The Wildcats will be back in action next Saturday, September 28, as they open up Big 12 play at Oklahoma State. Kickoff inside Boone Pickens Stadium is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be shown on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
“Good afternoon. Looking back on Saturday, a number of things stuck out. Obviously, the first thing is we got a huge road win for our program and for the guys. I thought that was an exceptional win however you get it. Obviously it wasn’t perfect. I thought we started the game really well, and I thought we finished the game really well. In between, obviously, (we) had some hiccups, had some issues. The great thing, when you have success and win, I think sometimes it’s easier to go back and challenge the guys, and say, ‘Hey, we have to improve.’ We know we have to improve and get a lot better. I think, offensively, a couple things stuck out that we need to improve upon would be perimeter blocking. It’s not just wide receivers, it’s offensive linemen, tight ends (and) running backs. We have to be able to get the edge and do a better job out there. Obviously, we weren’t as good on third down as we’ve been in the past. I think part of that is we were in a lot more third-and-long situations.
“On defense, our tackling still has to improve. I think (Kylin) Hill is a phenomenal running back, and he made us earn every hit but we have to be able to improve upon tackling. The sudden change aspect on defense – we talked a lot about when a sudden change happens off turnovers, you have to be able to respond. We didn’t respond the first time when we fumbled a punt and they scored a touchdown. Probably the disappointing one was we intercept a pass and they make a good play, strip the ball, and then they take it 79 yards after that to score. So, we have to get better on sudden change.
“Obviously, on special teams, we can’t have a penalty, which we had on a good return. We have to field punts. It’s something we talked about at length yesterday and Sunday. It’s something we have to do a better job of. Guys are trying to make a play. I am not making excuses for them, but they are trying to make a play. They have to understand the situation. The number one thing we have to do on a punt return is get possession back for our offense. We’ll clean those errors up. We have this week that we are going to spend an awful lot of time on ourselves and continue to improve upon some of the things we are working on, as well as working a lot of the younger guys into some situations because they have not gotten a chance to really play as much with the non-conference schedule we had.”
On keeping the team hungry after a big win…
“I think the things I just talked about that we’re not clicking on all cylinders. I believe that we have to stay humble and stay hungry, not be seduced by the success that we have had. Those guys see it. They watch film and say, ‘Boy we really could play a lot better on this phase offensively or this phase defensively.’ I was frustrated because I think if we field the punt, we maybe go in 13-0 or 17-0 and maybe it’s a different game. That was a huge momentum. That’s the other thing is managing the ebbs and flows of games is something we have to continue to improve upon.”
On assistant coaches recruiting during the bye week…
“It’s valuable, but it’s still not a contact period. It’s still in an evaluation (period). We’ll have the assistants here through Thursday. We’re going to get a lot of work done from a practice standpoint, meetings standpoint. We’re still teaching. We’re still implementing a lot of the things with our playbooks offensively and defensively. We couldn’t afford to say, ‘Hey, every coach just get out of here and start going and recruiting.’ The most important thing for me is the current football team. We have to do a good job of continuing to work on fundamentals, techniques and continuing to teach our offense and defense.”
On is there are one or two things he will emphasize with Big 12 play in two weeks…
“Not any one thing. We’ll spend more time on Oklahoma State just because that’s the next game in front of us and we have at least some film on those guys. They haven’t had the most competitive games in the non-conference but there are still some things we can work on. That’s probably where our focus will go after we work on ourselves.”
On being able to spend an entire two weeks for OSU like they did before the season opener…
“You can’t replicate it totally simply because we didn’t know anything, just like you guys didn’t know anything prior to Nicholls of what you were going to see from Kansas State. Now that we do know a little bit about our team through three games, ‘Ok, here’s the things we have to work on. Forget who we’re playing. Here’s the things we have to get better on.’ Whether that’s the perimeter blocking, tackling, certain aspects of special teams, whatever it may be. We have to work on that part, but then absolutely push forward and say, ‘OK, now let’s do some scouting, let’s do some scout work on our next opponent.”
On how important a factor it was to not be intimidated at Mississippi State…
“Not necessarily, intimidated. I think it was just belief that we were going to win. We talked in here last Monday that we really believed we had a better football team watching film. Now would that play out on the field? We thought it could. We said, ‘You guys played these guys last year. We’re watching them on film (and) believe we can win this game. Believe it is going to happen.’ I thought we finished the game really well. I think finishing is part of believing. If you believe you are going to get it done, then you will finish better. That’s something that I was so pleased with the guys – there wasn’t any panic on the sideline when we got down and things weren’t going well. If one play happens, then all of the sudden your momentum can swing. That play happened and the momentum did swing back. They really took it over from there. I thought in the fourth quarter we were the better football team.”
