MANHATTAN, Kan. ā Kansas State head coach Collin Klein and select players met with the media on Monday inside the Vanier Family Football Complex to preview the Wildcatsā game this Saturday at Arizona State. Links to video and audio of Kleinās press conference ā which was streamed live on ESPN+ ā are above in addition to an audio link of the player breakout interviews. A transcript of Kleinās press conference is below.
COLLIN KLEIN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statementā¦
āGood morning. Good to see you. Looking at the film, itās very motivating in a lot of ways. I think the potential and opportunity to build off and improve a lot of the positive things that happened are definitely there in all three phases. I thought, overall, our players and our guys' ability to push through the ebbs and the flows of the game was something that we had not done to date. That was one thing I was very, very proud and excited about of just the resiliency and the ability to continue to battle and play with passion, fire and energy no matter if things were going well or things were going bad. Whether it was something that they did or something that we inflicted on ourselves.
āI thought, defensively, we took a step forward. I thought we had better containment in the run game with seven tackles for loss, which was a very good number. On with that, there were times that their quarterback was very, very slippery, and we had chances to get him down for a handful of other sacks that we had decent angles and guys in position to finish plays that we weren't able to capitalize on. I thought we made plays on the football better in the secondary ā attacking it, being able to get the ball knocked down, cover wide receivers, make it uncomfortable for the quarterback to make some throws, and he made some plays as well. The turnover came at an incredible time, and Logan (Bartley) did a great job of creating a possession for us there to be able to stretch the lead at a critical moment, which was awesome. Some of their explosive plays were very, very self-inflicted from the standpoint of miscommunications in some base coverages with some base exchanges they did on offense that allowed for some easy freebie explosive plays that we have to tighten up and get cleaned up. The passion, the energy, the effort across the board was good, and I thought there's a lot of things to build on on that side of the ball.
āOffensively, I thought we started fast. I thought there was a mentality and an attack mode that was good at every position. We were able to get explosive plays running and throwing the ball early in the game to get us going. Really, the big thing as we know and is very, obviously, easy to see is just 3-of-8 touchdowns in the red zone is not nearly good enough. If we're able to do that being able to even build on the good things that we did. The turnover in minus field position, the turnover on downs inside the 10 (yard line) are two possessions early in the game that kind of set us behind the eight ball. Then, kicked some field goals ā Luis (Rodriguez) did a tremendous job ā just kind of chipping away at it. If you say you give up a touchdown on special teams, you turn it over in minus territory and you're winning the game at halftime, it's you know credit to our guys fighting resiliency through a lot of self-inflicted wounds.
āOn special teams, I thought our punt-return unit did a nice job of maintaining field position. Not flashy plays, but getting the ball fair caught and not letting it go and getting our guys away from it to secure the football that way. The kickoff return is painful, and we got to get that cleaned up. But, for the most part, I thought our guys were able to play hard. That the huge safety and Nick McClellan coming off the edge you could see in the punter's eyes, he kind of felt him coming a little bit, which is probably what triggered the drop. So, credit him for, again, being able to put the stress and pressure on him at that moment.
āThe biggest thing ā and Iāve said it for the last couple weeks ā is we have to keep building, we have to keep improving, and keep working our process and keep moving it forward because thereās a lot out there for us. We got a big challenge this week in Arizona State. Itās a very talented group. They got good length. They run on both sides of the ball. A lot of respect, and I know a lot of the guys on that staff and the job they do and have done there the last couple years. We got to play well on the road and put our best foot forward.ā
On red zone and execution of scoring touchdownsā¦
āIt is an even combination. I think a big part of it ā and I even told our guys this morning ā it's something where we've been pressing. I mean, coaches and players alike. A little bit of it is all of us need to take a deep breath, and just be like, āHey, let's not press. We don't have to do anything spectacular. You've done a lot of good work to get down there, so let's do your job, focus on your deal, let's clean up a couple of things here and there, and everybody's got something in one or two that they could have, and we'll be just fine.āā
On Oliver Miller coming off injury and working at a new positionā¦
āIt's extremely impressive. Even the last couple of weeks, we've been building it. Like I said, he's handled it so effortlessly. It's kind of ballooned and grown because you never know how that's going to go, understandably so. He's taken it in stride, he's a tremendous competitor, he studies extremely well and makes a difference. He did some great things in that ball game.ā
On what Oliver Miller did against Kansas that impressed himā¦
āThere was a handful of plays I could point out, but you look at the pass protection on the big throw to (Derrick) Salley. You look at some of what he did in man blocking situations on some of the pin-and-pull stuff, and then you look at some of the gap scheme counter game that he was able to do, whether it was getting movement or getting a kick out or whatever. Not that that was surprising to us, for sure, but his ability to operate in the moment not even close to too big by any stretch, and just operated.ā
