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 regular season non-conference finale against UTSA. Selected comments from Snyder’s press conference (also streamed live and archived here) are posted below, along with a collection of comments from players.

 

Saturday’s game is set for a 3 p.m., kick inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium and will be shown on FSN. Tickets for the game against the Roadrunners start at just $20, and fans can purchase tickets online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.


BILL SNYDER, K-STATE HEAD COACH

On Mississippi State’s 3rd & 17 conversion last Saturday…

“We have to give opponents a good deal of credit for being able to make plays when they have to make good plays. It is a good football team, which they were. Our pass rush sometimes creates some problems for us. The pass rush is about a lot of different things. It is not just rushing the passer, it is about being able to play off and play draw plays. You can only give a guy so much time back there to throw the ball and when you do you are going to have some problems. It was not just the 3rd and 17. It was a plethora of third-down plays that hurt us and the drives that we stopped would have prevented scores – probably 14 points for sure and probably 21 had we been successful on third down. They did a nice job on third down because of the draw play and trying to play the draw play while still getting a pass rush and not having to keep our guys in coverage as long as we did in a few occasions. It is a plethora of things that creates problems for us.”

 

On punting vs. going for it on fourth down in the second half vs. Mississippi State…

“There’s always the thought, whether you do or you don’t. It kind of depends on how far, what kind of success we have had on short yardage. Basically, it is a feeling of yes, we can, or we are taking a big risk. Considering the score, would you change it in hindsight, probably so. We were in a position where we felt like we were kind of behind the ball, I guess as much as anything. They put up 500 yards of offense, so field position was a factor as well just to help our defense out as much as possible.”

 

On the struggles in the running game and ability to find the end zone…

“It’s a plethora of things. This was a very good test for us, and I thought we improved in this category, but we haven’t been physical enough. We have been a little soft in terms of our pass protection which may have soften us up a little in terms of the run. Once again, Mississippi State really has an extremely talented and physical defensive front. Like I said before, I do not know all the teams in the country but people who study that say that Mississippi State is as good as any front in the country. I have no other way of knowing that outside of when we played them, we truly found out they are very physical, strong and quick up front. It is difficult to run the ball. We had a few plays. Even that being said, had our execution been as we had hoped for and as we had indicated during the week, we would have been much more proficient in running the ball.”

 

On the ability to recover from or use the loss…

“We are pained by the loss, which I believe that our players were. The words I heard were disappointment, embarrassment. If you were really competitive and really cared, that will grow over the next 24 hours and 48 hours in anger; self anger and not at anybody else. It is significant to find out if we have the determination and the persistence to fight through this and to come out on the right end of it, understanding that we are capable of it. If we were not capable that is one thing, but we do have the capabilities if we can manage to stay healthy, that would certainly make us a better football team. Me saying it is one thing, actually doing it is another. Being able to pay strict attention to the details of what we do. That old adage of do your job. We have guys on the offensive side of the ball stepping on somebody’s foot and tripping them and that person falls off his block, then that guy makes the tackle. Had we executed it appropriately, it is a major play for us. That is just one, but there are tons of things. We have guys maybe not being as physical as we need to be and get knocked back picking off a puller, and consequently you get a guy that is unblocked you have to pull around and make a block on him, which happened three or four times. Those are substantial plays. Little things like that become big things. They are correctable mistakes visually, but you have to invest yourself in doing it and have that commitment of persistence to make that happen and do it on a daily basis so it creates habit. It is easy to get lulled into bad habits if you do not go through the process every single day.”

 

On getting both the pass defense and run defense to click in the same game…

“We have to go back and revisit. We were really bad against the run. The schemes they ran against us are not unlike any of the schemes we have seen. Our offense runs it against us and the defense worked against our own offense for the first 25 days of practice. We did not play as effectively. Guys were not executing their assignments and not staying in the gaps that they were supposed to be in. Some of it was mental mistakes and some were execution mistakes to a far greater degree of what we have seen previously in camp and in the first ballgame. We maybe tried to do a couple things we just could not execute well, which is my fault. If we try to do something players cannot do, I have to be wise enough to make sure we do not do that. By and large, that has always been a stable of being able to defend against the run, then it is a little easier to project the pass. I thought we did some good things in the coverage and some bad things. They did not do anything that we did not anticipate. They got big plays, for instance, out of the quarterback draw. We work against the quarterback draw every single day. We just didn’t get off the blocks and make plays with alertness and be able to support out of the linebackers. It was a variety of things, but they were things that we had been doing very well.”

 

On how losses affect him personally now versus in the past…

“I don’t know, I can’t remember that far back. I don’t know that there’s any change. You lose ballgames for a variety of different reasons. Like I was telling our players, it’s a great lesson for them because of the outgrowth of it. There are worse things in life than losing a football game for these young guys, and some of them have already suffered far worse things. The important thing is how do we respond to all of it and being able to have that perseverance, determination and mental fortitude to be able to overcome it. We have to move forward, overcome it and make it better. For me, I do not think it is any different than it ever has been. I feel the same way about it. It angers me, but what I saw with our players is if they are competitors, they will become angry about it. I consider myself to be a competitive person and it angers me as well. Once again, it is what do we do about it not just here is your emotions. How do you deal with your emotions and what do you do to make it better?”

 

On Wyatt Hubert being a bright spot on defense…

“Wyatt is a very competitive, hard-working young guy. He’s got one speed, and it’s the one that you like. He still has to learn how to control himself in that regard. By that I mean he gets himself out of position, which happened numerous times throughout the ballgame because of his aggressive play. You have to be aggressive and still be in the right place at the right time doing the right things. He is going to be a fine player. He just has to learn how to be where he is supposed to be.”

 

On the quarterback position…

“It’s not that cut and dry. Skylar will start for us, it appears at this point in time. I don’t think anything is totally cut and dry. When you’re not playing well, that’s true for everybody.”

 

On what has separated the two quarterbacks through two games…

“Not a great deal. Probably in the last ballgame, Alex (Delton) had a turnover, which was a bad decision on his part. There is not one single criteria that this is the difference and why. I probably should not have said it that way. At the end of the day, Skylar (Thompson) played a little bit better than Alex did.”

