The Fort Riley Middle School 7th grade football team defeated Marysville on Thursday while the 8th grade team lost to Marysville 24-20.

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With parts of the Manhattan area experiencing well over 10 inches of rain this week, K-State Athletics officials announced Thursday that parking in some of the grass lots around Bill Snyder Family Stadium will be reduced for Saturday’s game against No. 18 Mississippi State due to standing water and muddy conditions.

With rain remaining in the forecast through Friday, little or no improvement in the ground conditions is expected before Saturday’s 11 a.m., contest. Torrential rains early Monday caused flash flooding of Wildcat Creek along the west side of Manhattan, cresting nearly 26 feet above the stream bed and displacing about 300 residents from their homes.

The Ag and Grain Sciences parking lots north of the stadium and Lot 9 on the east side will have limited availability for parking. Only about 300 of the normal 1,000 spaces in the Ag Lot will be available. All grass parking at the Grain Sciences area has been closed as only parking in the paved areas will be accessible. At least half of the 1,000 unpaved spaces in Lot 9 are unavailable.

Parking for recreational vehicles north of the KSU Foundation will be open for business as normal, and space for approximately 130 additional vehicles will be available at the KSU Foundation for Saturday’s game at $20. Additionally, athletics officials suggest fans utilize the Equine Lot north of the fire station off Denison Avenue, where 1,000 vehicles can be accommodated for $20 per car. Ample free parking is available at CiCo Park, about two miles west of the stadium on Kimball Avenue, which can also accommodate approximately 1,000 vehicles.

On campus, parking is available at the KSU Parking Garage (no tailgating allowed), and the following lots: B16 and B17 north of Weber Hall; A17 and A18 north of Waters Hall; B5, east of Vet Med; B11 and B13, near Dole Hall; B4, north of Call Hall, and A1, A2 and A3 at the corner of Manhattan and Bluemont. For a campus map, please click here. Tailgating is not permitted in campus parking lots.

For those parking on campus, a free shuttle service sponsored by the K-State Union and K-State Campus Store is available beginning two hours prior to kickoff from the south circle on 17^th Street, between the K-State Parking Garage and the Union. Passengers will be dropped off near the Quick Cats convenience store in the Jardine Plaza Neighborhood southeast of the stadium. Return trips resume with five minutes remaining in the third quarter and continue until approximately one hour after the game.

The Manhattan public transit system, aTa Bus, also runs a gameday shuttle on its routes. For more information, go to www.flinthillsatabus.com or call 785-537-6345.

With the grassy lots reduced in capacity this week, fans are encouraged to arrive early to seek alternative parking if necessary. All parking lots around Bill Snyder Family Stadium will open at 6 a.m., five hours prior to kickoff. Parking in the east and west lots of the stadium is reserved for members of the Ahearn Fund and requires a pass for entry. Paid parking for fans with disabilities is available on a first-come, first-served basis at $20 in the east and west stadium lots. To gain entry, guests must display a state-issued accessible license plate or hangtag and present a disability card along with a form of personal identification.

The contest between the Wildcats and 18^th-ranked Bulldogs serves as both Harley Day and a Stripe Out, and the game will be shown nationally on ESPN. A Wildcat 4-Pack is on sale for $199, while view level group tickets are just $30 each when purchasing 20 or more. Tickets 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-statesports.com –

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

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Three marquee matchups on ESPN’s Big Monday, along with five Saturday home games, including each in the last four weeks of the regular season, highlight the Big 12 Conference portion of the Kansas State men’s basketball schedule released today (September 5).

 

The Big 12 season tips off on Wednesday, January 2 when K-State hosts Texas at 8 p.m., CT and ends on Saturday, March 9 when the Wildcats host Oklahoma at 5 p.m., CT on Senior Day.

 

Every team will get a “bye” during league play for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The Wildcats will have an open date between its road game at Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, January 26 and its road game at Oklahoma State on Saturday, February 2.

 

The nine-game home slate includes five Saturday home games, a pair of Tuesday night tilts against Texas Tech (January 22 at 6 p.m., CT) and archrival Kansas (February 5 at 8 p.m., CT) and two Wednesday night matchups against Texas (January 2 at 8 p.m., CT) and West Virginia (January 9 at 6 p.m., CT).

 

“In a league as strong as the Big 12 where you play everyone twice, there is no such thing as a great time to play any team,” said seventh-year head coach Bruce Weber. “We are fortunate to play four of our first seven Big 12 games at home, including the season opener against Texas, and have four consecutive Saturday home games to finish the regular season. Those will be huge for building momentum for our team and a big positive for our fans.”

 

K-State will play on Big Monday three times in 2019 – all on the road in the last three weeks of the season – starting at West Virginia at 8 p.m., CT on February 18, continuing at Kansas at either 6 or 8 p.m., CT on February 25 and concluding at TCU at 8 p.m., CT on March 4. It marks the second-most appearances on the Big 12’s marquee game of the week broadcast in school history, following the four matchups in 2011.

 

“Playing three times on Big Monday will be great exposure for our program,” said Weber. “Playing at West Virginia, Kansas and TCU to start three consecutive weeks is a tough assignment for any team, but hopefully this is something that our players will take as a challenge.”

 

In all, the Wildcats will play 16 of their 18 league games against teams that advanced to the postseason a year ago, including eight at Bramlage Coliseum. In addition, five of the nine home league contests will also fall on a Saturday, including the last four of the regular season. These Saturday matchups include NCAA Tournament participants TCU and Oklahoma, NIT participants Oklahoma State and Baylor and regular postseason participant Iowa State.

 

“I think I say every year that the Big 12 can’t get any better and again it has gotten better,” said Weber. “All 10 teams have a legitimate shot to make the NCAA Tournament, so it will once again be one of the best top-to-bottom leagues in the country.”

 

All 18 conference games will be broadcast on one of ESPN’s family of networks, including a number of matchups on ESPN and ESPN2. At this time, it appears that all 18 games will be on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

 

Highlighted by the opener with Texas on January 2, K-State will play four of its first seven Big 12 games at home. This includes visits by NCAA Tournament participants West Virginia on Wednesday, January 9 (6 p.m. CT), TCU on Saturday, January 19 (3 p.m., CT) and Texas Tech on Tuesday, January 22 (6 p.m., CT). The road schedule includes a visit to Texas Tech on Saturday, January 5 (1 p.m., CT) and back-to-back visits to Iowa State (Saturday, January 12 at 11 a.m., CT) and Oklahoma (Wednesday, January 16 at 6 p.m., CT).

 

Following a road game with Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, January 26, K-State will open the second half of Big 12 play with a road trip to Oklahoma State on Saturday, February 2. The visit to Stillwater will be the first of three road games in a four-game stretch, including back-to-back visits to Baylor (Saturday, February 9 at 5 p.m., CT) and Texas (Tuesday, February 12 at 8 p.m., CT). The only home game in that span is a visit by Kansas on Tuesday, February 5 (8 p.m., CT), which is the first non-Big Monday/Saturday rivalry home game since 2013.

 

K-State will finish off the regular season with four consecutive Saturday home games beginning with Iowa State on February 16 (3 p.m., CT) and continuing with Oklahoma State on February 23 (3 p.m., CT), Baylor on March 2 (7 p.m., CT) and Oklahoma on March 9 (5 p.m., CT). During this span, the Wildcats will play its last three road games on Big Monday, including West Virginia on February 18 (8 p.m., CT), Kansas on February 25 (6/8 p.m., CT) and TCU on March 4 (8 p.m., CT).

 

The Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship will be held Wednesday through Saturday, March 13-16, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. It will mark the 10th consecutive season that the Championship has been played in Kansas City.

