🎥 🏈 K-State Holds Weekly Football Press Conference Prior to TCU Contest

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and select players met with members of the media via Zoom on Tuesday as the Wildcats prepare to travel to Fort Worth, Texas, this Saturday to take on TCU. A complete transcript of Klieman’s press conference – which was also streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ – and players are posted below. The Wildcats and Horned Frogs kick at 3 p.m., in a game televised nationally on FOX.

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CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH

Opening Statement...

“Good afternoon everybody. Thoughts on Saturday: I thought we fought and battled and played really well in the fourth quarter after having the lead and then losing the lead. We finished the game exceptionally well, both offensively and defensively, made a few plays that allowed us to have the opportunity late in the game to make a couple of first downs to close it out. I’m happy about the win. The guys played really hard against a good Texas Tech team, and hopefully we can carry that forward to a really good week this week because we have our hands full with a really good TCU team. I have so much respect for Coach (Gary) Patterson and what he’s done there. We’re excited about that challenge, and we have to have a great week of preparation to give ourselves an opportunity.”

On dealing with quarterback reps this week...

“Yesterday we didn’t practice Skylar (Thompson). He just took all the mental reps yesterday. Will (Howard) and Nick (Ast) were the main ones who practiced yesterday. Today, our hope is that Skylar can take some of the reps. We’ll find out how much he can take. We hope he can take a few and then increase it more on Wednesday, if he’s available, and that’s contingent on what he can do today and tomorrow. We’ll split those reps up. I want to make sure that Will and Nick can take some snaps and be able to operate our system in case Skylar on Tuesday or midway through Wednesday doesn’t feel like he can go, but we think he can.”

On what impressed him about Will Howard in high school...

“He was a winner, for starters. He won the most games they’d won at his high school when he was there during his senior year, had a great senior year. He had a really great team. Throughout the process, getting to know him and Coach (Collin) Klein getting to know him, myself and Coach (Courtney) Messingham, he just was the right fit for what we’re doing offensively and personality standpoint, as well as from a skillset standpoint. Obviously we didn’t have him much in the summertime or the spring, but he did all the little things right to try to learn the offense and had a really good fall camp. We’re excited about his progress.”

On how he found out about Deuce Vaughn...

“We’re always trying to find the best players and best talent. We came across Deuce and were able to bring him for a visit. His personality, as you all have learned, is so infectious. He’s such a wonderful kid to be around, always has a smile on his face and always happy. We wanted that kind of energy and enthusiasm and love for the game of football in our program. I didn’t care what his size was. He was dynamic on film, and I knew that was a skillset we lacked that we needed to be able to recruit him and get him. Fortunately, we were able to do that, and I can’t say enough about the young man and his family. They are very first class. Mature, great kid and great family.”

On what he linked about Will Howard’s performance on Saturday...

“The fact that he didn’t take as many reps last week and then to come in and operate some things. I thought he operated really well. He had a couple of balls that he would probably like to have back that we could bring down a little bit, maybe some anxiety and nerves. But, the thing that tells you everything you need to know about how we felt with Will Howard is that when there was two or two and a half minutes left, we had a 3rd and 4 or 5 and we could’ve easily run the football and said, ‘Defense, go win it.’ We throw it, Chabastin (Taylor) makes a nice play to create the first down. We had that situation again where it’s 3rd  and 4, they have no timeouts left. If we get a first down, in essence the game is over. We can easily run the football and say, ‘Defense, go stop them.’ We said, ‘No, we’re going to put it in your hands, Will.’ He made a nice check at the line of scrimmage, Deuce (Vaughn) got open, and he delivered a strike. That tells you all you need to know about the confidence that we as a coaching staff and the players have in Will Howard.”

On how much of the playbook is open to Will Howard...

“It’s all open. We won’t change anything.”

On talking to seniors about taking a free year...

“We have not had those conversations as of right now. I don’t think it’s fair to have those conversations right now. You don’t know whether it’s COVID, injury, a great season or not as great a season. I just think it’s hard, and I don’t think it’s fair to those guys. All of the sudden, a kid says he’s moving on and then he gets COVID and misses a certain number of weeks. I just don’t think that’s very fair. We have not had those conversations with any of the guys yet.”

On the status of defensive back Justin Gardner...

“He practiced yesterday. It was limited, but he practiced enough that we feel like he can go.”

On the performance of the offensive line against Texas Tech...

