had some guys banged up and some guys stepped up. AJ (Parker) at corner stepped up, he got beat a couple times, but he never hung his head and he kept battling and that is what you want.”
Senior Linebacker Trent Tanking
If Iowa State reminds him of K-State…
“They always have. Every game we have played is a tight, grind-it-out type of game. Both games there (in Ames) I have played in my career, we have won in the last minute or two minutes. The game two years ago here we won in miraculous fashion with Will (Geary) stripping the ball out. I know this game will be a grind. I compare them to us and how similar they run their program. They are very tough and hardnosed. It is going to be a dog fight.”
On more being on the line with both teams playing for the postseason…
“Iowa State has had a great year and they have deserved every bit of it. They played great teams to the wire and beat two great teams in TCU and Oklahoma. I have always said they have a great team and just now they are starting to reap some rewards from it. I am thrilled for them and thrilled for us that we got our sixth win. It is going to be a lot coming in to try to get our seventh win.”
On his final game at home. . .
“It is pretty special. This will be game 64 in my career. Just thinking of it in that perspective, it is crazy I have been here that long, but at the same time looking back, it has flown by. Just to be able to go out with some of the best friends I have ever met on this team, it will be pretty special.”
Sophomore Defensive Back Denzel Goolsby
On getting the sixth win to become bowl eligible…
“It takes a lot of pressure off of us, but it does not mean that we can let up or relax. We have another big challenge this week with Iowa State. It definitely is allowing us to focus on Iowa State and not whether we are going to make a bowl game this year or not. To be able to keep that tradition alive and go to another bowl game is huge for us, but right now we just want to focus on this game and worry about a bowl game after that.”
On defending Iowa State receiver Allen Lazard…
“In this conference there are so many good receivers, you can expect to face someone really good every week. I think this is what you dream of, playing for a school like this in this type of conference going up against big-time receivers and quarterbacks. If you are a competitor, then you love those matchups, and I know our defense is excited to go up against Allen (Lazard) and their string of receivers.”
Sophomore Running Back Alex Barnes
On his touchdown run at Oklahoma State…
“We had perfect blocking up front. They jumped the snap, so I was a little hesitant at first because their linebackers were in the backfield, but Adam (Holtorf) was able to see it and kick him out. I was able to see it and cut up underneath him and after that, there was really no one else there. Isaiah (Zuber) had a really good block downfield and that is really all it took.”
On how important a sixth win was for the seniors…
“It was huge. I know in the locker room there were a lot of guys who came out and expressed their appreciation for us. It was really special to hear that.”