On the blocking in the running game against Kansasā¦
āYeah, I think it was a combination. For starters, up front, those guys have continued to get better and better and build on the continuity with each other. I think the level of physicality and attack, that has continued to improve. Some of the things that, again, we were able to stress edges in some previous weeks, I think softened some of the middle to be able to create some gashes in there with a lot of different families of schemes, but be able to get some vertical cuts in things that created some of those explosive plays. Then you look at how hard Rodney (Fields Jr.) and Joe (Jackson) ran. They had a mindset about it and had good vision, yet still very aggressive and hitting the hole hard. It was hard for one guy to bring those guys down all day, which puts a lot of strain on the defense.ā
On drops by receivers and tight endsā¦
āIt's a tough deal. There's not a receiver in the country ā and no different on our team ā that thinks about that or wants that to happen. There's going to be a cost to doing business at some level always. It's about focusing on the fundamental things of looking the ball all the way in, speed to chin and getting it tucked away quickly and just the heightened level of focus and attention in those contested, stressful moments. We got guys that'll do that.ā
On absence of running back Jay Harrisā¦
āItās probably just a little bit of circumstance and kind of how it's happened. Part of it was making sure that that we reward those top two guys and get them going. Maybe try not to get too cute with too many rotations or too many certain plays for certain guys, and like, āHey, let's just go play and kind of go from there.ā There were some packages and things that he has and has had every week, and sometimes those don't hit the field. So, probably just a combination of that.ā
On if tight end Garrett Oakley would be on track to be back this weekā¦
āProbably unlikely, but we'll see. Day to day.ā
On K-Stateās struggle to win games the week after the Kansas gameā¦
āNo, I appreciate you saying that. I didn't know that, but I would say it's human response and human nature. There was a lot of investment poured into that game by staff, by players. Emotions were very, very high. So, natural tendency when you accomplish something and do something well and spend a lot of energy like that to relax and kind of take a deep breath. We have to fight that tooth and nail because it's a one-week season and that's how we got to look at it. Nothing that we've done in the past is gonna affect that, but that's a real thing, for sure, and we got to respond.ā
On if K-State is preparing for two different Arizona State quarterbacksā¦
āWe're going to be prepared for both. Last week they had a tough go and played a couple guys. So, we got to be ready for both and monitor that situation and how it goes.ā
On if there is a āclown carā formation in the offense...
āWe have it. I think it's a combination of things. It's varied on the situations, those are two if not one-ish or less situations. Quarterback sneaks and snaps under center in those situations are not as easy as you think. There is a little risk, too, to your quarterback, which is real for us right now, and you have some ability with Avery (Johnson) and the other things that we've put on tape to be able to control edges and still gain a hat to some counts. But, you're right ā quarterback sneak and putting a lot of pound of tonnage behind him is a good thing.ā
On his experience with the quarterback sneak as a playerā¦
āI got beat up by my own teammates running quarterback sneak (at Oklahoma State in 2011). I think Braden Wilson hit me harder in the back than I ever got hit in the front. I mean, there is a real toll over time that it takes on your body, and that's why the out-of-season strength and conditioning is so important. It's why we try to really ā now, I mean we didn't have it then ā very interesting numbers of how it's kind of played out in the future of some of the old-school training techniques from a load projection and trying to manage the sports science piece of, āOk, how do we prepare these guys adequately for what they're going to go through while being able to sustain it over a 12-week season?ā That's a real thing. The only way that I think is you have to is you have to attack it. As soon as you start trying to put a governor on things and manage too much, I think you cause more harm than good. It's a war out there. I was walking through the stretch lines this morning and talking to some of the guys, and Gabe Powers had some bruises all over, and I was like, āNow we're starting to play some football.ā We got some guys that are bruised up a little bit, so it's good.ā
On anyone that stood out while using different combinations on the interior defensive lineā¦
āI think Eli Jackson continues to show up in his ability to shed blocks and get off blocks. I know Kamari (Burns) continues to move forward. I don't know those are names probably are that are not new new. I think it's been good, and a couple of those are longer drives, too, that we're trying to keep guys fresh that way. But, I think the unit's improving, and we just have to keep it up.ā
On his message to the team after the gameā¦
āWe definitely had a moment of celebration. You find a way to win. It's hard to win. It's hard to win in college football. It always has been. Doesn't take you watching much football on Saturday afternoons to see all the ups and downs of everybody across the country. It is hard to win, period. One thing I always appreciated with Coach (Snyder), though, is there was always a kind of a take a step back, 10,000-foot perspective of, āOk, yeah, emotionally in this moment, we're really excited and deservedly so. But Ok, what are the facts of where we're at? What really happened out there, and what do we need to learn from moving forward?ā And, I told them, I said, āListen, I'm proud as heck of all of us for being able to overcome everything that happened in that football game, but we better pay attention because we got to get up and stop making certain mistakes in certain situations, otherwise, the payment for that gets harder and higher the longer you don't learn it.ā So, that was the message, and that we just have to keep building. I was so proud of the trust and belief that they had in each other in all three phases.ā
