Head Coach Bill Snyder
On not getting offensive plays in fast enough…
“There are two different elements there; Part of our issue was clock management and part of it was what we were doing on the field. Those are two different elements. I thought going in to the ballgame that we had solved most of the problems, but obviously I took something for granted, which is my mistake. There are elements of getting a play out of the press box, getting it signaled, getting it to the quarterback and him getting it into the huddle and to everyone else. There are a lot of elements to it, and all of them were not what they needed to be. That is my responsibility and my fault. We are going to invest more effort and more time into it. I took it for granted because the process was a lot smoother in the previous two ballgames.”
On putting players in better situations…
“You can always put them in better situations, which goes with the territory. I think people on the other side of the ball have something to do with that. It is a combination of those things. Even when you execute extremely well, somebody on the other side executes as well, and consequently you do not have the kind of success that you want out of it. Sometimes you do not execute well. We had three sacks in the game. That is an execution element. We had some throws we could not get off because of the pressure that was placed on him. That is an execution issue. We had some coverage pressures that were created by having the opportunity to be in better calls.”
On being more decisive with play calling…
“We need to be able to do what we are capable of doing and do things that we have done in the past. We did not execute those things as well as we could in this ballgame. These guys have been with me for how many years and they have had successes. It is a matter of being more consistent about the things we are doing. Obviously it all starts with me having to make better decisions about some things.”
On struggles running the ball…
“Part of it was that we did not block as well as we are capable of, part of it was West Virginia played well against us and did a lot of things that made it difficult to run the ball. They put a lot of people up there. We still have to be able to execute and get in the right things to compete against it. Everybody you play has the capacity to do whatever it is that gives your offense some difficulty. It is a combination of things. Let us get in the right things and let us execute it as well as we possibly can.”
On simplifying the offense…
“Our goal going into a ballgame is to have things paired down from the total package. But we always have our total package available to us because you do not know what you are going to get. It is better to have a condensed package that you know is going to be effective. We got caught doing that and trying to find the right answers. We had a few decent plays, but not enough to make a difference in the second half of the ballgame.”
On Elijah Lee…
“We say he is not a middle linebacker, but in all reality with so many spread offenses, he is a middle linebacker. He spends an ample amount of time in there. He has been a good player, and he runs around pretty well. He has a pretty good knack for having an understanding and the experience that he has had allows him to process information quicker. That is not the easiest thing to do against teams that go fast. His experience has allowed him to do that, and consequently he plays faster because of it.”
On Texas Tech’s passing game…
“I think their quarterback is awfully good. He can throw it, and he is a threat to run the ball as well. They run quarterback draws, they run read plays, and they run the speed option. They do an awful lot of things with him, and he is a physical guy and has some good height to him. You have to be prepared against the run, but he wants to make a living throwing the ball. They get the ball out of his hands quick where you do not get a great deal of pressure on him. That is something that is necessary to do. They like to run some of the inside stuff, like slants and things like that. He can do that across the board. They like taking their throws downfield. They have some pretty good wide receivers that run well and have some height to them. I think the thing that they have made a living on is being able to get the ball out of his hands real quick.”
Junior Linebacker Elijah Lee
On being named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week…
“It is exciting. I have been here for almost three years now and it is something that I have not experienced before. It brings more motivation because once you get it once, you want to get it again.”
On his interception at West Virginia…
“It was one of those reaction plays. I saw Duke (Shelley) had hit it out and I knew I had to get there because you do not get too many opportunities for a ball like that. So I just broke on the ball and happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
On being around the football every play…
“That is something that I picked up when I got to K-State, because as a defensive end you cannot be too much of a ballhawk because you have to deal with an offensive lineman at all times. It is something that I embraced throughout this offseason and something that I worked toward. The coaches told me that I should always get to the ball and to make sure that I was in the film room and constantly working hard.”
Senior Defensive End Jordan Willis
On preparation for Texas Tech…
“Obviously we did some good things last week, so we have to take the same approach in having four good preparation days. Once you get into Big 12 play, the teams are different but the scheme is the same, so there is not much that is different for me. I have to know if I am getting a down block or if somebody is coming to kick me out, so I have to spill him or if I get a pass set then I’ll rush. The quarterbacks get a little bit different, some are a little quicker, some are pocket passers. So some things do change but for me; a lot of it is the same – put your hand in the ground and go.”
On the West Virginia game…
“I think my pass rush can always be better. I have to be better at getting to the quarterback, not only sacks but applying pressure; we can get better at that. There later in the game, we definitely could have affected him more and applied more pressure. There are always small things like pad level that we can improve on, but as a team we need to get better at tackling, which will be huge this week. There were not a lot of communication issues last game, but we can still improve there. We did a lot of good things but there are still some small things we can improve on.”
Senior Running Back Charles Jones
On Texas Tech’s scoring offense…
“When you have a defense that is playing the way ours has, I have confidence that they are going to do their best. I have all the confidence in our defense that they will do their thing.”
On the importance of running the ball against Texas Tech…
“I feel like a lot of teams in the Big 12 have a fast-paced offense. In our offense, we have to control the ball, and when you run the ball, you can control the clock. As running backs and the offense line as a whole, we are going to take it upon ourselves to really try to run the ball and have great success in that part of the offense.”