 

Returning All-Big 12 selections Dean Wade (16.2 ppg., 6.2 rpg.) and Barry Brown, Jr. (15.9 ppg., 3.1 rpg.) form the core of a veteran group returning for the Wildcats, who won 25 games and advanced to the Elite Eight for the 12^th time in school history and the first time since 2010 in 2017-18.

 

In all, K-State returns 10 lettermen in 2018-19, including six players who combined to start all 37 games. The Wildcats also return rising juniors Xavier Sneed (11.1 ppg., 5.1 rpg.) and Makol Mawien (6.8 ppg., 3.4 rpg.) as well as point guards, senior Kamau Stokes (9.0 ppg., 3.4 apg.) and sophomore Cartier Diarra (7.1 ppg., 2.0 apg.).

 

Season tickets are currently on sale for K-State’s 16-game home schedule at Bramlage Coliseum. Fans have a variety of ticket packages from which to choose, including the Pick 5 mini plan. Tickets can be purchased toll free at (800) 221.CATS, online at www.kstatesports.com and/or in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office.

 

The remaining game times as well as the third-tier television slate will be released in the coming weeks.

 

News and Notes from the 2018-19 Big 12 Schedule

• K-State will start and end the Big 12 season with home games, beginning Wednesday, January 2 against Texas and ending on Saturday, March 9 against Oklahoma… It marks the second time in three seasons (the other coming in 2016-17) that the Wildcats will start and end conference play at home.
• Breaking down the 18 conference games, there are nine games on a Saturday (five at home, four on the road), three games each on Monday (all on the road), Tuesday (two at home, one on the road) and Wednesday (two at home, one on the road)… By month, there will be seven games in January, eight in February and three in March.

• In addition, five of the nine home league contests will also fall on a Saturday, including the last four of the regular season. These Saturday matchups include NCAA Tournament participants TCU and Oklahoma, NIT participants Oklahoma State and Baylor and regular postseason participant Iowa State.

• K-State will play 16 of its 18 Big 12 games against teams that advanced to the postseason (NCAA Tournament, NIT) a season ago, including eight in Bramlage Coliseum… Overall, the Wildcats play 12 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2017-18.
• The Big 12 opener on January 2 is the latest start since the 2015-16 season at which K-State opened on the same date (January 2, 2016) at home against West Virginia… The Wildcats had opened Big 12 play in December each of the past two seasons.
• K-State will open Big 12 play against Texas for the second time in series history with the first occurrence coming at home to open the 2016-17 campaign, a 65-62 Wildcat win on December 30, 2016.
• K-State will play Texas Tech twice in the first seven conference games (in Lubbock on Saturday, January 5 and in Manhattan on Tuesday, January 22), while the two meetings with Kansas will come in the last 10 conference games (in Manhattan on Tuesday, February 5 and in Lawrence on Monday, February 25).
• K-State will play seven conference games (four at home and three on the road) before playing at Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, January 26… The team will finish with 11 straight conference games (five at home and six on the road) from Saturday, February 2 to Saturday, March 9.
• K-State will have an open date between its road game at Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, January 26 and its road game at Oklahoma State on Saturday, February 2… It is the first “bye” during Big 12 play since the 17^th and 18^th league games of the 2014-15 season.
• K-State will play consecutive road games on three different occasions, including Iowa State on Saturday, January 16 and Oklahoma on Wednesday, January 16, Texas A&M on Saturday, January 26 and Oklahoma State on Saturday, February 2 and Baylor on Saturday, February 9 and Texas on Tuesday, February 12.
• In contrast, K-State will play back-to-back home games just once (TCU on Saturday, January 19 and Texas Tech on Tuesday, January 22)… The team will open Big 12 play with consecutive home games with George Mason on Saturday, December 29 and Texas on Wednesday, January 2.
• K-State will make three appearances on ESPN’s Big Monday (at West Virginia on February 18, at Kansas on February 25 and at TCU on March 4)… It is the second-most appearances on Big Monday in school history, following the four matchups in 2011… The Wildcats are 8-14 all-time on Big Monday.
• K-State will play Kansas on Big Monday for the 13^th time, including the first time at Allen Fieldhouse since 2013… It will be the second all-time meeting with West Virginia on Big Monday with the first coming in 2013 and the first-ever against TCU.
• K-State will play Kansas at home on a non-Big Monday/Saturday for the first time since playing on a Tuesday in 2013 (January 22).
• All 18 Big 12 games will air on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.
• The Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship will be played Wednesday-Saturday, March 13-16, which is the latest start date for the league tournament since ran from March 13-16 of the 2012-13 season… The Championship has started no later than March 8 each of the last 4 seasons.

 

2018-19 Big 12 Schedule

 

Day                             Date                  Opponent (Time/TV)                                 

Wednesday            Jan. 2                TEXAS (8 p.m./ESPN2/U)

Saturday                   Jan. 5                at Texas Tech (1 p.m./ESPNU)

Wednesday            Jan. 9                WEST VIRGINIA (6 p.m./ESPN2/U)

Saturday                   Jan. 12              at Iowa State (11 a.m./ESPN/2/U)

Wednesday            Jan. 16              at Oklahoma (6 p.m./ESPN/2/U)

Saturday                   Jan. 19              TCU (3 p.m./ESPN/2/U)

Tuesday                    Jan. 22              TEXAS TECH (6 p.m./ESPN/2/U)

[SEC/Big 12 Challenge – at Texas A&M, Saturday, Jan. 26]

Saturday                   Feb. 2               at Oklahoma State (5 p.m./ESPN/2/U)

Tuesday                    Feb. 5               KANSAS (8 p.m./ESPN/2)

Saturday                   Feb. 9               at Baylor (5 p.m./ESPN/2)

Tuesday                    Feb. 12             at Texas (8 p.m./ESPN/2/U)

Saturday                   Feb. 16             IOWA STATE (3 p.m./ESPN/2/U)

Monday                    Feb. 18             at West Virginia (8 p.m./ESPN/U)

Saturday                   Feb. 23             OKLAHOMA STATE (3 p.m./ ESPN/2/U)

Monday                    Feb. 25             at Kansas (6/8 p.m./ESPN/2/U)

Saturday                   March 2           BAYLOR (7 p.m./ESPN2/U)

Monday                    March 4           at TCU (8 p.m./ESPN/2)

Saturday                   March 9           OKLAHOMA (5 p.m./ESPN/2)

 

– www.k-statesports.com –

 

Kansas State University, the nation’s first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of America’s best colleges with world-class research and academic excellence.

————
TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

 

 

CLEVELAND (AP) — Mike Clevinger struck out 10, Francisco Lindor hit another leadoff homer and the Cleveland Indians moved closer to their third straight AL Central title with a 9-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

The Indians ended a three-game losing streak and reduced their magic number for clinching another division title to 11.

Not only did the Royals have their season-high winning streak stopped at six, but they lost starting pitcher Danny Duffy and rookie right fielder Brett Phillips to injuries.

Staked to a 6-0 lead after two innings, Clevinger (11-7) allowed just three hits in six innings and remained unbeaten in his last seven starts. The right-hander, who could have a big role for the Indians in October, had a little more velocity on his fastball and struck out six of nine in one dominant stretch.

Lindor connected for his 31st homer in the first against Duffy (8-12), who left moments later with a sore left shoulder.

Yandy Diaz hit his first major league homer and Jason Kipnis added two RBIs for Cleveland.

After the Indians lost Monday night, Lindor talked about the Indians being flat and needing a spark.

The All-Star shortstop provided an early one with his sixth leadoff homer — one shy of the club record set by Grady Sizemore in 2008 — as the Indians jumped to a 3-0 lead on Duffy.

