MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder talked with members of the media via teleconference while select players met with the media Tuesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex as K-State is idle this week prior to hosting Baylor on Sept. 30. Selected comments from Snyder’s teleconference (archived here) are posted below, along with a collection of comments from players.
Following the bye week, K-State takes on the Bears on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 2:30 p.m., inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a game that will be shown nationally on either ABC or ESPN2. Scattered singles and K-State VIP Tailgate Packages remain for the game against the Bears. Reserved seating starts at $35, while the K-State VIP Tailgate Package is $55 and includes a reserved seat, pregame access to the South Goss Tailgate Terrace and access to an all-you-can-eat buffet along with soda, beer and wine up until kickoff. Scattered single tickets are available by clicking here, while fans can purchase the K-State VIP Tailgate Package by clicking here.
K-State Football Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Bill Snyder
On the interior of the offensive line…
“I was pleased with how well they have played. It gets tougher as you get into the conference, so it remains to be seen. I do have high expectations for them. They have proven that they can play well, hard, aggressive, and enhance their moving ability. I am pleased with where they are at this point in time. It can also get a little tougher as we get into conference play.”
On the pass rush…
“Reggie (Walker) played extremely well and his pass rush was very good and effective. I also give credit to Kyle (Shurmur) the quarterback down there (Vanderbilt). He did a nice job of being able to still get the ball off. He got the ball out of his hands in a hurry, and consequently he had success throwing the ball.”
On the loss at Vanderbilt…
“It does sting. The important thing is how much does one care. If someone is going through some agony and pain from the loss, then I share with them that it tells me they genuinely care, which is important to me. If someone did not have that emotional suffering to a certain degree or the pain, it would tell me that they did not care. I believe that our youngsters were in some pain. After that, it is that period of time where you feel sorry for yourself and it is human nature. You get beyond that and anger sets in. That anger is a message that we need to do something about it. I am hoping that is where we are at this stage.”
On the play of the linebackers at Vanderbilt…
“I thought our linebackers collectively played well. They certainly made some plays in the ballgame and helped us control and win the line of scrimmage. In most instances I thought Elijah (Sullivan) did well. He played well, but nobody was without an error here and there, collectively and individually. They played well, hard and aggressive, which is the way you would like them to play.”
On the running game…
“I do not know that the running game was totally insufficient. We did not run the ball all that badly. We had approximately 200 yards running and averaged a little over four yards per carry, so we had some plays. The consistency was not there. Part of it was us but a lot of it was Vanderbilt. They have a very fine defensive football game. I was more concerned about our passing game than I was about the run game.”
On the defense…
“We have gotten better week in and week out. That is the most important thing to me. There are still areas that we have improvements to make. Even though we defended well in the run game, we still have some things we have to clean up. The passing game is the same thing. There are a few schemes that have gotten us from time to time in the back end. We have to defend better against and that is what we are working on right now. Every game is a new season, so what we did last week as good as it was is not going to have a good bearing on the next ballgame we play.”
On D.J. Reed…
“D.J. (Reed) is doing quite well. My reference is that D.J. had been selected a leader in this program, and I wanted him to step up a little but more. I wanted him to become a vocal leader. That is not an easy task for him, but he has a lot on his plate. Playing in the secondary is hard enough. The work he has done on special teams is something he has done quite well. I do not have any issues with how he is playing. I would just like to see him elevate his vocal leadership more but also understand the nature of the individual.”
On the Big 12 teams…
“I do not know, I have not seen the tapes, at least from this season. It sounds like right now we believe the conference is strong. I do not think there is a doubt about that as it relates to the rest of the nation. We seemingly fit in quite well. Oklahoma State has been very productive and the same for Oklahoma. Texas is on its way back. TCU is making a great deal of improvement since last year, and Texas Tech the same thing. You can go down the list and see ample reasons why it is a strong conference.”