“They played much better than they did the week before. I thought we came off the ball exceptionally well. I thought we connected and IDed people and got our double teams and got to the next level really well. I just thought we played more physical. Our protection was much better. It’s going to be a work in progress. We’ve talked about that when you have a bunch of guys who haven’t played together. It’s going to take some time to gel. Nobody wants to hear that. We don’t want to hear it as coaches, but that’s the reality of the situation. I was very pleased. Coach (Conor) Riley knows that they can continue to get better, but we took some really positive steps.”

On the true freshmen that played against Texas Tech...

“I thought they did a really nice job. The stage wasn’t too big. There’s so many guys. It’s easy to talk about Deuce (Vaughn) and Will Howard, but there are so many other guys who played. TJ Smith really jumped out at us as somebody who we think is going to have a really bright future and played some safety for us. There were some other guys, as well. Carver Willis played some left tackle in the Big 12 as a true freshman, and that’s pretty cool to have a freshman playing left tackle. There’s a number of guys. There are others who played, as well. We’re excited about this class.”

On the benefit of Will Howard being an early enrollee...

“Without question he benefited from being here early as far as getting with Coach (Chris) Dawson and the strength staff, getting with Colin Klein and getting with Nick Ast and Skylar Thompson and learning the offense so that when he did go home during the COVID break, he had his iPad and all the notes and everything he needed so that he could work on it himself. He could go on the Zoom meetings with Coach Klein. So, without question, it helped him a bunch to be an early enrollee.”

On TCU getting Max Duggan back at quarterback...

“I think it was a big deal. I think he had a breakout game against us last year. I think it was his first start last year, his first significant time, and he did really well against us last year. Just watching him operate against Texas, I’m very impressed with him. He’s a really good football player. He has a great arm, runs exceptionally well and is a very physical and tough kid. I’m a big fan of his. He’s a terrific player.”

On the team being first place in the Big 12 standings right now...

“We’ve played two games, so I don’t even know what the standings are. We’ve won both of them, so we can’t be in last. I don’t think anyone pays attention. We’ve played two games in this league, and it’s a great league. It’s never been brought up, so I would appreciate it if we didn’t bring it up to the guys.”

On the contract extension...

“I’m so thankful for President Myers and Gene Taylor for believing in what we’re doing. I keep saying we. I’m in this position because of what our players have done, because of what our coaches have done, because of our administration and support staff. It’s a collective effort by everybody. I’m grateful. I’m thankful. My family and I love it here in Manhattan. We love the people we work with and work for. The credit needs to really go to the players and assistant coaches for giving us the opportunity to lay the foundation and continue what we want to do on top of the great things that Coach (Snyder) did here.”

On if there’s a chance to celebrate the extension...

“No, you don’t. Every day is such a grind, which is fun. I told the guys after the game that we’re going to grind out wins. There’s not a group in America that I’d rather grind with than our football team, because they love the grind.”

On TCU’s defense...

“All you have to do is mention the name Gary Patterson with defense and you know it’s going to be a terrific defense. He’s one of the best in the country and always has been. They play really fast. They don’t read and react. They’re penetrating and up field. They’re going to press you. They’re going to play man coverage. They’re not going to let you get off the line of scrimmage. They’re going to hit you. They’re a really good defense that I know Gary is probably frustrated like I am as a defensive coach when you give up some explosive plays, because that's the thing you try to prevent is the explosive play. That’s going to be the key to the game. Which offense can get the explosive play? Because I think both defenses are good and at times exceptional. You just have to prevent that explosive play, and then the turnover margin.”

On preparing a freshman quarterback to face the TCU defense...

“We don’t know that it’s going to be Will (Howard). There’s still a chance that it’s going to be Skylar (Thompson), so we’re going to give them both an opportunity. Like I said, we wouldn’t change the offense based on if it’s Nick Ast – he could see some time – and we won’t change it if Nick Ast is playing or if Will is playing or if Skylar is playing. It’s just getting the pictures and the looks to those three guys to make sure that they understand if it’s a pressure look, a coverage look, a rolled coverage. What is this picture? That’s the challenge for Coach (Collin) Klein and Coach (Courtney) Messingham, but the players are ready for the challenge. They spend an awful lot of time watching film with each other and picking each other’s brains.”

On the timing of the contract extension...