Diaz picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice and Kipnis, who is moving from second base to center field, singled home a run in the inning before Duffy was removed after 26 pitches. The left-hander underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012.

The Indians added three runs in the second off Burch Smith on Jose Ramirez’s double, Edwin Encarnacion’s sacrifice fly and Brandon Guyer’s RBI single.

September 4, 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 contest against No. 18 Mississippi State. 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 Bulldogs kick off at 11 a.m., Saturday inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a game that will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. A Wildcat 4-Pack is on sale for $99, while view level group tickets are just $20 each when purchasing 20 or more. Tickets 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 his message to the team early in the week…

“I really didn’t have a message for them. I have one, but I didn’t present it for some circumstances that took place. At some point in time today I certainly will. The message is pretty simple: We were not a well-disciplined football team during the course of the game, as evidence by 13 penalties. I can’t remember a time that we’ve done that – the turnovers, dropped passes, inability to score once we had the ball down on the appropriate end of the field. In the first half, not being a good third down team, inability to put points on the board for three quarters. Just a variety of different things. We were not a very good first-down team, had a substantial number of minimal yardage gains or zero gains on first down.

 

“Those would be half of the messages, the other half would be, ‘Hey we won.’ What if’s don’t mean anything and I believe they don’t mean anything if you don’t do something about it. What could have been a bright spot is the fact that if we would’ve taken advantages of the opportunities that we had – if we don’t drop passes, that’s 14 points on the board. If we score as we’re hopefully capable of when we get the ball down close to the goal line that’s probably another 16 points on the board. If we don’t turn the ball over, there’s another 10 points off the board on the other side. So, all of that adds up to a lot of points, so it could have been a totally different outcome to the ballgame. That doesn’t mean anything, that doesn’t make us better, that just means we have the capability, but we didn’t put the capabilities on the field. That comes down to discipline and focus and a variety of different things that we get in to.

 

“I messaged our players and talked about how we could take the things that are listed in our 16 Wildcat Goals for Success and how they apply so diligently during the course of that ballgame. The other part of it was, what direction do we go? Do we go in and say, ‘We’re not a very good football team,’ or do we realize what we’re capable of and understanding what you have to do to achieve what you’re capable of? You have to make it happen, and we didn’t do that.”

 

On playing a ranked opponent…

“I can’t tell you one way or the other. I can’t answer your question in regards to how our players react to where someone is ranked. They know I don’t put emphasis on where someone is ranked. It’s the second ballgame of the season. Those rankings change dramatically, and none of them will end up being accurate at the end of the season. It’s immaterial. We view tape diligently of every team we play. You don’t have to tell me Mississippi State is ranked to tell me they’re a good football team. I watch the tape and see it over and over and over, as do all of our coaches and all of our players. We know what lies ahead of us.”

 

On letting the quarterback decision play out…

“In all fairness to the two youngsters, and in all fairness to our football team, yes. Both of them did some decent things and both of them struggled and made mistakes. Both of them are going to make a significant difference in the outcome of our football season. It is still one game at a time, and we have to improve things. They’re like everybody else, and we need to repair issues that we have. They’re correctable mistakes, and that’s easy to say.”

 

On watching the Mississippi State game film knowing the quarterback will change…

“Had the previous staff been in place the previous year, we could have gone off the 13 games from last season. But we still can to a certain degree, but not in the structure of the offense that is in place now. That can create some issues and uncertainty.”

 

On what stood out on Mississippi State’s film…

“They’re a team that plays extremely hard, they’re a tough physical football team, they’re a very sizable football team. We’re looking at 330 (pounds) across the line on offense with an average of 6-4.5, 6-5, and you look at the defense up front, the same thing – all 300 pounders, all of them extremely physical and tough-nosed guys and the depth that they have. They’re three deep on their defensive line. They can shuffle guys in and out. There’s not a great deal of drop off between their ones, twos and threes. They have a pretty comfortable level with that. When you think about that leading up to a first ball game during that period of time like any other teams including ourselves, you have your plan against your best, your ones are going against your twos. When you have an extremely physical and tough defensive line and an extremely physical and tough offensive line, they make each other better.”

 

On Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald’s ability…

“He does pose a threat, obviously. He’s a dual-purpose guy. Here’s a guy with a career of over 2,500 yards rushing. He had real close to 1,000 last year rushing, about a 54 percent passer, or he was last year and obviously with the experience, he’ll be improved over that. He can do a lot of different things. His leadership – from what I see and what I hear – he has a quality leadership capacity, the players step in and follow him and he’s an active leader. He seems to be a pretty bright young guy. You see from the film last year and he’s going into a new offense, didn’t have spring practice behind him, but I think he’s bright and should be able to pick those things up very well. Who does he remind me of? I don’t know, just off the top of my head maybe a Collin Klein, a guy that pretty much had the same numbers, maybe not quite as prolific, but nevertheless, they had similar numbers.”

 

On matching up with Mississippi State’s defensive line…

“I worry about everybody. As far as our offensive line against them, it depends on what kind of work we put in and how we line up and play. We’re capable, but that’s not worth anything. What amounts to a significant approach is if we really get into it, understand the physicality of the ballgame, two young guys that you mentioned already have three and a half tackles and a sack in the ballgame. If you look, they had 17 tackles for losses in the game last week. I read somewhere that it was the largest number of tackles for losses they have had since I was born. Obviously, it is a concern.”

 

On the performance of his new coordinators during week one…

“Of course I feel good about it. The first ballgame you have to go through and identify from an organizational standpoint whether it is time at the hotel, time in meeting, pregame and all that goes along with it. You have to assess everything – stuff that is very positive and we can build on and things that are not which we have to get rid of or alter. We have been able to do that, and it is an ongoing thing. You are not going to get everything solved in one week. It was a first-time experience for all of them, so it is just growing pains.”

 

On the secondary’s coverage abilities against South Dakota…

“It was mixed. We did some things very well. I thought we made some good plays on some balls and broke up potential completions. There were other times we gave up some positions on throws the way that we had to in order to prevent big plays, which was a concern.”

 

On Kevion McGee’s performance against South Dakota…

“I thought he played reasonably well. He didn’t make a lot of mental mistakes, from a mental capacity, assignment correct, he graded out high. As far as execution of some things, he did well. He fit into the category I was talking about we did not leverage throws as well as we should have.”

 

On the defensive line’s pass rush ability after one week…

“It’s got to be better, but I wasn’t disappointed with it. We got some push inside. Then again, we are going to line up across a line that averages 330 pounds.”

 

On shuffling players in and out defensively during a series…

“There is some movement to give some guys – particularly guys up front – some rest. Then if we have a mistake or two over the course of a drive, then we have to get it corrected. If we just leave them on the field, they make the same mistakes over the course of the drive until you get them to the side line. So, it is better to get them to the sideline now and let the guy going onto the field know what needs to be corrected. Those are the reasons why we put them on for those two reasons.”

 

On Sam Sizelove’s contributions at linebacker…

“The thing Sam has going for him is tenure in the program, having a pretty good understanding, can make adjustments rather quickly. This was a team that we were concerned about the tempo, how fast their offense went. Having the experience to get the calls in, get calls made, get adjustments made, get lined up, being able to process information and being ready when they snap the ball, Sam is pretty experienced with that and does a pretty good job. Even with that, at the outset of the ballgame, we had some difficulty getting lined up early, and they were getting some snaps off in which we were not ready to defend as well as we could. I thought as the game progressed, we adjusted pretty well.”