Junior Offensive Lineman Abdul Beecham
On the mentality of the team heading into the bye week…
“Of course the loss was tough on us, the fans and everybody, but I feel like the mindset is in the right direction. The leadership is stepping up, Dalton Risner, D.J. Reed and Jesse Ertz are getting the guys going. We just have to keep pressing forward. I like where the energy is, but we just have to keep pressing along.”
On the theme of yesterday’s meeting and team demeanor…
“Getting our mistakes fixed is the biggest thing. He (Bill Snyder) talked to us a lot about how a loss is not always a failure. It is only a failure if you do not correct your mistakes. A lot of corrections went in yesterday and today, and we just have to keep pushing along and moving forward.”
On the where he assesses the running game going into Big 12 play…
“Our running game is picking up these past two games, but it is still not where we want it to be and up to our standards. Coach (Charlie) Dickey is working extremely hard to get us right and all the guys on the offensive line are working extremely hard on and off the field to get this running game up and going.”
Sophomore Wide Receiver Dalton Schoen
On what went wrong at Vanderbilt…
“It is hard to describe. I am not really sure exactly where it all went wrong. There was definitely a lot of plays we know we can make and should have made, and it just did not go our way. That really hurts because it hurt the team. There was a couple big third-down plays that we should have made.”
On the message from wide receivers coach Andre Coleman…
“The message has been getting back to work and realizing we cannot just take it for granted. We have to go out and prepare each week and then go out and execute during the game.”
On what practice was like and the plan is moving forward…
“We were working on corrections from the game. We are working on getting better and using this bye week to get back on track. The timing of the bye is coming at a decent time. Coming off a tough loss, it is a good time to rest of some guys and get them healthy.”
Senior Linebacker Jayd Kirby
On Elijah Sullivan’s speed…
“I think Elijah is a fast player. Anytime you have somebody with that kind of speed on the field, it helps out tremendously.”
On what Coach Snyder said to the team following the loss…
“The gist of it was how we are going to handle it and how we are going to bounce back. We just have to get ready for the next week and get back on the winning track.”
On what has impressed him the most about the defense…
“We do not try to look at the statistics, but we as linebackers are focused on stopping the run. Anytime we can stop the run and limit the run game, it helps us out a lot.”
On practicing the 4-3 defense leading up to the Vanderbilt game…
“You are going to practice whatever you are seeing on the film. Like Vanderbilt, we were heavy in the base defensive package just because it is what they line up in. Playing Texas Tech, you are probably not going to see that much base defense.”
Sophomore Defensive End Kyle Ball
On what Coach Snyder has said to the team following the loss at Vanderbilt…
“He talked about how it is not about what happened because we cannot fix it now, but it is about what we fix in the future. It is how we will respond to adversity. He talked about what we should do going forward. Coach took the blame for the loss. A lot of the guys felt bad because we did not think it was on him. We kind of beat ourselves, a lot of us felt like. He just talked about what we need to do during this bye week and how we need to get focused on Big 12 play. We need to go 1-0 everyday – he is big on that and taking nothing for granted. That has been one of the biggest things we have been focusing on this week.”
On getting ready for Big 12 play…
“Everyone is really excited to get Big 12 Conference play going. You are itching to get out there and prepare to play against them. I think everyone is excited and focused.”
On the defense…
“I felt like we won the line of scrimmage (at Vanderbilt). We were pushing them back, and I feel like we are learning. Every year it is a new team and defense. Some new guys are starting new positions, but I feel like we are getting comfortable with ourselves. We like where we are at and are improving even more on that.”
Sophomore Linebacker Elijah Sullivan
On what it was like to receive extensive playing time for the first time…
“It was great. The last game (Charlotte) I got a few reps in toward the second half. Especially, starting the game off in the first quarter, it was definitely a change, but I liked it.”
On his role heading into Big 12 play…
“Of course we have a lot of different linebackers that will probably go in and what not. I will just try to do my best and wait for the coach to call my name and go in and do what I can.”