“Absolutely, and I know we were working on this contract in January and February. It was close to being done in February or right before the pandemic. I know pretty much a lot of it was done at that time. When the pandemic hit, we kind of stopped everything. When we started playing football here, I know that it kind of started back up with Kansas State and the representation that I have. For me, it starts in 2021. We still have our reduction of pay this fiscal year. There’s never a good time, but I just appreciate the faith that Gene Taylor has in me and the President Myers has, and there’s also a big piece to this in recruiting. Not only the players that aren’t here, but the players that are here, they know there is a commitment to our staff for the long haul and for the future.”

On what tight end Briley Moore adds to the offense...

“It’s fun to watch. Nothing surprises me that Briley Moore does, other than when he got caught going to the end zone. That’s one thing I did get on him a bit for, but nothing surprises me. The kid is so talented. He works so hard, and he has the right attitude and mindset. The thing that has impressed me with Briley coming into a new situation is his leadership and how he has become a big voice on the football team, not only with the young guys but with the guys who have been here for four and five years. That is sometimes a hard thing to navigate through, and you don’t want to step on peoples’ toes. He is, without question, one of our leaders, not just on the offensive side but on the entire football team, and that’s because of how he plays and how he conducts himself off the field.”

On the fake field goal attempt against Texas Tech...

“A couple things – we saw a look that we thought we could get it. We’d been practicing it for a while. It was there. I thought Jack (Blumer) did a phenomenal job of hitting it, and we fell off a block or Jack goes to the end zone and scores. The execution part of it was great. We missed one block, and actually we had him blocked and he fell off and made a good play on it, or Jack walks into the end zone. It was also against the wind. Even though I have so much confidence in Blake (Lynch), I thought it was the right time, and I know Texas Tech brought pressure all the time with their kicks. Coach (Conor) Riley, who runs that unit, and I both thought if we were going to do it, let’s do it early in the game and maybe try to ease some of that pressure.”

On balancing between going for blocks or returns on punts...

“We have a return set up off of every block, as well, just simply because if you’re bringing everybody, they need to stay in there and protect longer, and we’d fall out and have a return, whether it’s to the left side, middle or right side. It’s always a part of it, but I always think you have one chance to block a kick, and then it gets corrected. You want to do that early. If you’ve noticed, we’ve tried to set the return up after that block. We don’t come after it two times in a row, typically. We might if we feel the error hasn’t been corrected. We also have a really good returner in Phillip Brooks. It’s no different if you can run the football, you have a better chance with play action. If you can block a punt, you have a better chance to return one because people have to stay in to protect longer. For us, it’s a great sign. I’m more excited about the fact that three different players blocked a kick, because they were calling out where AJ (Parker) was at. AJ was the guy that blocked it against Oklahoma. Then Seth (Porter) became the guy that came free. We always tell our guys, ‘You don’t know when you’re going to be the guy. You don’t know when you’re going to have that one chance.’ If you don’t get it, they’re probably going to correct their error. Seth did a great job. He was blocked, but he refused to be blocked and got around the shield and made the play. Moving forward, we’re always going to try to have a block in. We’ll always try to have a return in. Sometimes your block looks help your return looks because they have to protect longer.”

BRILEY MOORE, SENIOR TIGHT END

On the long pass play from Will Howard...

“Well, the last thing that happened was I got caught from behind, so I’ll try not to let that happen next time. Will did a great job of staying alive after getting a little bit of pressure, I think, moving around in the pocket and gave me a ball. I actually think the defender maybe thought I was out of bounds or going out of bounds because he didn’t really make a hard tackle or effort to push me out of bounds. I was able to kind of tight rope the sideline and get it going.”

On his 40-yard dash time...

“I haven’t been tested in a long time, so I’m not sure, but I apparently need a little bit of work on it.”

On Skylar Thompson dealing with injury…

“Yeah, he’s been very positive and he’s a great person, a great teammate. So whenever he’s been in the building, and all the times I’ve been around him, his spirits have been high. He’s been positive and been encouraging us while he was taking mental reps yesterday at practice. It’s a testament to what type of person he is with just how positive he’s being in the situation.”

On the team's confidence with Will Howard…

“Point blank, Will is a baller. He showed us that in fall camp. He showed us that in the reps that he’s gotten in the past three weeks. I think on his first play in the first game, he completed a pass and then to go in to that game (against Texas Tech) with some pressure and the game on the line and to hold his composure the way he did and command the offense the way he did. We’re not going to blink if that’s what the situation is, we don’t really know. But I can tell you from a team comradery standpoint, we have his back and we know that he has our back. We’re comfortable with whatever happens.”