On what heās heard about Mountain America Stadiumā¦
āNot much, other than it's 100 yards like every other field.ā
On what stands out to him on tape from Arizona Stateā¦
āI think they've got some talented personnel. I think they've got good length. I think they run well. They've put a lot of different things schematically on tape. So, you've got to really package it well to break down where we want to go and where we want to attack. But, Iām excited for the challenge.ā
On what comes to mind first with JoJo Scottā¦
āI think just a growing competitor. Being able to do what he's done, position flex a little bit for us has been extremely impressive. He continues to compete and strain and has natural ability, but I think growing into the technique and how he's been playing multiple spots (means) he's got a lot of really good football ahead of him.ā
On his first impression of JoJo Scott when he arrivedā¦
āNo, I was trying to give everyone a chance, not get too hunkered down in first impressions too much. I wanted to get to know him, but then also just let his body work and how he attacked everything, and kind of let that build. But, I was excited about him coming.ā
On Arizona State defensive lineman Jalen Thompsonā¦
āHe presents an issue, for sure. Very active, very great length. We'll have to have a good protection plan in place and know very similar to what we had to do last week. There were a lot of things built around that, and he's that type of player.ā
On running Joe Jackson 11-straight times across two possessionsā¦
āJoe's a workhorse. If he ever gets tired, he don't admit it. I respect the heck out of that. He cares so much. He's one of our best leaders on our football team, hands down. His mentality is right. His perspective's right. His priorities are right, and it shows in how he plays. I love him to death.ā
On not going for two while up by seven in the fourth quarterā¦
āIt was something we were talking about. It was analytics telling you to go for one. The thought to try to make it a two-possession game crossed our mind. I think from a game-pressure standpoint, trying to put as much pressure on them as possible to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to just keep playing. I think that's real to me is we kind of looked at it even over the summer. So, that's what we did.ā
On his speech Friday night before the gameā¦
āI'm no different than these guys in trying to get better and be better for them in this program. I care so much and a great deal about everything top to bottom in it, and how we serve our players, and try to get them as good as they can possibly be, win every game that we play, and especially that last one.ā
On what stuck out to him about Avery Johnsonās performanceā¦
āI think there's a couple plays that stick out to me that point really in a good direction for rhythm and timing and continuity. You look at the 29-yard catch to Jaron Tibbs. That is a base mid-range spacing scheme that he throws him open with perfect timing and rhythm from a footwork standpoint. They both feel the window. Tibbs bends into it and spits out the backside for 29 yards. If you're not on time, if you're not accurate, if you're not on the same page, it's a 10-yard play. I like 10-yard plays, but I think that was a great sign. You look at the third, and whatever it was, third and 13, I think maybe even the dig to (Derrick) Salley Jr., and you look at, āHey, he's ripping that dig route into the boundary and completes it a yard outside the hash with really good timing in his feet and anticipation puts it right on the front number.ā Just those things from a trust, rhythm, timing standpoint, are really exciting, and things that he's growing into. I was so excited about just to see him come out as the leader and competitor that he is. He's so steady all the time ā which is an incredible quality ā but he was in attack mode. You could see how he ran the football. You could tell how he ran things out there. That he played efficiently, knew exactly what he was doing, exactly what was going on around him. I think there's even more in him, and that's a credit to who he is and the player he is. I think, as I said maybe after the game, I just love competing with him.ā
On the fans and the atmosphere Saturdayā¦
āWell, it's incredibly special. I thought the environment on Saturday was absolutely incredible. That student section was full long before kickoff, and it was full the entire game, and just their investment and passion and care for what was going on, their excitement in the plays being made both offensively and defensively, was felt, and they no doubt affected that game. The love and support, personally, I appreciate it so much. But again, as I've said, I mean this thing is so far from about me. It's about Kansas State. It's about our players, and it's about moving this thing forward. To become everything that it possibly can be.ā
On the final offensive drive to kick a field goal to go up two possessionsā¦
āWe were trying to take as much time as possible. I think the biggest play in that drive was the third and eight conversion that Avery (Johnson) had with his legs. We had an option to throw it and/or run it, and his ability to skate by that last defender a yard or so short of the line to gain to get us down into plus territory to secure the field goal, I think, was really big. You're right in that middle stretch where you got to get points. You always want a touchdown, but as much time as you possibly want to do it. So, you're obviously in a conservative, yet positive, mode of draining their timeouts to run the football and create some things. We had a couple chances, again to get in the end zone. A couple things went differently, but I was just proud of the guys and how we were able to secure the two-possession lead, drain some of their timeouts, and move forward.ā
On the development of Oliver Millerās hybrid roleā¦