 

On the threats and issues UTSA presents…

“From an overall standpoint, I concur with what you said, you’ve seen some improvement. They have a lot of new players. They have about six starters returning from last year. They have a number of community-college transfers and a number of players that were in the program last year but not starting that are starters now. That should indicate that each week they are getting better because they have a number of players who were not in the program before. I saw that between game one and game two pretty much across the board. From a defensive standpoint, they don’t have good numbers, people are completing 70-percent of their passes against them, and I think they gave up right around 500 yards per game. Once again, they played two pretty good offensive teams in Arizona State and Baylor. The quarterback after the spring practice was not the anticipated starter, but he is their guy now. Watching him on tape, you have seen he has made vast improvement between game one and game two. You see a guy that has a lot of skill. He is very quick and talented. He runs and breaks contain a lot. They use him on a sprint pass to get him out away from the protection issues, and he throws the ball reasonably well. He can create some problems for you. Running back-wise, I do not know which way they are going to go. The youngster they started the season with had a productive day against Arizona State. If he is on the field, he is a pretty good player. There is some real talent in their interior defense line, and they have some guys that can move around and have good physical size to them. Off the top of my head, those are issues I have had some concern about.”

 

On the offensive line’s performance versus preseason expectation…

“Not where I would like them to be right now. I think we haven’t been as physical as I would like. Again, a team like Mississippi State has something to say about that. It is not like they got knocked all over the place, but we did not get as much push as I would have liked and movement in their defensive line. We were a little soft in our pass protection. Our quarterbacks, on a few occasions, had some bad throws, which makes them look like kindergarten quarterbacks, but they got people up in their face and they ended up short arming the ball and consequently throw bad balls. We have to be firmer up front in our pass protection and more forceful in the run game.”

 

On the offensive line taking last year’s success and returning experience for granted…

“I don’t think they have taken themselves for granted. If indeed any of them did, they got the message by now. I think they’re good workers, they come to practice every day and try to get things right. I don’t see anybody slowing down because of that.”

 

On utilizing the new redshirt rule…

“They have the four games that a young guy might compete in and save his redshirt year. Unfortunately, our games have not put us in position to get somebody on the field just to give them an opportunity to take advantage of that. I think if we were in that position, then my biggest concern is getting the guys in who at some particular point in the season are going to have to step up to a starting spot because of injuries. You would love to have freshmen being able to take playing time in four games. You lose the opportunities from those number two guys as you move further along in the season.”

 

On the play of the wide receivers last Saturday…

“In the first ballgame, it was just catching the ball. The second ballgame, that was something we improved upon – we didn’t have major issues catching the ball. In all reality, in the second ballgame, it’s not that they played poorly. There were some assignment issues and alignment issues that were concerning as far as execution. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible either. The execution was ok.”

 

On Elijah Sullivan’s status after leaving the Mississippi State game a couple times…

“He came off for a reason, but it appears he will be able to go on Saturday.”

 

On the difficulty of evaluating Elijah Sullivan because of injuries…

“To a certain degree, but we have a good idea. Elijah made some mistakes in the game, but one thing is that he is a pretty athletic young guy. He runs quite well, and he is a good lateral player from sideline to sideline. He made some plays on the boundary coming from the middle of the field that were pretty big for us.”

 

On Bernardo Rodriguez’ contributions to the punting game…

“He hit the ball alright. We put him in a position where he didn’t hit the daylights out of the ball, but he did what he does. It was a pooch kick environment that he was in. It was a little out of his range, but he did fine.”

 

On the trouble establishing an identity…

“I think we have an identity, it’s not one I like right now. We are not playing as well as we are capable of. That is me, not them. They make the effort. The identity varies from day to day. There are certain things you want – discipline, you want guys that will play hard, that are competitive snap after snap and have the discipline and persistence to play one snap at a time and be their best every single snap throughout the course of a ball game. Those are things that coaches want to get out of players.”

 

On if Justin Silmon not having any touches this season is by design…

“Not really. No, best thing I could tell you, he just was not in the ballgame at the time we were doing something that would have gotten the ball to him. Nobody is trying to keep the ball away from Justin. He is a good running back in his own right. It was just who happened to be in the ballgame at the time.”

SAM SIZELOVE, SENIOR LINEBACKER

On what went wrong defensively against Mississippi State…

“Just uncharacteristic things from our defense, missing gaps, simple mistakes that we’re not known for making. I think it ended up costing us a lot of those rush yards, which is just guys not being in the right place.”

 

On confidence as a team and defense…

“We all trust each other and we all know where we messed up. It’s things that we can fix. Our confidence isn’t altered at all really on things like that. We saw the film and we knew that we could have made the plays, but we had mental errors. We weren’t in the right spot at the right time. This week is all about fixing those problems.”

 

On how anxious they feel to get back on field after game like that…

“I would say pretty much that moment you step off that field you wish you could get back on and just get back out there and prove that our defense can be great if we just do our jobs. When you watch that film on Monday, you just wish you could go back and take back snaps, but that’s not the way it goes. We’ve just have to learn from this.”

 

On what’s it like to not play to your strength…

“It’s embarrassing. That’s something that every starting camp, every start to our season we need to stop the run. As a defense, we know we need to stop the run, that’s the first priority. When we get out there and can’t do that, it’s something that’s hard to swallow and it’s embarrassing. We know we can get it done we’ve just got to step up.”

 

JOE DAVIES, JUNIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE

On the realizations from the Mississippi State game…

“This past week was more of a wake-up call for us. We still have some things to clean up on, but they’re not impossible to fix. We just have to keep working at it and we’ll be able to handle the run pretty well.”

 

On importance of getting the run and pass defense on the same page before conference play…

“You have to be able to stop the run. If you do that, it closes up some things for the other team, like they won’t be able to pass the ball on us. But our secondary did a good job of covering the ball, making sure they couldn’t pass the ball on us. It’s just up to the guys in front to be able to compliment that and stop the run better.”

 

On how anxious to get back on the field after a game like that…

“We’re pretty anxious. We’re coming out with a chip on our shoulder, ready to play and redeem ourselves from last weekend.”