On Deuce Vaughn…

“For the second time, that dude’s a baller too. Me and Deuce lift together on Thursdays on the same platform, and we kind of have a thing going right now where we say that we have the good luck platform that produces at least one touchdown a game. I kind of let us up on that in the Oklahoma game, but he says that play still counts, so we’re three games strong. But lifting with him really allows me to see how mature he is, how much he cares about football. To come in as a true freshman and do the things he’s done is just, I mean, it’s insane, but, at the same time, to the guys it’s not surprising because of the way he’s handled himself from the day he got on campus, to fall camp, and in the games. He’s just somebody you really root for and you’re happy to see him have success because he deserves it.”

On the expectations of his impact…

“You know, coming with transferring and everything, I tried not to think too much about, ‘Okay, production. I need to do this, I need to do that.’ I just wanted to come in and do what I could to help the team. Whenever you have a football genius calling the plays like Coach (Courtney) Messingham, he does a great job of creating mismatches and allowing players to make plays. So, I just kind of doing what I can and trying to put myself in the best positions that Coach Messingham asks for, and I’ve been able to have some success early. So, I’m trying to keep doing what I can.”

On the difference in chemistry with Skylar Thompson and Will Howard…

“I wouldn’t say there’s a ton of difference. The coaching staff, just with everything going on because of COVID right now, everybody got reps with the one’s group, and the two’s group, and the three’s in the fall camp. So, if it’s Will that we’re going with on Saturday, we all of chemistry with him because of the way that the coaches handled fall camp knowing that at any point, because of this virus, somebody can be down and it’s the next guy up. That’s our mentality. So, I think that because of fall camp and because of the last four weeks, including the bye week, we’ve all gotten a lot of reps with Will. So, we’re all comfortable with him commanding the offense.”

On how much fun he is having playing at Kansas State…

“I can’t even explain it. It’s just unreal. I’m just living out my dreams in real time and knowing that. So, it’s an unreal experience to run out there even though it’s not packed like it would be in a normal year, the environment is still just absolutely amazing. The fans are amazing. I enjoy connecting with the fans whether it’s a, ‘Good game,’ message on Facebook or Twitter or whatever it is. Like I said, I’m just living out my dreams in real time. So, it’s insane to be having this much fun. I think I’ve said it before, but just the way that the team has welcomed me in, I can’t tell I’m the new guy on the team when we’re out on the field. The relationships have been made in the last couple months, and I’m just balling with my bros.”

On the option of returning next season…

“I try not to think about it too much. Just trying to take it one day at a time, attack every day, one week at a time. Down the line, I’ll start considering to come back a year or if it’s my time. It all kind of depends, but I haven’t paid it much thought yet.”

On playing in Chris Klieman’s scheme after playing against him…

“Yeah, especially during fall camp or really when I was learning the offense throughout the summer and stuff I’d go through installs and I’d see a play and we’d watch film or it would have a film on it tagged with it. I’d see and I’d be like, ‘Okay, that makes sense. That’s the play they got on us this year.’ Coach (Courtney) Messingham, he’s a genius when it comes to calling plays, so just seeing it and running those same plays now, it’s kind of funny whenever I sit back and watch. When the defense was on the field back when I was at UNI playing against them, I was not too happy on the sideline when they’d hit a big touchdown and a guy is just wide open down the field and nobody around him. But now I see why and now I see the structure of the offense and how they get that to happen. So, I laugh whenever that does come up, ‘Oh, yep, I remember that play right there.’ Whenever there was a game we we’re up, it was actually the same situation as the Oklahoma game and really why I never flinched and I never thought we we’re going to lose that game was because the last time I played this coaching staff when they were at North Dakota State, we were up 21-7 at halftime and all of the sudden end of the game we lose by 20 or 22 or something. It was just insane and it was those types of plays that we have that it’s like, ‘How did they get this guy down field, wide open, and nobody see him?’ But now knowing the offense and seeing those plays it’s like, ‘Okay, I see it now. It makes sense. It clicks.’”

On the message he would send about the value of tight ends for the Kansas State offense...