On how much they have to back off during the bye week to get guys more rest…
“A little bit you do because you’re able to play a few more guys. We’ll rotate a few more younger guys into the rotation, but you still have to get our work done. There’s certain things, technique wise, pass rush stuff we have to continue to work our top guys on pass rush and work them with each other. We have to some work on coverages where you want to make sure that Eli (Elijah Sullivan) is out there with J-Mac (Jahron McPherson), or that AJ (Parker) is out there with Denzel (Goolsby) so the communication continues to improve. Same thing offensively. Obviously, we got through this game really well from a health standpoint. It will allow us to continue to push those starters forward.”
On assessing Skylar Thompson’s body of work through non-conference play and where he can get better…
“I think his body of work has been exceptional in the fact that he’s done the No. 1 thing we’ve asked him to do, and that’s take care of the football, lead the team and put us in excellent situations. In the first half, I thought he did a great job. The thing I think he’s getting so comfortable with is seeing the picture and changing a play. Because of the fact that we’re a huddle team, and he is getting the call from Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham), and he implements the call, comes to the line of scrimmage. If there are certain things that we don’t like, he has the ability to change those plays, and he is doing a great job of seeing those pictures. That’s a thing that I think he will continue to improve upon is just seeing more pictures, seeing more coverage, seeing more pressure looks within our structure of our offense. That’s something that’s probably a never-ending battle that you’re always trying to improve upon, but I know that we would like him to continue to work on.”
On how anxious he is to see what the defense can do in the Big 12…
“I’m anxious to see just because I think, on defense, we need to get so much better and so much cleaner. When I say cleaner, maybe it’s in a fit and we don’t have two guys in the same gap; maybe it’s in a coverage and we don’t pass something off that we should’ve passed off on an exchange route. The fact that we’re just scratching the surface I think, defensively, on what we can be. We also know that we have to play better on defense with the conference schedule we have because everybody can run it and everybody can throw it, where, this past week, our No. 1 goal was to stop and slow down the run game. If they got us through the air, that was how they were going to have to do it. I thought, for the most part, (Kylin) Hill had his yards but he did not have his explosive plays. We did a nice job of getting them into some long-yardage situations.”
On the status of defensive end Wyatt Hubert cornerback Walter Neil Jr.…
“They both practiced yesterday, which was good. Now, today will be a contact day – I don’t think either one of them will have contact. I’m very hopeful that they’ll be pushed into normal practice play by Wednesday or Thursday.”
On the running back rotation and why James Gilbert played more in the second half…
“The first thing I’d say is, in the third quarter, it didn’t matter who the running back was; we were on defense the whole time. We were so poor in the third quarter of getting off the field and staying on the field. In essence, it turned into the last two drives where it was a little bit James (Gilbert), but no, nothing that sticks out.”
On if the punt returners are like a young center fielder knowing when to go for the catch…
“I think on the second one it was. The first one we just muffed it. It was kicked at us and we just muffed it. The second one, it was deflected, which changed everything as far as to the spin or knuckleball or whatever. In my opinion, it’s so much easier to go back on a punt than it is ever to come up on a punt. It was decades ago, but I used to return punts, and going back is much easier than going forward. When you are going forward, you’re better off letting it bounce, even if you lose the yards, you’re gaining the possession back.”
On Wayne Jones’ penalties…
“I thought one was a poor penalty on his part. I thought, on the other one, I didn’t think it was a penalty, to be honest with you.”
On if having two bye weeks is unusual…
“It is a little unusual. I love to have it before you get into conference play. That’s big – you play your non-conference, you learn more about your team, and you learn more with what you have to do in certain phases of the game. Then, we’re going to have a second one; Yeah, I wish that one was a little bit later in the season rather than just playing two games and having another bye. That’s just the way the schedule lays out. There’s something about football to a rhythm; when you’re playing well, you want to stay into a rhythm. It’s easy to say as a coach, it’s not easy to say when you are an O-Lineman or a D-Lineman and you’ve played five, six, seven in a row, and you’re like, ‘Holy cow, this would be a good time to get my body back.’ This year, the way it plays out, we’re taking great advantage of it this week because of what has happened in the non-conference. We’ll talk about what we’ll do when we get to the next one.”
On if a bye week benefits the staff…
“I don’t think the staff has anything to do with it, so to speak, just because they’re all seasoned, veteran guys and some have worked together. We have a good comradery there, but I don’t think that plays into the open week part of it.”
On where Trey Dishon has helped the defensive front…
“He’s so smart. He knows everything about our defense, which is great. He knows what it means when the back is on the side of the tight end or the back is away from the tight end and the tight end is on the ball, the tight end is off the ball, whatever it may be. He gets the game. The game slows down for Trey because he works at it hard, he watches a ton of film. He’s playing at a really high level. He played a phenomenal football game on Saturday. Our defensive line, in general, played dynamite on Saturday as far as they shut down the run and some of the plays that bounced, maybe a linebacker or safety maybe missed a tackle or bounced off. I think our defensive line played exceptionally well. He’s a catalyst in there at the D-Tackle spot because he’s played so much football. The guys trust and listen to him.”