 

On any change in confidence level…

“Our confidence level hasn’t changed at all. If anything, it’s gone up a little bit because we’re more prepared. We know what we have to fix and we’re ready to work.”

 

DALTON SCHOEN, JUNIOR WIDE RECEIVER

On his thoughts about the game…

“I think looking back at the film, it’s encouraging and upsetting at the same time because it’s unfortunate to see that we were really close on some plays, one block here, one block there, just one little thing and I think it would have been a different ballgame. We would have been right there in it. At this point, it’s disappointing to see that we were this close but it’s encouraging at the same time. I think there was a lot of improvement from week one to week two, but there’s a few more things we have to get tightened up. Like you said, I feel like we had a decent shot there in the passing game, but we struggled to get the ball out.”

 

On if the team is hitting the reset button on the season…

“I wouldn’t say it’s a complete reset. Like I said, I feel like we made improvement from week one to week two, and if you really digest the film, really look at it, we were close on a lot of plays. It’s just the little things we have to get tightened up. It’s not discouraging.”

 

On how crucial it is to have everything working before conference play…

“That’s big. Yeah, like you said, it would have been a lot better to come out and be clicking for the first couple of games, but next week we have UTSA, a chance to get everything locked up before we go into Big 12 play, get all on the same page.”

 

On what they need to improve on…

“I think it’s all about the little things right now. We were moving the ball well at times in the game this past weekend, but for whatever reason we’d get to midfield and we’d stall out. When you look at the film, it’s a little thing here and a little thing there, one missed block, one different thing, and it would have been a different story, I think. We’ve got to get all those little nuances tightened up.”

 

DALTON RISNER, SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

On the emphasis at practice going into week three…

“It’s a tough game, we’ve got to learn from it. That’s the game of football – sometimes you lose, sometimes you don’t play as well as you need to. If you can’t get over that as a football team, you’re not going to get over much, so we’re excited for the opportunity this weekend.”

 

On the level of frustration about not having a rushing touchdown through two games…

“Very. We haven’t really been able to get in the end zone throwing the ball either. We threw one against South Dakota and one against Mississippi State. The passing game hasn’t been anywhere where it needs to be in the first place, running game hasn’t been where it needs to be, so all facets of the offensive game. We met one goal this week out of the 12 goals we try to meet every single game. There’s not one area of the offensive game that we’re doing well. We have to work on every aspect of the offensive game, and that starts up front and being more physical, moving guys off the line of scrimmage and giving our quarterbacks time to do so. (There are) a lot of concerning thoughts the first two weeks on the offensive side of the ball. We have to do a lot better.”

 

On Coach Snyder’s assessment that the offense has been soft…

“Coach is right. We’ve scored two touchdowns technically. We’ve scored a lot of field goals, done a lot of things right and done a lot of things bad as well. Whenever we says we’re being soft, that’s a Hall of Fame coach and our offensive line coach is telling us – that’s not just the o-line, that’s the entire offense. The whole offense isn’t doing what we need to do. We take everything that Coach says, and we work on it. What else can you do?”

 

On the next steps to take to improve…

“Getting the bad taste out of your mouth from the last week. You can’t dwell on the past. You can take the pain and you can dwell on the pain, but you can’t dwell on the misery and dwell on the past – that will only get your team worse and bring bad, negative vibes to your football team. You look at the game, you look at what you did wrong, and you move forward. You get ready for the next game. That’s the cool thing about football, you’ve got 12 football games in a season. We’re going on game three and we’ve got an opportunity to be 2-1. We’ve had a lot of seasons where we go through thick and thin and things are different, that’s the game of football. Just having a short memory of what happened and making sure we learn from our mistakes. There’s a difference between saying, ‘Hey let’s just forget about the game and move forward.” You don’t really learn from your mistakes then. First, let’s learn from our mistakes, make sure we learn from what we did wrong, but after that’s over, forget about the game. You can’t dwell on the misery from that, you’ve got to move forward.”

 

On the takeaways from the loss to Mississippi State…

“You can take away so many things. If you’re talking from the offensive line standpoint, we have to be able to get more movement up front and we’ve got to be able to handle twists, handle pressures. We’ve got to execute. It’s not an effort thing out there, not a talent thing, it’s an execution deal. I wish you could get into film – there are so many plays that we’re one block away from busting it for 25 yards, that’s a momentum changer. Or on the 30 yard-line and we get tackled behind the line, but if we make that block we might bust it for 25 yards and be on the five-yard line, make it 10-10 and that’s a different ballgame. That’s the game of football – a lot of people think there’s a lot more bad going on than there actually is during the game. The eye in the sky doesn’t lie, the film doesn’t lie, and when you watch it, 20 plays from Saturday’s game there’s one guy doing something wrong and that one guy making that mistakes – including me, I make mistakes as well – that makes the play go bad and changes the whole rotation of the game. We’ve got to be able to clean that up and execute better and have all 11 of us doing our jobs.”

 

ZACH REUTER, SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER

On mistakes leading to stalled drives and a lack of scoring…

“It just comes down to making sure we’re technically sound. Each time going over the film you see a mistake here or a mistake there and the implications are huge when you realize that it slowed a drive that could’ve ended up with a touchdown over and over.”

 

On the opportunity for the offense to catch fire if sparked…

“We haven’t had that click yet. Once we do, I think we can start going, get in a rhythm and moving a lot better as an offense.

 

On takeaways from the Mississippi State loss…

“We really took it as a learning experience, and almost a positive thing, because we see how close we are to performing how we need to be at that top-20 level. There are so many times if we do one thing different, one thing better, then we’re right there with the other team. We’re right there scoring. We keep the score close the whole game and it turns out possibly different. (Nothing sticks out specifically) just being able to be technique-sound is the key, being able to control what we can control and do our execution correctly.”

 

ADAM HOLTORF, JUNIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

On the struggles on the offensive line through two games…

“The biggest thing that sticks out to me is that there’s a lack of consistency in what we’re doing. We need to be better at finishing blocks. Those two things have created a lot of the issues that we’re seeing. Everybody’s kind of taking their turn in terms of having one or two bad plays, busts – a guy beats you across your face, that sort of thing. We’re all sort of taking our turn having one or two of those and those add up at the end of the game and that goes back to consistency. That’s an all-encompassing thing – consistency, finishing our blocks. We’re just not playing to the level that we’re capable of.”

