K-State Weekly Football Press Conference
October 30, 2018
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder and select players met with members of the media Tuesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex to preview Saturday’s game at TCU. Selected comments from Snyder’s press conference (also streamed live and archived here) are posted below, along with a collection of comments from players.
The Wildcats and Horned Frogs kick off at 2:30 p.m., on Saturday inside Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, in a game shown nationally on FS1. K-State returns home on November 10, for the Dillons Sunflower Showdown against Kansas. The game, which kicks off at 11 a.m., will be shown on FSN. Tickets to the game against the Jayhawks, which start at just $37.25 with a Wildcat 4-Pack, can be purchased online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.
K-STATE FOOTBALL WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
BILL SNYDER, K-STATE HEAD COACH
On giving up big plays against Oklahoma and the importance of not doing so…
“Number one, we can’t afford to do that regardless of the number. Oklahoma is very capable of that, they’re a very good football team. We’re not the only team that got big plays on them – that’s neither here nor there. The important thing is we gave them up. We’ve got to be able to defend far better than that. There’s a lot of reasons why; we’re definitely working on that.”
On facing a tough defense in TCU, finding something that works and lessons from previous meetings…
“We always go back on either side of the ball and address previous games. Not just last year but previous years as well. Certainly, due to the obvious, if there were things we had success with we’d certainly entertain the utilization of it if it fits our personnel. But also, to have a good understanding of what your opponent has done well against you, laboring under the assumption that you’ll probably see those things again.”
On breaking down other games and thoughts of TCU vs. Kansas last week…
“We watch the entirety of the game and we watch the cut-up, so it’s a combination of all of the above. What do I take away from it is what I’ve said so many times before, that top to bottom we’re as good a conference as you’ll find. The point being that anybody can beat anybody on any given day. That’s been proven time and time again. I thought both of them really played pretty well during the course of the ballgame. I think sometimes you look back and everybody would say that’s a major upset, but nobody’s beaten Kansas firmly this year; they’ve been in every ballgame they’ve played. There’s no reason they wouldn’t be a formidable opponent for TCU or anybody else.”
On the difficulty of keeping confidence up after a lopsided loss…
“I think it kind of depends on the team, it depends on the players. It doesn’t make it easy, but if you have quality young guys, guys that genuinely care, have a passion for the game, a desire to compete, then it’s far less difficult than if you had the other.”
On what’s missing from being competitive against teams like Oklahoma and West Virginia…
“In each game – all games are different – we just didn’t play as well as we’re capable of. Consequently, that goes back to preparation, which would lend us to think that maybe we didn’t prepare as well as we should have.”
On the season being extra taxing due to unmet expectations…
“I think all seasons are taxing. It’s long, it’s hard, it’s 16 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s certain that taxing is the right word. It would be considered to be more taxing if you were not having the success that you felt that you were capable of. For me, that’s not about the wins and the losses, it’s about our youngsters doing as well as they’re capable of doing. Preparing as well as they can, playing as well as they can, I can live with the results if they’ve done the very best that they can. That’s part of life’s lessons, trying to do the dead level best as you can then if you do that, you live another day.”
On the team’s unified desire to finish strong and earn a bowl bid…
“I’d like to think they want to succeed. It’s not just about playing in a bowl game, they certainly want that. It’s been a long time – none of them have ever been without a bowl game on their resume in any given year, so it would be a unique experience for them. Above and beyond that, they want to be a competitive football team. I think they were embarrassed by the outcome of this particular ballgame and didn’t like that feeling, don’t want to feel that way again. I think there would be a passion to improve themselves to the point where they won’t get embarrassed like that.”
On TCU’s quarterback situation and challenges adjusting to it…
“The more you can see the better assessment you can make. We think (Michael Collins) is probably, of the two, he’s probably a little bit better thrower than (Shawn Robinson), not quite as mobile, but they still run the same offense. They still have the quarterback run game, still run the option, still let him keep the ball on different types of read plays. To my knowledge, I haven’t seen anything that would indicate they have changed the way they approach the offense and he’s capable of all aspects of it. It looks like he managed the ballgame well from what I saw, still a good player. You go back into the outset of the season and last spring, there was still a great deal of uncertainty in regards to which of the two would become the starting quarterback. If Gary (Patterson) felt that they were that collectively even, then they that would send a big message to me that they probably are.”
On Alex Barnes’ limited production against Oklahoma…
“He’s not the only guy on the field, there’s a whole bunch of people out there and they have to block people. If you do that, you’ve got a better chance. If you don’t, then you don’t. It’s not Alex – it’s not any one individual – we just didn’t play as effectively as I would like to think we are capable of. Not that the effort wasn’t there, we just did not play well.”
On whether the team has come close to playing as well as they are capable of…
“It depends on the game. In the past ballgame that we’re talking about, nowhere near close to what they are capable of. I think the previous week, the previous game (Oklahoma State), I thought they got closer. It was probably as good but still not – my expectations are far greater than anyone wants to consider. I think they’re capable of far more.”
On execution mistakes and whether any source of problems can be pinpointed…
“There’s probably a little bit of everything that creates some of the problems that we have. It’s so easy to say execution, but if you’re continually making the same mistakes, that falls in the laps of the coaches. If we can’t get the message across or instruct a young person to do something that is of necessity over the course of the ballgame, and if they are incapable of doing it, then it is something that we have to consider why are you doing it if your players can’t do it. Everybody’s schemes are good, but sometimes if your players can’t do it, why put it on the field? You have to get into things that your players can do, which is the most important thing.”