On Oklahoma State game being on ESPN+…
“That’s over my head, that’s a Kenny (Lannou) question or somebody. It is what it is. From a recruiting standpoint or a young person standpoint, I think whatever the network, whatever streaming it would be on, people have the ability to see it. Those are things we can’t control.”
On the rapid progress of Jordan Mittie…
“He’s playing really well. He was one of our players of the game on the defensive line. He’s a pretty quiet kid, but he plays with an unbelievable motor. (He’s) another really smart, savvy guy that, as the game goes on, he sees the tendencies, he sees mechanics, techniques of offensive linemen and takes advantage of them. He had a number of plays in the backfield. He’s playing at such a high level, and it’s great because with people sometime keying on Trey (Dishon), it allows Jordan to make some plays, and Jordan’s taking full advantage of it. In the rotation, he’s moved into a starting role. We’re going to always play at least three if not four guys, and we played five guys at D-Tackle this week. So we’re always going to play guys there, but I’m so excited about how much he’s grown within understanding our system on the defensive line. He is a big-time playmaker.”
On the south end zone project and its impact on recruiting…
“For starters, the eye candy, the eye piece of seeing it will be really cool. It will generate more revenue, which will benefit the student-athletes. From a recruiting standpoint, just to be able to tour guys through there and see another expanded area that’s renovated, that’s suite type, I think all that stuff is going to be valuable in the recruiting process. It shows our players, it shows the recruits the continued commitment that Kansas State is making toward all of its athletic teams of continuing to enhance facilities.”
On Denzel Goolsby’s steady and calm leadership in a road game…
“He’s playing really, really well. Each game, he gets more and more comfortable. I challenged Denzel to be more vocal on the field and in practice because he has so much to give and people so respect Denzel. He’s a calming force, like you say, out there. He’s tackling exceptionally well right now. I watch him tackle, and he’s tackling really well, he’s one of our leading tacklers, but I watch the way he practices. Even when we’re not in a live tackling part of practice, which you can’t really be in much once you get into the season, he’s running to the spot and tagging off as if he’s in the perfect hit position, which is I think is going to help these younger guys because a lot of these younger guys are learning how to practice, and Denzel has mastered how we want him to practice.”
On the replacements for Walter Neil Jr. at cornerback…
“Kevi (Kevion McGee) I thought played a great football game. We put an awful lot on his plate. We we’re sure, we really thought Walt had a chance. That’s why we dressed him, but he couldn’t go after warm-ups. So, Kevi took the lion’s share of the reps in practice, although Walt took some reps, so he was thrust into it. The thing that impressed me the most about Kevi is, we gave up the touchdown before half – which I thought he was in good position, they just made a great throw and catch and Kevi was right there – but that didn’t faze him. He came out and played a good second half. He was on two special teams. We finally took him off of special teams because he, like everyone else that was playing that much, was cramping. So he was cramping so much that we had to take him out and put D-Patt (Darreyl Patterson) in. I think they saw, ‘OK, you have another corner in the game.’ They went at him late, and he and Denzel (Goolsby) break up a big-time play by the pylon in the endzone that was a shot play for them to try to tie it. So, D-Patt came in and did a great job. We’ve talked as a staff, it’s given us so much more confidence moving forward that we have more guys at that position, and that’s something that we didn’t know prior to the season. Kevi had played some, but we wanted to see him in the fire, and I thought both of those guys did a great job.”
On the ‘Pound the Stone’ mantra…
“It’s just a mantra that Ben Newman brought to us. There’s a book that a number of us read. It’s just daily, the nonstop grind of continuing to believe and continue to go to work. No matter what’s in front of you, continue to pound the stone. Take everything out of your mind when you come to the practice field. Take everything out of your mind when you’re in the meetings. It’s a daily grind that those guys truly believe that, ‘If I keep pounding the stone, and I keep grinding, and I keep hammering away at that thing every day, and I don’t take any days off, and I don’t take any shortcuts, that, when I get into a tight moment like we were in on Saturday, if I continue to pound the stone and continue to have great work ethic and continue to believe, good things are going to happen.”
On being 3-0…
“I’m happy, obviously, that we’re 3-0. But, big picture, we haven’t even started conference play yet. We know every game is going to be a dog fight. We know whatever we did last week has no bearing on the next week, so you better just put your head down, go to work and make sure you are preparing every day to be successful on Saturday. (I’m) thrilled that we’re 3-0, but we have a lot of work to do.”