 

On the frustration level following film review of mistakes limiting production on offense…

“That’s extremely frustrating. We took time as a whole offense to watch that yesterday, those 30-some plays where its little things – if a guy sustains a block, maybe half a second longer, if a guy gets his hat from the backside to the playside, maybe I don’t get my shoulders turned on a combo block and I can get up to the linebacker cleaner and that play goes from a 10-yard gain to a 15-, 20-yard gain. It’s extremely frustrating to watch because those are little things that you don’t necessarily pick up on as the game is going and the bullets are flying, so to say, but when you go back and take the time to watch the tape, it’s frustrating because you see how close you truly were.”

 

On not performing to preseason expectations for the offensive line…

“Going into this season we all knew we had an opportunity to do something special and we’re not doing it right now. We’re dissecting the film, looking at it under as big of microscope as we can, trying to find every little thing that we can to try and improve. Being able to be consistent throughout – we show flashes of being able to do things. We’ll pop a big run for 15-, 20-yards, then we’ll turn around and have a negative gain play. It’s frustrating but we’re doing everything that we can to try and remedy that and improve that.”

————
RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football and Golf Communications | K-State Athletics

Date: Saturday, September 15, 2018

Kickoff: 3 p.m.

Location: Manhattan, Kan.

Stadium: Bill Snyder Family Stadium (50,000)

Series: K-State leads, 1-0

 

WILDCATS CLOSE OUT NON-CON SLATE WITH UTSA
Following a tough loss to No. 18 Mississippi State last week, K-State looks to bounce back in its final non-conference game when it hosts UTSA at 3 p.m., Saturday afternoon at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The contest will be shown nationally on FSN with Mark Followill (play-by-play), Brian Baldinger (analyst) and Lesley McCaslin (sidelines) on the call. The game can be heard across the 39-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst) and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action. The game will also be on Sirius channel 106, XM Channel 210 and in addition to the TuneIn app. Live stats are available at k-statesports.com, and Twitter updates (@KStateFB) will also be a part of the coverage.

A LOOK AT K-STATE

• K-State boasts 35 returning letterwinners – including 14 starters – from a team that went 8-5 in 2017 and has won its last four games dating back to last season.
• Although Bill Snyder is back for a 27th year, he is flanked by two new coordinators in Andre Coleman (offense) and Blake Seiler (defense), two of the seven assistants on staff that played and graduated from Kansas State.
• K-State has played both Skylar Thompson (starts) and Alex Delton in the first two games with Thompson leading the Cats to his third fourth-quarter comeback win (vs. South Dakota) in the Wildcats’ last seven total games.
• The running game is solidified by the Wildcats’ leading rusher a year ago, Alex Barnes, as well as Justin Silmon and Dalvin Warmack. Barnes topped 100 yards in the season opener and has a Big 12-leading 178 yards on the season.
• The Wildcats have the benefit of having all five returning starters along the offensive line back for another year, one of just five FBS teams to return 65-of-65 starts along the offensive line from 2017.
• Wide receiver Isaiah Zuber not only caught the game-winning touchdown pass late in the game against South Dakota, but he also returned a punt 85 yards for a score to earn Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
• Defensively, K-State held South Dakota to just 77 yards on the ground and 334 total yards, but the Wildcats surrendered 384 rushing yards and 538 total yards against Mississippi State.
• The Wildcats had to replace their place kicker from a year ago, and Blake Lynch has stepped right in to connect on 5-of-6 field goals, including a 4-of-4 mark in his Wildcat debut against South Dakota. Lynch is tied for fourth nationally in field goals, and his only miss was a 52-yarder against the win last week.

A LOOK AT UTSA

• The Roadrunners have opened up with two tough losses at the hands of Arizona State (49-7) and Baylor (37-20) to open the season.
• UTSA is averaging 237.5 yards per game through two weeks, with 187.5 per game of that coming via the pass. Quarterback Cordale Grundy has complete 52-percent of his passes with Greg Campbell Jr., and Kirk Johnson Jr. each having eight catches on the year.
• Defensively, UTSA’s first two opponents have averaged 498.5 yards a game. Josiah Tauaefa leads the squad with 15 tackles, while three other players have 10 or more.

  A LOOK AT THE SERIES

• K-State and UTSA will meet for the second time ever and the second time in three seasons when the two teams meet on Saturday.
• The Wildcats won the lone meeting in the series, a 30-3, victory in 2015 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

  CATS AGAINST THE C-USA

• The Wildcats hold an all-time record of 23-4 against current members of Conference USA.
• Saturday marks the sixth time in five seasons K-State will meet a C-USA foe. The Wildcats defeated Charlotte (55-7) last season, Florida Atlantic (63-7) in 2016, won at UTSA (30-3) and against Louisiana Tech (39-33 [3OT]) in 2015, and topped UTEP (58-28) in 2014.

  NON-CONFERENCE NOTABLES

• Since 1990, K-State has won 77 of its 89 (.865) regular-season non-conference games under Bill Snyder, including 67-of-71 (.944) at home.
• K-State has had perfect regular season non-conference ledgers in 15 of the last 25 years.

  SNYDER IN SEPTEMBER

• Fast starts have propelled the Wildcats to winning seasons under Bill Snyder. Since 1992 under Snyder, K-State is a combined 68-10 (.859) in September.
• Of the losses, six came on the road, as the Cats are 55-4 (.932) in September home games during that stretch.
• K-State saw a nine-game winning streak in September home games snapped last week against No. 18 Mississippi State.
• Since Snyder’s return to the sidelines in 2009, K-State is 26-7 (.788) in the month of September.

 

CATS NEED A QUICK START

• K-State will be looking to break a trend of slow starts it has developed the last three years. The 2015 Wildcats started out 3-6 before winning their final three to make a bowl. In 2016, K-State started 3-3 before winning six of its final seven, including a Texas Bowl win. Last year, the Cats started 3-4 but won five of their final six with a Cactus Bowl victory.
• It is especially important this year as the Wildcats will play five of their 12 games – and four of their seven homes games – prior to October 1 for the first time since the 2006 season.