 

On the offensive line improving late in the game and going forward…

“Anything was better than the first two quarters, for sure. Some of the things that were problems for us, for the most part, really took us out – penalties for instance – stopped significant drives. We are talking about third-down penalties that take away the opportunity to get a first down. The mistakes that we made were critical. Everything happened at a bad time, and all of it had a dramatic impact. Consequently, when you are not doing those things, you are moving the ball a little better.”

 

On Josh Rivas’ debut on the offensive line…

“He’s better than you might normally say, but he still made the freshman mistakes. No excuses, first time out there and et cetera, he has to get enough confidence in his game to have to capacity to be less tentative and more physical and aggressive.”

 

On cleaning up the penalties in a week…

“I don’t clean it up, they do. Either you define what self-discipline really means and adhere to it, or you’re going to continue to cost us until we make a firm decision and say you can’t play anymore until you get this fixed. It’s like anything else in life. There are certain rules in life and if you follow them, it’s probably in your best interest. If you don’t, sooner or later there’s going to be some consequences you don’t like. Nobody liked that, whether they did it or not. Put yourself in the same position – you line up on the field and there’s a whole bunch of people yelling and screaming and you feel like everyone’s eye is on you and you know what you’re supposed to do, but the guy over in front of you is saying you’re not going to whip me and consequently it becomes a battle. Sometimes you just tend to lose that focus, sometimes somebody does something that you didn’t anticipate they were going to do. A guy’s getting away from you and you reach out and grab him and it’s kind of second nature. I’m not making excuses for it, but that’s where you’ve got to define that thing for yourself, during self-assessment, the capacity for self-discipline. Again, put yourself in that position and when something happens that we don’t anticipate or expect, we react to it in the wrong way. You and I, when something happens, we have a chance to step back and process the information to try to make the right decision. You’re on the football field, you don’t have that opportunity, you have to react right now. We’ve got to be able to get our coaches to put them into those kind of positions on a regular basis so they learn how to respond to them. Once they’ve experienced it and done it and you repetition it that way, then they have a better chance to react appropriately.”

ALEX DELTON, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK

On his excitement about playing a top-15 team…

“Yeah, it gives us that extra motivation. Anytime we can, you know hopefully we were ranked, but the fact that we’re unranked and we’re playing a ranked opponent that just gives us extra motivation to show the nation and the conference what we’re really capable of doing. We’re going to into this week with a chip on our shoulder. It’s going to be a great week for us. I believe in Coach Coleman’s plan for us. I think we have a good plan, and I’m excited to get after it.”

 

On playing against Mississippi State’s defensive line…

“They’re talented a group, no doubt, but I think that our guys are a talented group of guys. So, it will be some good-on-good competition. They have some guys that they say are first-round potential, so obviously we are going to have to be on our A game and we are going to have to play well to beat these guys. There defensive line is very big, and they are talented, so our offensive line has their work cut out for them, but I trust that they will get the job done.”

 

On playing against an SEC opponent…

“They are talented, they are super talented, but I have been around, it’s my redshirt junior year, so I have seen a Texas A&M team with Myles Garrett and I have seen a lot of good teams. So until we play, it’s not even about that really. It’s just how we execute. As you’ve seen last week, we didn’t beat ourselves, but we put ourselves in a position where we could have been ourselves. So, it’s about us getting better. Obviously, Mississippi State is a great team and they are going to bring their game, but our focus right now is to get better.”

 

On the vibe among the quarterbacks…

“I don’t think that we have played up to our capabilities. As an offensive unit, we weren’t as crisp as I would like, so right now, when we watch film or do anything, we know we have to be better than last week. We have to be sharper, we have to pay more attention to detail, and that’s what we are taking in this week. We know what Mississippi State can do defensively, so we know we have to be sharp and we have to execute.”

 

On watching film from last week…

“I felt like, anytime you play that poorly you aren’t going to feel good about anything. You know, just mistakes that we made. It’s just part of the game. You learn to love and hate it, it happens every week. I don’t think that I played to my fullest capabilities, obviously. I am going to do everything in my power to do better this week for us.”

 

On the opportunity of playing a ranked team…

“That’s a huge opportunity for us. Every week is an opportunity, and we knew even this summer that this game would be a huge opportunity for us. These guys have a lot of hype going into this year, and rightfully so, they sound like a good team, but it just gives us a good opportunity, that’s all that it is. It gives us an opportunity to showcase what we can do as a team, as a Big 12 team versus a good SEC team. I’m confident in us. I am confident in our abilities, and I am sure they’re confident to, so I am just ready to get after it. After practice and meetings today, I know that we have a good game plan.”

 

ALEX BARNES, JUNIOR RUNNING BACK

On the slow start against South Dakota…

“A lot of us were pressing and trying to do a little too much and not focusing on securing the ball or catching the ball and stuff like that. Everyone just has to do their job and stay within what they are asked on each and every play.”

 

On watching film against South Dakota…

“It wasn’t much fun for any of us. We can’t play like that the rest of the season and expect to win any games, so realistically, we are glad that it happened when it did, and we are glad that we were able to pull a victory out of it, but it is something that we cannot do going forward. So, we are going to try and correct that.”

 

On fumbles…

“It was more of a personal issue. I was getting lax on ball security and probably trying to do a little too much, maybe there wasn’t necessarily anything there at the time. It’s just focus things for me and being conscious of that at all times.”

 

On his motivation for Mississippi State…

“It’s huge to take care of the little things and all the details that go into playing running back. That’s something that I have to do a better job at.”

 

On the Mississippi State defensive front…

“They’re big, strong, athletic guys, probably the most athletic that we will see all season, so it’s going to be a huge test for us and its really good to see where we are going moving forward.”

 

On how big a game against Mississippi State is…

“Definitely one of our biggest games. You know, a top-20 team, probably top-15 now, very athletic, SEC defense, hard-hitters, they’ve got it all. So, we are really going to have to pride ourselves this week in our preparation and take care of everything.”

 

JORDAN MITTIE, JUNIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE

On the message after the South Dakota game…

“It was definitely a lot about our preparation. Last week, I don’t think we were taking them lightly, but I don’t think we necessarily prepared the way we needed to and the way we are going to this week.”

 

On the defensive line rotation…

“I think last week against South Dakota we had a pretty good rotation and I think it worked out pretty well. We stayed pretty fresh and I don’t think anyone was too tired out there. It worked out pretty well.”

 

On playing a top-15 team…

“It’s definitely exciting. It’s another challenge for us against a SEC offensive line that is going to be a lot different. We are going to have to work hard this week, and we know we have our work cut out for us.”

 

On the nerves going into Mississippi State game…

“I don’t tend to get too nervous. At my last school, at Texas State the past two years, I took a ton of snaps against quality teams. We played at Arkansas, at Houston a couple of years back when I think they were No. 6, and we played Colorado last year. So, I’ve played some good teams and am used to getting reps the last couple of years, so I think I will be ready.”

 

DALTON RISNER, SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

On this week’s preparations for a ranked foe…

“We’re already game planning for Mississippi State, obviously, which we did in camp already as well, but I’m not worried about the number behind Mississippi State – whether they’re ranked or not, or how good of a defensive line they have. It’s not about what Mississippi State does this weekend, it’s about what we do. I think that might be one of the issues from the offensive line and offensive standpoint from last week – we might’ve been too worried about what South Dakota was doing and we needed to be a little bit more worried about what we do as Kansas State football.”

 

On Mississippi State’s defensive front…

“They fly around, and they’re big and athletic, which in the SEC you’re going to get big and athletic guys, you know that’s a given, but they fly around to the ball. Their defensive coordinator loves to bring pressure. Fifty, sixty percent of their plays that they ran last Saturday, they brought pressure in some way. They’re going to bring guys – they’re not going to run a base defense – they’re going to bring guys at times and stress our offensive line, and that’s something that we’re going to have to prepare for.”