On what he sees in AJ Parker now compared to film from last year…
“Confidence. Confidence and a playmaker and a guy that wants to be put on the spot. A guy that wants to be challenged; taking on a leadership role. I don’t know if he did that last year, but he’s doing all those things that I see that a dominant No. 1 corner can do, will do, and wants to be in the spotlight. Fun, fun player to watch. He’s a great player.”
SKYLAR THOMPSON, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK
On his growth this season…
“I’ve grown tremendously, to be honest. I think I’ve realized that, more than ever, this football season. This is how I’ve handled things, the good, the bad and expressing my leadership to this football team and program. It makes me thankful that I haven’t had an easy path to where I am. I’ve faced some adversity throughout my career. Things did not pan out or did not go my way. At the end of the day, that’s helped me a lot, helped me with my character and with my leadership and in my growth, in general, on and off the field. You just can’t get satisfied, keep pushing to get better every single day and not take a moment for granted because it’s crazy that we wait eight or nine months for week one to get here, now we are already in the part of the season about to start Big 12 play. Once you get into the season, it flies by. So I’m just trying to do my best to soak in the season we are in right now, try to get better as much as I possibly can, get this team better, and remind everybody that this – what we accomplished – is a good thing to be proud of and happy about, but at the same time that isn’t our goal to be 3-0 in that sense. We have plenty more goals to accomplish. We are undefeated in non-conference, which was one of our goals. We are getting into Big 12 play now, and it’s time to kick it up even more. I’m just excited for these two weeks for our team to get healthy, get our feet back underneath us and carry that momentum that we’ve created going into Big 12 play.”
On how he’s using the bye week…
“It would just be the little things in my play that I can continue to get better at and just getting more comfortable with our offense even more. I feel like I got to the point where I’ve pretty much mastered most of it and understood what our goal and our mission is on offense, but there is always more to grow and more to learn. Just focusing on little details and little things that I can get better at. So I would say that and building better chemistry with my receivers and making sure we keep that comradery that we’ve built so far. We’ve left some stuff out on the field, and we are all aware of that. Just getting together with them throughout the week, watching some film, get some extra throws in and some catches and stuff like that. Just continue to build up each other’s confidence and little things like that. Just keep this team on the right path. We can’t overlook what we have ahead of us and getting the national ranking. All that stuff is good and pretty cool, but at the same time, that stuff doesn’t mean anything. We just need to continue to get better and keep growing and get ready to go play at Oklahoma State.”
AJ PARKER, JUNIOR DEFENSIVE BACK
On quarterback Skylar Thompson…
“I’ve just seen his confidence grow. When the new coaches came in and told him he’s the guy, that confidence has grown. He’s out there commanding the offense like I know he can and like he has proven he can. He’s throwing balls like he has always done in practice. For me, it’s not a surprising thing to see what Skylar is doing. He’s always done that. I’m just glad he was able to show you all what he can really do.”
On the pass rush helping the secondary…
“When you get pressure on the quarterback, you don’t have to cover as long and the ball comes out fast. As a DB, a defensive linemen is your best friend because if they can affect the QB and affect the timing. That makes it an easier job.”
JORDON BROWN, SENIOR RUNNING BACK
On the win against Mississippi State…
“It felt great. Going into that environment and coming out with a win, especially knowing a lot of people didn’t think we were going to win and we didn’t have a doubt that we had the ability to win. We just had to go out and execute. We shot ourselves in the foot a lot, but we were able to come out with a win.”
On the decision to come to K-State…
“Everyone was really happy for me. Even the coaches at UNC were happy for me. Being able to come here to a great Power 5 school and everyone was happy for me. It showed me I made a great decision in coming here.”
On the running game at Mississippi State…
“It was effective, pounding the ball and our O-Line did a great job. I know they are going to continue to do a great job and help us run the ball. They will open it up for us.”
On what this team is capable of…
“I think we are capable of winning every game. We are going to go into every game with a mindset that we are going to win. A 3-0 start is the start we were looking to get to, and we just want to keep it rolling.”
TREY DISHON, SENIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE
On going into Big 12 play…
“We are pumped. We have really good momentum and a good mindset going into Big 12 play. We still have some stuff to clean up, but I think we are happy where we are sitting.”
On the defense and trying to be the best in the Big 12…
“That’s our goal. We take it one week at a time, and I think that’s what makes us great right now. At the end, I think you will see us up there.”
On his first three games…
“I felt like the first two games were a little slow for me. They always have been the past years with the first two opponents because maybe those opponents try to take the D-Line out of the game, get the ball out quick and aren’t big on the inside run game. Those are hard for me. I graded out fine, but I’m not playing enough. This last game, I was very happy. I feel like I missed a sack or two. I could have made a couple more plays here or there, but looking back after watching film, I’m pretty happy.”
————
RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football Communications | K-State Athletics