 

ONE OF THE BIG 12’S BEST

• K-State is one of only three teams in the Big 12 to reach 100 league wins since the league’s inception in 1996.
• The Wildcats also rank third in the conference in winning percentage since round-robin play began in 2011. They sit at .651 (41-22), trailing only Oklahoma (.810; 51-12) and Oklahoma State (.698; 44-19).
• During that stretch, the Wildcats are 22-10 (.688) at home in Big 12 play and 19-12 (.613) on the road.
• K-State, picked sixth by the league’s media in the Big 12 preseason poll, has finished in the top four of the conference in five of the last seven years.

 

RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football and Golf Communications | K-State Athletics
T 785-532-7708 | C 785-587-7865
rlackey@kstatesports.com

K-State Athletics
West Stadium Center at Bill Snyder Family Stadium
1800 College Ave, Manhattan, KS 66502-3355

 

 

 

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Big 12 Conference and ABC/ESPN announced Monday that Kansas State’s Big 12 opener at West Virginia on September 22 will kick off at 2:30 p.m., and be televised by either ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. A final TV designation will be made early next week.

 

The Wildcats are 2-1 at West Virginia since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012, winning in Morgantown in 2012 and 2014 before falling to WVU in 2016. K-State is looking to snap a two-game losing streak to West Virginia after winning the first four games as conference foes.

 

This year marks the second time in the last three seasons the Wildcats will open Big 12 play at West Virginia, while it is the 18^th time in the 23-year history of the Big 12 that K-State will start league play on the road.

 

Kansas State closes out its non-conference schedule this Saturday with a 3 p.m., contest against UTSA inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game, which will be shown on FSN, serves as Fort Riley Day.

 

Tickets for the game against the Roadrunners start at just $20. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

 

Big 12 TV Selections for Weekend of Saturday, September 22

Akron at Iowa State                        11 a.m.                 FSN

K-State at West Virginia              2:30 p.m.             ABC, ESPN or ESPN2

Kansas at Baylor                                2:30 p.m.             FS1

TCU at Texas                                      3:30 p.m.             FOX

Texas Tech at Oklahoma State    6 p.m.                   FS1

Army at Oklahoma                          6 p.m.                   FOX PPV

 

– k-statesports.com –

 

RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football and Golf Communications | K-State Athletics

 

 

…

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Willians Astudillo hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Minnesota Twins a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Max Kepler doubled off Jason Hammel with two outs in the Twins ninth. Astudillo then hit a drive deep to left field for his third home run of the season.

CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Tyreek Hill helped get the Patrick Mahomes era off to a blazing start for Kansas City.

The speedy receiver scored three touchdowns, including two in the first quarter, as the Chiefs opened the season with a 38-28 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

“You know, he’s a different animal. That’s the cheetah,” Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt said. “The guy can take off at any time of the game, at any point in the game, and it’s good like that to have a guy with speed like that on your team.”

On a day when the Chargers’ biggest concerns were Mahomes and Hunt, it was Hill’s big plays that set the tone. Hill had a 91-yard punt return for a score and a 58-yard TD reception during the first quarter to give Kansas City a 14-3 lead. He then added a 1-yard reception on a shovel pass for a score in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Hill also had 169 yards on seven receptions, which is the second-most yards by a Chiefs receiver in an opener, according to Pro Football Reference. Carlos Carson had 173 yards receiving against New Orleans in 1985.

Mahomes, who moved into the starting spot after Alex Smith was traded to Washington in the offseason, was 15 of 27 for 256 yards as the Chiefs extended their winning streak over the Chargers to nine.

“Tyreek really got us going with the punt return and Patrick did a nice job of running the offense,” Kansas City coach Andy Reid said. “There were a lot of great individual efforts on a hot day where we had to endure the elements.”

After the Chargers got the opening kickoff but went three-and-out, Hill took Drew Kaser’s punt 91 yards for a touchdown just 1 minute, 57 seconds into the game. The third-year receiver fielded the punt near the right hash mark, but quickly found an opening up the left sideline.

It was Hill’s fourth punt return for a touchdown in 32 games and the Chiefs’ league-leading seventh since 2013.

“Once I caught it, I was like this is wide open,” Hill said. “The punt return really got me hyped and got the rest of the offense rolling.”

Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said they punted it to the far side to make it hard on Hill, but that he ended up making a good play any way.

“If he was going to come back across the field, surely someone could get there and make a play,” Lynn said, “but we didn’t get it done.”

After Caleb Sturgis’ 45-yard field goal got the Chargers on the board, Mahomes threw his first touchdown pass in the NFL, connecting with Hill for 58 yards . Hill caught the pass at the Chargers 47 and eluded a diving tackle by Jahleel Addae as he found a seam up the left sideline.

Mahomes said it was originally supposed to be a run play with a pass option, but one of the linebackers bit on a run fake.

“It helped that I hit it fast and Tyreek was able to miss the tackler,” Mahomes said. “Tyreek’s really worked on his route running and everything in order to make himself into one of the best receivers in the league. I think today has showed that he has improved and has the speed to bring it any time.”

Hill’s third touchdown came with 9:42 remaining on a 1-yard shovel pass from Mahomes, who became the third quarterback in Chiefs’ history to throw four touchdowns in an opener.

“I don’t want to make any too crazy statements, but he’s one of the most dynamic guys,” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said of Hill. “I don’t know if I’ve seen anybody better in the things that he can do speed-wise in all my time playing.”

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) — Maybe all the Kansas football team needed was a little Pooka.

After being held out of the season opener last week, true freshman Pooka Williams rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns as Kansas snapped the second-longest road losing streak in college football history at 46 games, winning 31-7 at Central Michigan on Saturday.

“He can change games,” Kansas coach David Beaty said. “A single guy can make a difference on a team a lot of times. He can certainly get it started and make guys around him better.”

Williams was held out of the opener last week for the Jayhawks, a 26-23 overtime loss to Football Championship Subdivision Nicholls. Beaty declined to say why and said he found out late Friday night that Williams would be available on Saturday. Prior to last week’s game, Kansas released a statement saying the absence was a “non-disciplinary matter.”