 

On reversing the team’s recent history against top-25 opponents at home…

“If anyone was here for that Auburn game, that game was ours for the taking. We had a dropped pass in the end zone that they ended up getting an interception off of. I think we kicked like four field goals that game and didn’t finish our drives. I think we also missed a clutch field goal that game as well – a lot of mistakes. It’s like I talked about for last week, we were probably a little too focused on what Auburn does and not focused on what we do as K-State football. That’s not a coaches’ issue, the coaches preach that every single week. As players, that’s one of the hardest things in football – to realize that it’s not about what your opponent does, it’s about what you do. You can’t say that for all teams, but I feel like for our team and this weekend, going against a ranked opponent, an SEC opponent, you talked about not ever being able to beat a ranked opponent at home, our job is to worry about what we do and if we worry about what we do as Kansas State football and execute, have that discipline and that focus, we’re going to be in a good spot toward the end of the fourth quarter.”

 

On penalties and Coach Snyder’s reaction…

“He hammers it. Disappointed, right? It’s one of those things where you know you hear the saying, ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed,’ well he’s mad and he’s disappointed. That doesn’t just come from an offensive standpoint, it comes from special teams and defense. We had a ton of penalties. We had two holdings on the offense line and offsides. I think we had a block in the back, I think we had a delay of game as well, just issues you can’t have. I know it’s the first game and there’s so many excuses in the world, but if there’s a coach that doesn’t care about the excuses, it’s Coach Snyder. As an offense and as a team, we have to take pride in that and it’s embarrassing. That’s not something that anyone has to tell us. We realize that penalties were an embarrassing part of last Saturday and we have a lot more that we have to get better than just the penalties.”

 

On MSU defensive line stars Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat…

“They’re just athletic players. They’re athletic and they’re big players. They work hard, extremely hard out there on the field, but they’re bigger than most of the guys that they play, and they’re faster and more athletic than most of the guys they play. That probably goes for everyone they play this season. Both are touted for the NFL, first round, second round picks, but when you watch film on them, they’re guys that fly around to the ball, they finish plays and they use their hands and their feet really good. Sometimes you play guys that are good, but they forget to use their hands or move their feet. These guys do both. At the same time, I’m so excited for that opportunity to go against them. They’re great football players, and I’m excited to get the opportunity to play great NFL prospect players like that.”

 

On being hungry for this week’s game…

“Very hungry. I’m excited to get the offense rolling. We didn’t prove anything last week. If anything, we proved to you guys that we weren’t ready, we had a lack of focus and a lack of discipline. I’m ready to redeem ourselves on offense and to redeem ourselves as a team and be able to have an opportunity to make our fans proud, make the community proud and make our coaches proud. I feel like we let down a lot of people, that includes our coaches, that includes ourselves. We worked way too hard to put a game like that on tape. We worked too hard for that. I’m excited to see my quarterbacks go out there and play well, see my running backs play well, my offensive line play well. It’s an imperfect game, I realize there’s going to be mistakes on Saturday, but if we can clean up the big mistakes – the turnovers, the penalties, the mental mistakes – we’ll be alright.”

 

ANDREW HICKS, REDSHIRT FRESHMAN PUNTER

On how it feels to earn a spot on the field….

“It’s been a dream of mine ever since I was little to compete at this type of level and to compete on this stage. I just went out there and did what I could do.”

 

On first-game jitters…

“Preparing for this last year, there’s a movie that I watched where the pitcher says, ‘Clear the Mechanism.’ For the Love of the Game, that’s the name of the movie. Last year when I first got here, when I was redshirting, that’s what I did, tried to get my mind right and just clear the mechanism. That’s what I did out there.”

 

On pressure from replacing Nick Walsh…

“He’s got big shoes that I’m trying to fill. I was really appreciative of spending a year here with him and really just sitting back watching him do his thing and learning and trying to repeat what he’s been doing.”

 

On biggest thing he picked up from Nick Walsh…

“Pretty much just his calm, cool, and collectedness. He was very comfortable with what he could do and that just really set with me. That’s what I’m trying to really do.”

 

On sense of pride of special teams at K-State vs elsewhere…

“I feel like our special teams is, like everything on the team, offense, defense and special teams, makes the whole team. But yeah, I feel like we put a huge emphasis on specials teams and that’s what I loved about this program when I was getting recruited. We actually focused on special teams here unlike other programs. So, I really appreciate that here. We work hard and just get our job done.”

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

K-State Weekly Football Press Conference
September 4, 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 contest against No. 18 Mississippi State. 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 Bulldogs kick off at 11 a.m., Saturday inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a game that will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. A Wildcat 4-Pack is on sale for $99, while view level group tickets are just $20 each when purchasing 20 or more. Tickets 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 his message to the team early in the week…

“I really didn’t have a message for them. I have one, but I didn’t present it for some circumstances that took place. At some point in time today I certainly will. The message is pretty simple: We were not a well-disciplined football team during the course of the game, as evidence by 13 penalties. I can’t remember a time that we’ve done that – the turnovers, dropped passes, inability to score once we had the ball down on the appropriate end of the field. In the first half, not being a good third down team, inability to put points on the board for three quarters. Just a variety of different things. We were not a very good first-down team, had a substantial number of minimal yardage gains or zero gains on first down.

 

“Those would be half of the messages, the other half would be, ‘Hey we won.’ What if’s don’t mean anything and I believe they don’t mean anything if you don’t do something about it. What could have been a bright spot is the fact that if we would’ve taken advantages of the opportunities that we had – if we don’t drop passes, that’s 14 points on the board. If we score as we’re hopefully capable of when we get the ball down close to the goal line that’s probably another 16 points on the board. If we don’t turn the ball over, there’s another 10 points off the board on the other side. So, all of that adds up to a lot of points, so it could have been a totally different outcome to the ballgame. That doesn’t mean anything, that doesn’t make us better, that just means we have the capability, but we didn’t put the capabilities on the field. That comes down to discipline and focus and a variety of different things that we get in to.

 

“I messaged our players and talked about how we could take the things that are listed in our 16 Wildcat Goals for Success and how they apply so diligently during the course of that ballgame. The other part of it was, what direction do we go? Do we go in and say, ‘We’re not a very good football team,’ or do we realize what we’re capable of and understanding what you have to do to achieve what you’re capable of? You have to make it happen, and we didn’t do that.”

 

On playing a ranked opponent…

“I can’t tell you one way or the other. I can’t answer your question in regards to how our players react to where someone is ranked. They know I don’t put emphasis on where someone is ranked. It’s the second ballgame of the season. Those rankings change dramatically, and none of them will end up being accurate at the end of the season. It’s immaterial. We view tape diligently of every team we play. You don’t have to tell me Mississippi State is ranked to tell me they’re a good football team. I watch the tape and see it over and over and over, as do all of our coaches and all of our players. We know what lies ahead of us.”

 

On letting the quarterback decision play out…

“In all fairness to the two youngsters, and in all fairness to our football team, yes. Both of them did some decent things and both of them struggled and made mistakes. Both of them are going to make a significant difference in the outcome of our football season. It is still one game at a time, and we have to improve things. They’re like everybody else, and we need to repair issues that we have. They’re correctable mistakes, and that’s easy to say.”

 

On watching the Mississippi State game film knowing the quarterback will change…

“Had the previous staff been in place the previous year, we could have gone off the 13 games from last season. But we still can to a certain degree, but not in the structure of the offense that is in place now. That can create some issues and uncertainty.”