On Kyle Ball’s play against Oklahoma…
“Kyle made some plays in the ballgame. I think the thing that you see about him is a young guy that plays as hard as he possibly can, snap after snap. When someone else might get down because of the margin of how far behind we were, he keeps playing as hard as he possibly can. He played well, it was not just that he played hard. He got in the back field, forced some scrambles, got a sack. He just played well.”
On sending a message while rewarding effort…
“I shared that with our players after the ballgame – the guys that are going to get on the field are the guys that we can count on to give their best effort they have.”
On freshman wide receiver Malik Knowles’ growth throughout the season…
“Quite a bit. He’s worked his way. He’s deserving of having an opportunity to play. It took a while for him to learn the system, what to do, where to go and how to get there. He is a young man that has skill. He’s got good hands and can catch the ball. He has good range. We do not have many rangy wide receivers that are so popular now. He provides that for us as well. He’s worked hard, been very diligent about what he does, and consequently earned the right to be on the field.”
On setting a positive example for players feeling down…
“I don’t necessarily have a market on the answer. It hasn’t changed, kind of been, there done that. We’ve been in similar situations before. The important thing is to not to abort what the basic principles of your program happen to be. It does not lend any confidence to your players if suddenly you philosophically change, changing all your schemes that have been good previously. We do do some things differently, but that comes with the time of the year but basic changes in your practice routine as much of anything, and normally something we do this time of year because it gets kind of mundane for players. We try to eliminate that, so there is more enthusiasm on the field. Based on my experience, if you believe in what you’re doing, you do it. If it’s not working, you do what you can to correct it. Schematically, if your player can’t do it, it doesn’t matter how good we think the schemes are you have to move on and come back to them when you have players in place to desire what you can do.”
On Skylar Thompson’s run into the OU sideline and team’s response…
“That’s what officials are for. You want your guys to be there for each other. I don’t know that there was anything dramatic that happened over there. I looked at the television copy, I did not feel like anybody was swinging at anyone. I’m sure there were some words that were said. I don’t fault Abdul (Beecham), because that was his teammate. We got penalized because one of our players responded to something that took place. It is the old adage that officials see the second blow, so to speak. We get a flag and you just have to have more poise than that. Play with poise as they say.”
ADAM HOLTORF, JUNIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN
On the loss…
“What happened in Norman is tough to shake off. Yesterday was a good start to the week. We had to come in, get to work and shake things off. We’re working on improving.”
On anger vs. motivation…
“There definitely is some anger and frustration in what happened. We didn’t execute, we didn’t compete, it was a tough loss to take. So, there is some anger but we’re trying to channel that in the right ways to motivate ourselves and try and get better for next week.”
On staying persistent vs. taking on new methods…
“That’s a tough question. I think they both play into each other. When things aren’t working, you still have to stay persistent at it. I don’t think it’s an either-or question. Persistence is key. The bigger thing I think is how you respond to that adversity your facing. Staying persistent at everything you’re doing and trying to find ways to improve. If one way isn’t working, maybe try another way, but still stay persistent.
ZACH REUTER, SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER
On looking back at losses…
“A lot of them have been close. Baylor and Texas, those are two Big 12 games we could’ve had if a few plays were different. Every time we watch the film, we see the mistakes, and its things that are very much in our control and that we can change and if corrected, could make the game completely different.”
On motivation to get back out there…
“We always have something to prove. Coming off a week with a disappointing loss says a lot about how we respond and bring that competitive nature to the game.”
On bowl game motivation…
“A bowl game can definitely be a motivating factor. Our mindset has to be in the here and now and being able to improve. If you look too far down the road, you can get distracted. So, each day we try and bring some positive energy and have the best practice we can.”
DALTON RISNER, SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN
On the challenge of shaking off the loss to Oklahoma…
“It’s never easy to shake off a 51-14 loss. I’ve told you guys plenty of times this season, you’ve just got to move on. No matter what the record is, no matter what state the team is in, you just got to move forward.”
On the motivation coming in this week…
“A combination of things. It’s motivation off of the fact that we came off of a 51-14 loss. Motivation that we’re 3-5. Motivation to make a bowl game. Motivation to make fans proud. Motivation to make ourselves proud. A lot of things go into it for sure.”
On the speech he gave to team after game…
“It wasn’t planned, man. It was just one of those things where I stood up. Coach was talking, and I just couldn’t sit down in my seat any longer. Not anything that Coach said, but it was also things that Coach did say. Things that I agreed with him with, things that he was questioning, and I wasn’t about, I didn’t want Coach to question those things about my team. I wanted to let him know and show him that I’m not going to allow anyone, I don’t care who you are, and I told him and I told the rest of my staff that if anyone questions my football team or anyone questions the type of program we are or how much we care, they better come ask me first. I tell them I don’t want to hear it. I take a lot of pride in this team and I care a lot this football team. I’ve been here five years and I’ve put in way too much work alongside a lot of my brothers, in sweat, and bled and cried too much here to let someone just disrespect our program and think that we can’t fight adversity and think that we don’t care. I understand that after a 51-14 loss, when you lose like that, I understand that it’s tough. I understand that as a fanbase and as guys that make a living off a team like this that it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to see a team not do well and lose like that, lose badly and look like we give in, but I promise you that’s not the case.”
Ryan Lackey