Kansas (1-1) won a road game for the first time since Sept. 12, 2009. The Kansas streak, which spanned five head coaches, was only topped by Idaho State, which lost 48 straight through 2014.

“For our program, for our fans, for our stakeholders, that was really important,” Beaty said. “Our fans deserve it, and they deserve better.”

The defense forced six turnovers, including four interceptions of Central Michigan quarterback Tony Poljan.

“Getting the ball out and getting around the ball has been a priority all camp and all spring for us,” said senior linebacker Joe Dineen Jr., who had his first career interception. “I was so excited that I caught it that I tripped. I didn’t see anything but the grass when my face went down.”

Central Michigan had one first down in the first half, compiling 60 yards on 20 snaps. The Chippewas (0-2) did not cross midfield until there was 7:54 remaining in the third quarter.

“I felt like we left a lot out on the field,” Central Michigan coach John Bonamego said. “I still maintain that all of the mistakes we are making right now are self-inflicted and if we can continue to improve and correct these mistakes that we will be a very good football team.”

Poljan was 18-of-32 passing for 177 yards and one touchdown.

Kansas quarterback Peyton Bender was 17-of-26 passing for 130 yards, connecting with wide receiver Kerr Johnson Jr. for a 31-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

After two Williams scores, Central Michigan cut the lead to 21-7 on a 31-yard reception by Jamil Sabbagh from Poljan in the third quarter.

But on the first play of the fourth quarter, Shakial Taylor of Kansas went up for an interception and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown and a 28-7 lead.

Kansas got two more interceptions in the fourth quarter from Ricky Thomas and Jeremiah McCullough.

“We’re looking forward to starting a new beginning and starting a little win streak here,” Beaty said. “We think we’ve got a pretty good football team if we continue working and continue limiting the mistakes that we make.”

 

Led by Kylin Hill’s 211 yards rushing the Mississippi State Bulldogs ( 2-0 )  dominated Kansas State in a 31-10 victory over the Wildcats in Manhattan Saturday.

The Bulldogs compiled 538 yards of total offense compared to just 213 for Kansas State. Mississippi State led 17-3 at halftime and used a solid defense to help secure the win in the second half. The only touchdown for the Wildcats did come in the third quarter after a pass interception and return by Hubert Wyatt set the Wildcats up at the Bulldog 23-yard line. One player Skylar Thompson hit Dalton Schoen with a pass in the end zone for the touchdown.

On whether the K-State struggles were from Mississippi State being a good team or Kansas State struggling, WIldcat Bill Snyder said, “Well, it’s more of the latter. I wouldn’t take anything away from Mississippi State because they are a very fine football team, but as I’ve said so many times, it’s not about those who we line up and play, it’s about us. We just haven’t played as well as we’re capable of. I thought there were some promise up until maybe the last 5-6 minutes or so in the ballgame. I saw some things, maybe things you don’t see but I saw some things that tell me that maybe we’re making some headway in areas that had been issue for but we didn’t the game that way.”

STAT OF THE GAME

Oct. 7, 2010 – The 384 rushing yards by Mississippi State on Saturday are the most against K-State since October 7, 2010, when Nebraska rushed for 451 yards. MSU was led by two rushers, Hill and Fitzgerald, who each rushed for over 100 yards, the first time the Wildcats allowed two opponent rushers for over 100 yards since 2015.

The Wildcats ( 1-1 ) host UTSA at 3 p.m. next Saturday.