 

On what stood out on Mississippi State’s film…

“They’re a team that plays extremely hard, they’re a tough physical football team, they’re a very sizable football team. We’re looking at 330 (pounds) across the line on offense with an average of 6-4.5, 6-5, and you look at the defense up front, the same thing – all 300 pounders, all of them extremely physical and tough-nosed guys and the depth that they have. They’re three deep on their defensive line. They can shuffle guys in and out. There’s not a great deal of drop off between their ones, twos and threes. They have a pretty comfortable level with that. When you think about that leading up to a first ball game during that period of time like any other teams including ourselves, you have your plan against your best, your ones are going against your twos. When you have an extremely physical and tough defensive line and an extremely physical and tough offensive line, they make each other better.”

 

On Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald’s ability…

“He does pose a threat, obviously. He’s a dual-purpose guy. Here’s a guy with a career of over 2,500 yards rushing. He had real close to 1,000 last year rushing, about a 54 percent passer, or he was last year and obviously with the experience, he’ll be improved over that. He can do a lot of different things. His leadership – from what I see and what I hear – he has a quality leadership capacity, the players step in and follow him and he’s an active leader. He seems to be a pretty bright young guy. You see from the film last year and he’s going into a new offense, didn’t have spring practice behind him, but I think he’s bright and should be able to pick those things up very well. Who does he remind me of? I don’t know, just off the top of my head maybe a Collin Klein, a guy that pretty much had the same numbers, maybe not quite as prolific, but nevertheless, they had similar numbers.”

 

On matching up with Mississippi State’s defensive line…

“I worry about everybody. As far as our offensive line against them, it depends on what kind of work we put in and how we line up and play. We’re capable, but that’s not worth anything. What amounts to a significant approach is if we really get into it, understand the physicality of the ballgame, two young guys that you mentioned already have three and a half tackles and a sack in the ballgame. If you look, they had 17 tackles for losses in the game last week. I read somewhere that it was the largest number of tackles for losses they have had since I was born. Obviously, it is a concern.”

 

On the performance of his new coordinators during week one…

“Of course I feel good about it. The first ballgame you have to go through and identify from an organizational standpoint whether it is time at the hotel, time in meeting, pregame and all that goes along with it. You have to assess everything – stuff that is very positive and we can build on and things that are not which we have to get rid of or alter. We have been able to do that, and it is an ongoing thing. You are not going to get everything solved in one week. It was a first-time experience for all of them, so it is just growing pains.”

 

On the secondary’s coverage abilities against South Dakota…

“It was mixed. We did some things very well. I thought we made some good plays on some balls and broke up potential completions. There were other times we gave up some positions on throws the way that we had to in order to prevent big plays, which was a concern.”

 

On Kevion McGee’s performance against South Dakota…

“I thought he played reasonably well. He didn’t make a lot of mental mistakes, from a mental capacity, assignment correct, he graded out high. As far as execution of some things, he did well. He fit into the category I was talking about we did not leverage throws as well as we should have.”

 

On the defensive line’s pass rush ability after one week…

“It’s got to be better, but I wasn’t disappointed with it. We got some push inside. Then again, we are going to line up across a line that averages 330 pounds.”

 

On shuffling players in and out defensively during a series…

“There is some movement to give some guys – particularly guys up front – some rest. Then if we have a mistake or two over the course of a drive, then we have to get it corrected. If we just leave them on the field, they make the same mistakes over the course of the drive until you get them to the side line. So, it is better to get them to the sideline now and let the guy going onto the field know what needs to be corrected. Those are the reasons why we put them on for those two reasons.”

 

On Sam Sizelove’s contributions at linebacker…

“The thing Sam has going for him is tenure in the program, having a pretty good understanding, can make adjustments rather quickly. This was a team that we were concerned about the tempo, how fast their offense went. Having the experience to get the calls in, get calls made, get adjustments made, get lined up, being able to process information and being ready when they snap the ball, Sam is pretty experienced with that and does a pretty good job. Even with that, at the outset of the ballgame, we had some difficulty getting lined up early, and they were getting some snaps off in which we were not ready to defend as well as we could. I thought as the game progressed, we adjusted pretty well.”

 

On the offensive line improving late in the game and going forward…

“Anything was better than the first two quarters, for sure. Some of the things that were problems for us, for the most part, really took us out – penalties for instance – stopped significant drives. We are talking about third-down penalties that take away the opportunity to get a first down. The mistakes that we made were critical. Everything happened at a bad time, and all of it had a dramatic impact. Consequently, when you are not doing those things, you are moving the ball a little better.”

 

On Josh Rivas’ debut on the offensive line…

“He’s better than you might normally say, but he still made the freshman mistakes. No excuses, first time out there and et cetera, he has to get enough confidence in his game to have to capacity to be less tentative and more physical and aggressive.”

 

On cleaning up the penalties in a week…

“I don’t clean it up, they do. Either you define what self-discipline really means and adhere to it, or you’re going to continue to cost us until we make a firm decision and say you can’t play anymore until you get this fixed. It’s like anything else in life. There are certain rules in life and if you follow them, it’s probably in your best interest. If you don’t, sooner or later there’s going to be some consequences you don’t like. Nobody liked that, whether they did it or not. Put yourself in the same position – you line up on the field and there’s a whole bunch of people yelling and screaming and you feel like everyone’s eye is on you and you know what you’re supposed to do, but the guy over in front of you is saying you’re not going to whip me and consequently it becomes a battle. Sometimes you just tend to lose that focus, sometimes somebody does something that you didn’t anticipate they were going to do. A guy’s getting away from you and you reach out and grab him and it’s kind of second nature. I’m not making excuses for it, but that’s where you’ve got to define that thing for yourself, during self-assessment, the capacity for self-discipline. Again, put yourself in that position and when something happens that we don’t anticipate or expect, we react to it in the wrong way. You and I, when something happens, we have a chance to step back and process the information to try to make the right decision. You’re on the football field, you don’t have that opportunity, you have to react right now. We’ve got to be able to get our coaches to put them into those kind of positions on a regular basis so they learn how to respond to them. Once they’ve experienced it and done it and you repetition it that way, then they have a better chance to react appropriately.”

ALEX DELTON, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK

On his excitement about playing a top-15 team…

“Yeah, it gives us that extra motivation. Anytime we can, you know hopefully we were ranked, but the fact that we’re unranked and we’re playing a ranked opponent that just gives us extra motivation to show the nation and the conference what we’re really capable of doing. We’re going to into this week with a chip on our shoulder. It’s going to be a great week for us. I believe in Coach Coleman’s plan for us. I think we have a good plan, and I’m excited to get after it.”

 

On playing against Mississippi State’s defensive line…

“They’re talented a group, no doubt, but I think that our guys are a talented group of guys. So, it will be some good-on-good competition. They have some guys that they say are first-round potential, so obviously we are going to have to be on our A game and we are going to have to play well to beat these guys. There defensive line is very big, and they are talented, so our offensive line has their work cut out for them, but I trust that they will get the job done.”

 

On playing against an SEC opponent…

“They are talented, they are super talented, but I have been around, it’s my redshirt junior year, so I have seen a Texas A&M team with Myles Garrett and I have seen a lot of good teams. So until we play, it’s not even about that really. It’s just how we execute. As you’ve seen last week, we didn’t beat ourselves, but we put ourselves in a position where we could have been ourselves. So, it’s about us getting better. Obviously, Mississippi State is a great team and they are going to bring their game, but our focus right now is to get better.”