Andale 28, Wellington 0

Andover 20, Maize South 3

Anthony-Harper-Chaparral 49, Wichita Trinity 7

Ashland 54, Western Plains-Healy 7

Attica/Argonia 62, Burden Central 38

Augusta 7, Circle 6

Axtell 64, BV Randolph 12

Baxter Springs 20, Riverton 18

Bennington 28, Moundridge 22

Bishop Miege 49, BV West 7

Blue Valley 31, BV North 20

Bonner Springs 40, Eudora 0

Buhler 19, El Dorado 6

Caldwell 62, Flinthills 6

Caney Valley 41, Eureka 0

Canton-Galva 50, Chase County 14

Cedar Vale/Dexter 62, South Haven 14

Central Plains 32, Victoria 8

Centre 46, Herington 0

Chapman 22, Wamego 8

Cherryvale 42, Bluestem 28

Cheylin 74, Rolla 43

Cimarron 44, Meade 6

Clifton-Clyde 56, Valley Falls 6

Coffeyville 46, Columbus 27

Colby 35, Hugoton 6

Concordia 14, Abilene 6

Conway Springs 28, Cheney 7

Council Grove 52, Central Heights 20

DeSoto 47, KC Wyandotte 8

Derby 63, Salina Central 0

Dighton 46, Oberlin-Decatur 0

Dodge City 27, Salina South 17

Elkhart 45, Southwestern Hts. 14

Ell-Saline 48, Remington 6

Ellinwood 46, Sublette 0

Ellsworth 55, Republic County 22

Emporia 56, Topeka West 7

Frankfort 52, Onaga 6

Galena 36, Girard 2

Garden Plain 31, Douglass 0

Gardner-Edgerton 48, Olathe West 27

Goddard 34, Arkansas City 0

Goddard-Eisenhower 21, Andover Central 14

Goessel 56, Rural Vista 6

Golden Plains 53, Moscow 25

Great Bend 15, Hays 7

Hanover 52, Doniphan West 6

Harrisonville, Mo. 29, BV Northwest 24

Hays-TMP-Marian 14, Ellis 7

Hesston 28, Larned 21

Hill City 48, Trego 18

Hillsboro 42, Lyons 0

Hodgeman County 36, Medicine Lodge 24

Hoisington 28, Nickerson 14

Hoxie 52, Osborne 20

Hutchinson Central Christian 50, Norwich 0

Hutchinson Trinity 38, Inman 0

Ingalls 58, Chase 12

Jackson Heights 38, Atchison County 0

Jayhawk Linn 18, Uniontown 6

Jefferson West 54, Royal Valley 14

KC Piper 51, Baldwin 7

KC Schlagle 18, Atchison 12

KC Sumner 36, Highland Park 34

KC Washington 29, KC Harmon 0

Kapaun Mount Carmel 6, Wichita West 0

Kingman 56, Belle Plaine 18

Kinsley 36, St. John 24

Kiowa County 26, Pratt Skyline 12

Labette County 36, Independence 0

Lakin 40, Stanton County 14

Lansing 14, Basehor-Linwood 13

Lawrence Free State 41, Olathe East 0

Lebo 48, Marais des Cygnes Valley 0

Lincoln 42, Wilson 14

Little River 48, Peabody-Burns 0

Logan/Palco 50, Wheatland-Grinnell 14

Louisburg 27, Tonganoxie 7

Madison/Hamilton 20, Waverly 0

Maize 49, Hutchinson 0

Manhattan 21, Topeka 20

Marion 36, Sterling 13

Marysville 32, Clay Center 6

Maur Hill – Mount Academy 48, Oskaloosa 0

McLouth 28, Jefferson North 12

McPherson 47, Winfield 7

Mill Valley 14, St. James Academy 13

Minneapolis 20, Salina Sacred Heart 17

Mission Valley 40, Wabaunsee 14

Mulvane 42, Clearwater 14

Natoma 60, Fowler 51

Nemaha Central 38, Hiawatha 14

Ness City 50, Macksville 28

Northern Valley 62, Triplains-Brewster 22

Northwest (Cedar Hill), Mo. 66, KC East Christian 8

Oakley 33, Syracuse 12

Olathe North 55, SM North 27

Olathe South 35, Olathe Northwest 7

Olpe 31, Burlington 0

Osage City 41, Lyndon 0

Oswego 30, Marmaton Valley 22

Otis-Bison 50, Bucklin 0

Paola 42, Fort Scott 0

Pawnee Heights 39, Weskan 37

Perry-Lecompton 46, Holton 0

Phillipsburg 31, Plainville 3

Pike Valley 60, Tescott 0

Pittsburg 52, Chanute 0

Pittsburg Colgan 14, Frontenac 0

Pleasanton 8, Southeast 0

Prairie View 26, Lincoln, Mo. 7

Pratt 32, Halstead 16

Pretty Prairie 36, Burrton 8

Rawlins County 50, Quinter 44

Riley County 26, Centralia 21

Rock Hills 40, Lakeside 27

Russell 50, La Crosse 12

SM East 43, Lawrence 13

SM Northwest 41, Leavenworth 12

SM South 27, SM West 6

Sabetha 55, Riverside 0

Santa Fe Trail 40, Osawatomie 0

Satanta 18, South Gray 14

Scott City 24, Holcomb 0

Sedan 54, Oxford 6

Sedgwick 52, Wichita Independent 14

Shawnee Heights 37, KC Turner 6

Silver Lake 17, Rossville 14

Smith Center 40, Norton 0

Smoky Valley 44, Haven 0

Solomon 54, Wakefield 6

South Barber 50, Fairfield-Cunningham 0

South Central 24, Spearville 8

Southeast Saline 14, Beloit 13

Spring Hill 49, Ottawa 0

St. Francis 38, Greeley County 0

St. John’s Beloit-Tipton 47, Linn 0

St. Mary’s 32, Rock Creek 9

St. Paul 34, Wichita Life Prep 22

St. Thomas Aquinas 49, BV Southwest 8

Stafford 62, Minneola 14

Stockton 54, Sylvan-Lucas 26

Thunder Ridge 12, Washington County 0

Topeka Seaman 13, Topeka Hayden 0

Troy 18, Pleasant Ridge 0

Udall 52, West Elk 6

Ulysses 62, Goodland 14

Valley Center 41, Garden City 20

Valley Heights 44, Horton 0

Van Horn, Mo. 58, KC Bishop Ward 0

Washburn Rural 34, Junction City 24

Wellsville 35, Iola 16

West Franklin 24, Northern Heights 0

Wetmore 44, Glasco/Miltonvale-Southern Cloud 24

Wichita Bishop Carroll 36, Wichita Heights 20

Wichita Campus 29, Newton 20

Wichita Collegiate 36, Rose Hill 3

Wichita County 54, Wallace County 6

Wichita Home School 59, Cair Paravel 8

Wichita North 13, Liberal 6

Wichita South 36, Wichita Southeast 7

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS=

Altoona-Midway vs. Maranatha Academy, ppd.

Anderson County vs. Parsons, ppd. to Sep 10th.

Crest vs. Burlingame, ppd.

Fredonia vs. Humboldt, ppd.

Neodesha vs. Erie, ppd.

Northeast-Arma vs. Yates Center, ppd.

Southern Coffey vs. Hartford, ppd.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State Athletics Director Gene Taylor unveiled today a new facility master plan that proposes $210 million of new construction and enhancements that will benefit all 16 Wildcat athletic programs.

This 10 to 15-year facilities vision will be completed in a fashion that is fiscally responsible, and similar to the approach on previous facility projects such as the Ice Basketball Center, West Stadium Center, Vanier Family Football Complex, and others, more details on individual projects will be announced later this year during fundraising campaigns.

“With the assistance of architect consultant HOK, our staff has been working on this plan for quite for some time and we are pleased to share our vision for the future of K-State Athletics and our facility infrastructure,” Taylor said. “With the assistance of Tom Waggoner and Ron Ganz from HOK and Senior Associate AD Jeremy Niederwerder, who helped lead this process, we interviewed every sport’s coaching staff and all department support units to determine our facility needs that will benefit all of our programs. Our goal is to provide our teams the best facilities they need to compete for championships while doing so in a manner that makes sense for K-State, both financially and practically.”

In addition to the $20 million baseball/soccer project and the $4 million overhaul of the RV Christian Track, which are all currently in progress and increases the total in enhancements to $230 million, the new master plan includes the following future projects:

• South Endzone project at Bill Snyder Family Stadium ($29 million).
• New volleyball arena ($17.5 million).
• New Olympic Performance Training Facility ($13 million).
• New Football Indoor Facility and Outdoor Practice Field ($24.5 million).
• Bramlage Coliseum renovation ($85 million).
• New Indoor Track and Field Facility ($12 million).
• Brandeberry Indoor Complex Renovation ($4.5 million).
• Men’s and Women’s Golf Complex at Colbert Hills ($4.5 million).
• New Indoor Tennis Facility ($14.5 million).
• New Soccer Practice Pavilion ($5.5 million).

The south endzone project at Bill Snyder Family Stadium will include a new club/suite premium seating area, expanded Legends Room event space, upgraded restrooms and concessions and new video boards in the southeast and southwest corners of the stadium.

The new volleyball competition arena will have retractable seating for up to 3,500 fans and also house new locker rooms, staff offices, training spaces and a team theatre. Adjacent to this facility would be the new Olympic Performance Training Facility which would house spaces for a strength and conditioning center, sports medicine, locker rooms, team rooms, equipment and nutrition areas and storage for Olympic sport teams.

On the east side of Bill Snyder Family Stadium, the new indoor football practice facility would include a 200’ x 400’ practice field with 65’ roof clearance and accessibility to the Vanier Complex and football stadium.  Additional features would include a limestone exterior to match stadium and campus architecture, an enhanced east concourse as well as a new outdoor practice field.

With the addition of the new football indoor facility, the location of the current indoor would be renovated as a practice and competition facility for indoor track and field, including a new track surface, enhanced lobby and team spaces and an upgraded exterior façade.

The Bramlage Coliseum enhancements would see a new grand west-side entry plaza to the arena, as well as a mid-level concourse and sideline club area with tiered chairback seating. New amenities would also include a potential hall of fame and expanded team store, while additional department office space could be added to the configuration.

Other facility additions include a potential new golf clubhouse to house locker rooms, coaches offices and multiple hitting bays. The indoor tennis center would have six playing courts with spectator seating and locker rooms and offices, while the potential for a new soccer practice pavilion would provide a covered practice facility for women’s soccer and other sports.

“We are excited about the future of K-State Athletics and anxious to begin meeting with prospective donors to determine our next steps. Once that has been determined, we will move forward with announcing and providing more details on our first priority of this master plan.”

To view photos of the facility master plan, as well as a list of FAQ’s and a video from Taylor, visit www.k-statesports.com/masterplan.

– k-statesports.com –

FAQ for Facilities Master Plan

• • How was this plan developed?
    • With the assistance of architect consultant HOK, we interviewed every sport’s coaching staff and all department support units to determine our most pressing facility needs.  After thorough design workshops with HOK and our senior athletics staff, we developed the plan you see today throughout the last several months.

• • Which project is first?
    • It is important to remember that this is a 10-15-year facilities vision that encompasses all our sports programs.  We will develop plans for our next facility campaign relatively quickly and announce those in greater detail later this year.  We are already visiting with potential leadership donors to determine their interest in supporting individual projects from this plan.  We will release further details and images of each individual facility as we get into the public portion of those fundraising campaigns.

• • When will you start construction on the first project?
    • Timing of construction will be determined by how quickly we can raise the necessary funds for each individual project.  Most, if not all, of the funding to deliver the facilities included in this plan will be through philanthropic dollars raised by the Ahearn Fund from leadership donors.

• • How will you prioritize the timeline for these projects?
    • Our goal is to deliver all the improvements over a total 10 to 15-year timeframe.  Our ability to accomplish this goal will be driven primarily by donor contributions, but also be impacted in future years by specific cost estimates as each facility is designed in greater detail.

• • Does the department plan to take on any new debt for any of these projects, or will they need to be 100% funded through donations?
    • A key component to our strategic goals as a department is to manage our resources responsibly and operate with sound fiscal judgment.  Funding will be generated primarily through philanthropic gifts from the K-State Family, with the potential to supplement funding plans through operating revenues depending on the annual financial performance of the department.

• • Do the planned Olympic Performance Facility/Volleyball Arena/Indoor Track mean you will no longer play in Ahearn Field House?  Was a renovation of Ahearn explored as part of this facilities plan?
    • Remaining competitive in these sports in Big 12 play is a significant priority.  We explored throughout the planning process the feasibility of improving our teams’ conditions by renovating Ahearn Field House.  To provide our student-athletes in Volleyball and Track the best possible competitive environment, and to do so in a fiscally responsible manner, we have determined it is in our long-term best interest to provide spaces within the rest of the K-State Athletics campus.

• • For the Indoor Practice Facility, how are you planning to manage parking displacement?
    • We are proud to have some of the best parking options in college athletics.  When we make progress on detailed architectural design for the Football Indoor facility, we will determine exactly how many parking spaces would be affected.  Our Ahearn Fund, Facilities, and Fan Experience staff will develop a plan that minimizes the impact on individual donors and families and will communicate these adjustments in a timely and transparent manner, allowing fans sufficient time to contemplate their options.

• • • How many parking spaces are lost?
      • The preliminary estimate based on the concepts in the Master Plan is approximately 400 spots displaced from the east parking lot.

• • • Will the Athletics Department acquire any auxiliary lots to relocate donors into?
      • We will evaluate the full existing parking plan and explore all options to limit the total impact on fans attending K-State Football games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

• • Where does Cat Town move to after the Volleyball Arena and Olympic Training Facility are constructed?
    • The long-term plan for group pre-game hospitality includes utilizing the west entry pavilion to the renovated Bramlage Coliseum.  Our staff will identify adequate spaces to continue providing our traditional pre-game group hospitality tents once detailed design work on the Volleyball Arena and Olympic Training facility begins.

• • When will you release more details on individual elements, like interior renderings, etc.? What specifically will happen inside of Bramlage Coliseum?
    • As has been our approach on previous facility projects like the Ice Basketball Center, Intercollegiate Rowing Center, Mike Goss Tennis Stadium, West Stadium Center, Vanier Family Football Complex, and others, we will share more detail with K-State fans on these individual projects during fundraising campaigns.  We expect to identify our next project(s) soon and share more detail as design work continues for the identified buildings later this year.

• • Will you add more seating to BSFS in future construction projects?
    • We do not intend to add seating capacity to Bill Snyder Family Stadium.  The potential South End Zone project includes installation of two additional video boards which would remove the temporary bleachers behind sections 10, 11, 18 and 19.  A similar amount of seating would be added as part of a premium seating area attached to an expanded Legends Room club space.

————
KENNY LANNOU
Sr. Associate A.D. for Communications and Public Relations | K-State Athletics