 

On the vibe among the quarterbacks…

“I don’t think that we have played up to our capabilities. As an offensive unit, we weren’t as crisp as I would like, so right now, when we watch film or do anything, we know we have to be better than last week. We have to be sharper, we have to pay more attention to detail, and that’s what we are taking in this week. We know what Mississippi State can do defensively, so we know we have to be sharp and we have to execute.”

 

On watching film from last week…

“I felt like, anytime you play that poorly you aren’t going to feel good about anything. You know, just mistakes that we made. It’s just part of the game. You learn to love and hate it, it happens every week. I don’t think that I played to my fullest capabilities, obviously. I am going to do everything in my power to do better this week for us.”

 

On the opportunity of playing a ranked team…

“That’s a huge opportunity for us. Every week is an opportunity, and we knew even this summer that this game would be a huge opportunity for us. These guys have a lot of hype going into this year, and rightfully so, they sound like a good team, but it just gives us a good opportunity, that’s all that it is. It gives us an opportunity to showcase what we can do as a team, as a Big 12 team versus a good SEC team. I’m confident in us. I am confident in our abilities, and I am sure they’re confident to, so I am just ready to get after it. After practice and meetings today, I know that we have a good game plan.”

 

ALEX BARNES, JUNIOR RUNNING BACK

On the slow start against South Dakota…

“A lot of us were pressing and trying to do a little too much and not focusing on securing the ball or catching the ball and stuff like that. Everyone just has to do their job and stay within what they are asked on each and every play.”

 

On watching film against South Dakota…

“It wasn’t much fun for any of us. We can’t play like that the rest of the season and expect to win any games, so realistically, we are glad that it happened when it did, and we are glad that we were able to pull a victory out of it, but it is something that we cannot do going forward. So, we are going to try and correct that.”

 

On fumbles…

“It was more of a personal issue. I was getting lax on ball security and probably trying to do a little too much, maybe there wasn’t necessarily anything there at the time. It’s just focus things for me and being conscious of that at all times.”

 

On his motivation for Mississippi State…

“It’s huge to take care of the little things and all the details that go into playing running back. That’s something that I have to do a better job at.”

 

On the Mississippi State defensive front…

“They’re big, strong, athletic guys, probably the most athletic that we will see all season, so it’s going to be a huge test for us and its really good to see where we are going moving forward.”

 

On how big a game against Mississippi State is…

“Definitely one of our biggest games. You know, a top-20 team, probably top-15 now, very athletic, SEC defense, hard-hitters, they’ve got it all. So, we are really going to have to pride ourselves this week in our preparation and take care of everything.”

 

JORDAN MITTIE, JUNIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE

On the message after the South Dakota game…

“It was definitely a lot about our preparation. Last week, I don’t think we were taking them lightly, but I don’t think we necessarily prepared the way we needed to and the way we are going to this week.”

 

On the defensive line rotation…

“I think last week against South Dakota we had a pretty good rotation and I think it worked out pretty well. We stayed pretty fresh and I don’t think anyone was too tired out there. It worked out pretty well.”

 

On playing a top-15 team…

“It’s definitely exciting. It’s another challenge for us against a SEC offensive line that is going to be a lot different. We are going to have to work hard this week, and we know we have our work cut out for us.”

 

On the nerves going into Mississippi State game…

“I don’t tend to get too nervous. At my last school, at Texas State the past two years, I took a ton of snaps against quality teams. We played at Arkansas, at Houston a couple of years back when I think they were No. 6, and we played Colorado last year. So, I’ve played some good teams and am used to getting reps the last couple of years, so I think I will be ready.”

 

DALTON RISNER, SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

On this week’s preparations for a ranked foe…

“We’re already game planning for Mississippi State, obviously, which we did in camp already as well, but I’m not worried about the number behind Mississippi State – whether they’re ranked or not, or how good of a defensive line they have. It’s not about what Mississippi State does this weekend, it’s about what we do. I think that might be one of the issues from the offensive line and offensive standpoint from last week – we might’ve been too worried about what South Dakota was doing and we needed to be a little bit more worried about what we do as Kansas State football.”

 

On Mississippi State’s defensive front…

“They fly around, and they’re big and athletic, which in the SEC you’re going to get big and athletic guys, you know that’s a given, but they fly around to the ball. Their defensive coordinator loves to bring pressure. Fifty, sixty percent of their plays that they ran last Saturday, they brought pressure in some way. They’re going to bring guys – they’re not going to run a base defense – they’re going to bring guys at times and stress our offensive line, and that’s something that we’re going to have to prepare for.”

 

On reversing the team’s recent history against top-25 opponents at home…

“If anyone was here for that Auburn game, that game was ours for the taking. We had a dropped pass in the end zone that they ended up getting an interception off of. I think we kicked like four field goals that game and didn’t finish our drives. I think we also missed a clutch field goal that game as well – a lot of mistakes. It’s like I talked about for last week, we were probably a little too focused on what Auburn does and not focused on what we do as K-State football. That’s not a coaches’ issue, the coaches preach that every single week. As players, that’s one of the hardest things in football – to realize that it’s not about what your opponent does, it’s about what you do. You can’t say that for all teams, but I feel like for our team and this weekend, going against a ranked opponent, an SEC opponent, you talked about not ever being able to beat a ranked opponent at home, our job is to worry about what we do and if we worry about what we do as Kansas State football and execute, have that discipline and that focus, we’re going to be in a good spot toward the end of the fourth quarter.”

 

On penalties and Coach Snyder’s reaction…

“He hammers it. Disappointed, right? It’s one of those things where you know you hear the saying, ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed,’ well he’s mad and he’s disappointed. That doesn’t just come from an offensive standpoint, it comes from special teams and defense. We had a ton of penalties. We had two holdings on the offense line and offsides. I think we had a block in the back, I think we had a delay of game as well, just issues you can’t have. I know it’s the first game and there’s so many excuses in the world, but if there’s a coach that doesn’t care about the excuses, it’s Coach Snyder. As an offense and as a team, we have to take pride in that and it’s embarrassing. That’s not something that anyone has to tell us. We realize that penalties were an embarrassing part of last Saturday and we have a lot more that we have to get better than just the penalties.”

 

On MSU defensive line stars Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat…

“They’re just athletic players. They’re athletic and they’re big players. They work hard, extremely hard out there on the field, but they’re bigger than most of the guys that they play, and they’re faster and more athletic than most of the guys they play. That probably goes for everyone they play this season. Both are touted for the NFL, first round, second round picks, but when you watch film on them, they’re guys that fly around to the ball, they finish plays and they use their hands and their feet really good. Sometimes you play guys that are good, but they forget to use their hands or move their feet. These guys do both. At the same time, I’m so excited for that opportunity to go against them. They’re great football players, and I’m excited to get the opportunity to play great NFL prospect players like that.”

 

On being hungry for this week’s game…

“Very hungry. I’m excited to get the offense rolling. We didn’t prove anything last week. If anything, we proved to you guys that we weren’t ready, we had a lack of focus and a lack of discipline. I’m ready to redeem ourselves on offense and to redeem ourselves as a team and be able to have an opportunity to make our fans proud, make the community proud and make our coaches proud. I feel like we let down a lot of people, that includes our coaches, that includes ourselves. We worked way too hard to put a game like that on tape. We worked too hard for that. I’m excited to see my quarterbacks go out there and play well, see my running backs play well, my offensive line play well. It’s an imperfect game, I realize there’s going to be mistakes on Saturday, but if we can clean up the big mistakes – the turnovers, the penalties, the mental mistakes – we’ll be alright.”

 

ANDREW HICKS, REDSHIRT FRESHMAN PUNTER

On how it feels to earn a spot on the field….

“It’s been a dream of mine ever since I was little to compete at this type of level and to compete on this stage. I just went out there and did what I could do.”

 

On first-game jitters…

“Preparing for this last year, there’s a movie that I watched where the pitcher says, ‘Clear the Mechanism.’ For the Love of the Game, that’s the name of the movie. Last year when I first got here, when I was redshirting, that’s what I did, tried to get my mind right and just clear the mechanism. That’s what I did out there.”

 

On pressure from replacing Nick Walsh…

“He’s got big shoes that I’m trying to fill. I was really appreciative of spending a year here with him and really just sitting back watching him do his thing and learning and trying to repeat what he’s been doing.”

 

On biggest thing he picked up from Nick Walsh…

“Pretty much just his calm, cool, and collectedness. He was very comfortable with what he could do and that just really set with me. That’s what I’m trying to really do.”

 

On sense of pride of special teams at K-State vs elsewhere…

“I feel like our special teams is, like everything on the team, offense, defense and special teams, makes the whole team. But yeah, I feel like we put a huge emphasis on specials teams and that’s what I loved about this program when I was getting recruited. We actually focused on special teams here unlike other programs. So, I really appreciate that here. We work hard and just get our job done.”

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

MANHATTAN, Kan. – As the 2018 NFL season kicks off on Thursday night, 11 former Kansas State players made NFL rosters as organizations set their active rosters and practice squads following the mandatory cut down from 90 training camp players on Saturday.

The longest-tenured former Wildcats include running back Darren Sproles and wide receiver Jordy Nelson.

 

Sproles, a Pro Bowler in 2015, is going into his 14th season, including his fifth with the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. Nelson, the 2016 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, is set for his 11th season but first with the Oakland Raiders. Joining Nelson in Oakland is linebacker Emmanuel Lamur, who is in his seventh year but first with the Raiders.

 

Terence Newman, who went through his 16^th NFL training camp this summer, retired on Saturday and will immediately join the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff.

 

Fourth-year wide receiver Tyler Lockett is back for the Seattle Seahawks, while offensive linemen B.J. Finney (Pittsburgh) and Cody Whitehair (Chicago) are beginning their third seasons on NFL rosters.

 

Jordan Willis, a 2017 NFL Draft pick, is in his second year with Cincinnati, while linebacker Elijah Lee – a 2017 draft pick by Minnesota who was signed off the Vikings’ practice by San Francisco – begins his second year with the 49ers. Deante Burton, a four-year receiver for the Wildcats, is entering his second year as a practice squad defensive back for Atlanta.

 

D.J. Reed enters his rookie season in San Francisco as he was drafted by the 49ers in April, extending K-State’s Big 12-leading draft streak to 25 years. Another rookie, wide receiver Byron Pringle, was placed on injured reserve by the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

Kansas State takes on 18^th-ranked Mississippi State on Saturday in an 11 a.m. The game, which will be televised nationally on ESPN, serves as both Harley Day and a Stripe Out. A Wildcat 4-Pack is on sale for $99, while view level group tickets are just $20 each when purchasing 20 or more. Tickets 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.

 

Former Wildcats on NFL Rosters

Name                                    Position               Team

Deante Burton*                DB                          Atlanta

B.J. Finney                           OL                           Pittsburgh

Emmanuel Lamur             LB                           Oakland

Elijah Lee                             LB                           San Francisco

Tyler Lockett                      WR                         Seattle

Jordy Nelson                      WR                         Oakland

Byron Pringle^                  WR                         Kansas City

D.J. Reed                             DB                          San Francisco

Darren Sproles                  RB                           Philadelphia

Cody Whitehair                 OL                           Chicago

Jordan Willis                       DE                           Cincinnati

 

* Practice Squad

^ Injured Reserve

 

– k-statesports.com –

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

 

 

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With an 85 yard punt-return touchdown that changed the momentum of the game in addition to a 10 yard game-winning touchdown reception, Kansas State junior Isaiah Zuber was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.

 

It was Zuber’s first-career player of the week honor and the 49^th by a Wildcat since 2011 to rank second the Big 12. Of those, K-State has a conference-best 27 of the special teams variety.

 

With K-State trailing South Dakota, 24-12, early in the fourth quarter, Zuber energized the team and the crowd with an 85-yard punt return touchdown on the attempt of his career to cut the deficit to five.  It was the 10^th-longest punt return in K-State history and the longest since Tramaine Thompson went 89 yards for a score against Missouri State in the 2012 season opener.

 

The score was the 48^th by the Wildcat via either a kickoff or punt return since 2005 and the 112^th non-offensive touchdown since 1999, both of which lead the nation.

 

Five minutes later, Zuber hauled in a 10-yard pass from Skylar Thompson in the back of the end zone to give the Wildcats the lead. After grabbing a touchdown reception in 2016 at Stanford and last year against Central Arkansas, Zuber became the first Wildcat in school history with a touchdown catch in three-straight season openers.

 

Kansas State hosts Mississippi State on Saturday in an 11 a.m., game that will be televised nationally on ESPN and serves as both Harley Day and a Stripe Out. A Wildcat 4-Pack is on sale for $99, while view level group tickets are just $20 each when purchasing 20 or more. Tickets 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-statesports.com –

 

Kansas State University, the nation’s first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of the nation’s best colleges with world-class research and academic excellence located in America’s No. 1 College Town (Manhattan, KS).

 

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

 

 

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Meibrys Viloria trotted into the dugout after the sixth inning Sunday, and Royals manager Ned Yost told his recently recalled rookie catcher to help get pitcher Jorge Lopez through one more inning.

So when Viloria headed to the bench after the seventh, that task successfully complete, he plopped down and began to relax. Puzzled, Yost looked at him and asked, “What are you doing?”

“You said,” Viloria replied, “get him through one more inning.”

Yost didn’t mean Viloria’s day was done, though. And when he went to bat in the eighth, Viloria came through with his first big league hit, a two-run double that put a nice cap on a game Lopez and the Royals dominated. The 9-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles wrapped up a three-game sweep of the only team in the majors with a worse record than Kansas City’s own.

“It feels great,” said Lopez, who allowed Jonathan Villar’s home run in the first inning but little else while striking out a career-high eight. “The defense was good and the offense has been hot.”

As for Viloria, the kid behind the plate who had just arrived from Class-A Wilmington?

“That kid’s something special,” Lopez said. “Communication, the game plan, we were right on it.”

It was the first win for Lopez, who was part of the late-July deal with Milwaukee for third baseman Mike Moustakas, since Sept. 29, 2015, when he was still with the Brewers.

“That’s why he was so well-thought-of and sought-after in trade,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “The things David (Hess) has done when he’s successful, that young man did today.”

Alcides Escobar also had three hits and an RBI as Kansas City piled up 14 hits, its sixth straight game with at least 10 and the longest such streak since June 24-29, 2016.

Most of the damage came against Hess (3-9), who allowed five runs on nine hits and a trio of errors — all of which came after the Baltimore pitcher’s own mistakes during a dreadful third inning.

The first error came with nobody out, when Hess threw the ball away trying to pick Merrifield off first base. Then, with two down, Hess tried to chase Jorge Bonifacio back to second and the ball squirreled away again. Bonifacio headed for third and second baseman Breyvic Valera tried to throw him out there, but the ball bounced away for yet another error that allowed Bonifacio to score.

“The toughest thing is giving them extra bases and extra outs to work with,” Hess said. “That’s something that I’ve prided myself on throughout the minor leagues and up here as well. I’ve been able to field my position well and do what we need to do to keep guys honest out there.

“I mean, they beat me at that today,” he said. “It’s something that we’re going to learn from.”