“I think if you watch the games, you can kind of see it. Coach (Courtney) Messingham and Coach Klieman also, they do a great job of using the players that they have. There’s no, ‘Okay, we’re only going to do this no matter who we have,’ it’s, ‘Okay, how can we get mismatches for this guy, how can we get mismatches for this guy.’ Some weeks it may be the tight ends on certain plays, some weeks it’s the running backs, the receivers. But whenever you turn K-State on, you see it. We have multiple tight ends on the field a majority of the time. I really think this is an offense that tight ends can be very valuable in. So any high school guys being recruited, I’d say just look into what we do and look at how much fun the players are having, not only at tight end. That’s something you want to be able to go somewhere and have fun while playing football and the game you love and be around a bunch of great dudes. That’s what it is here from the players to the coaching staff. It’s just a bunch of dudes having fun and making plays while we’re at it. So, I’d definitely advise any tight ends, specifically, for your question, to just turn on one of our games and watch it live and see the things that Coach Messingham does with the tight ends.”

NOAH JOHNSON, SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

On how the offensive line has progressed…

“I think we’re moving in the right direction. Saturday was probably our best game so far, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement as individuals and as a whole group. We have to keep being physical and keep sustaining blocks and keep communicating at a high level and keep protecting. For the most part, especially the last two weeks, we’ve done a good job in protection. We have a big challenge this week; TCU is a good team. They have a good defensive front, they have a good front seven, so we have to have a good week of practice. But, as long as we keep playing physical and keep competing, I think we’re going to be alright.”

On Skylar Thompson going down with injury...

“That was tough. One, as offensive lineman, and two, as just a friend, Skylar is one of my best friends, so that sucks. But, at the same time, you have to push on with the guy that’s in there. Next man up, and Skylar would have that mentality if any of us went down. It sucks to see your teammate and your brother get a little bit banged up, but you have to focus on the now and on the next guys in there, and rallying around Will (Howard), and play our game, and control the line of scrimmage, and give him time to make plays. That’s what we did.”

On the physicality of the Texas Tech game…

“It was pretty physical. My body feels a lot better after this game than it did against Oklahoma. I think I’m getting a little bit more used to playing in full games again. We definitely did a better job of coming off the ball in the run game and getting displacement from the line of scrimmage and giving our backs bigger lanes to run. That’s what it's going to take for us to win. That’s what it’s going to take, both offensively and defensively, is controlling the line of scrimmage. So if we can keep doing that we’re going to be in a good spot.”

On the multitude of true freshman getting snaps…

“I can’t say enough good things about Carver Willis and how he played. And I can’t say enough good things about Deuce (Vaughn) and about Will (Howard). I don’t even look at Deuce as a true freshman. That guy might be more mature than I am, and I’m 22. And Will, man, that guy was poised, he was confident. He did not seem phased by the moment at all. He was completely ready for it. Coach Collin Klein did a great job of talking to him, and Skylar (Thompson) did a great job of talking to him and keeping him chill. I think the coolest thing about Will is he was smiling and joking around a little bit in the huddle, just having fun, just having fun. I just told Will, ‘We’ll handle it up front, we’ll handle the huddle, we’ll get everything going and you just worry about your job.’ The credit is to the entire offensive line. Josh (Rivas), Ben (Adler), Duff (Christian Duffie), K.T. (Kaitori Leveston), and Carver. We all kind of took a little bit of extra responsibility to handle a little bit more of the load for Will, and Will made plays, man. That’s the name of the game.”

On the challenge for Carver Willis playing left tackle as a true freshman…

“I couldn’t tell you, I’ve never done it. But I’ll say, the thing about offensive line is if you play really hard, you can make up for whatever deficiencies you have, whether it’s size, whether it’s experience, whether it’s being a young guy that doesn’t have the best technique yet. That’s one thing I’ll say about Carver, he plays hard, hard, hard. He plays with an edge, and he plays with a lot of finish. That paid dividends for him on Saturday, and he competed. He came in when he needed him to and spilled K.T. (Kaitori Leveston) a little bit when K.T. needed a bit of a breather. When K.T. got back in there, he did a great job too.”

On the mindset of the team after being 2-0 in conference play…

“Well, I think we have a team that it’s not going to change at all. Polls don’t matter. We may be 2-0 in the Big 12, but two weeks ago we were sitting at 0-1. We’re not that far away from that. So, you can’t get the mentality that, ‘Oh, we’re winning, we can let up.’ No you have to take every day at a time, every play at a time, every rep at a time, and you don’t take anything for granted because in college football you’re going to get up for the big games against the big opponents, but every team brings it every week. That’s what we’re expecting. People may have a target on our back, but we have a target on everyone’s back that we play because that’s the next opponent that we’re playing. That’s always the most important thing. Who are you playing this week? What are you doing today? What are you getting better at? That’s our focus, one play at a time, and one game at a time. Everything else will take care of itself. I don’t think anyone on our team pays attention to any of that or cares about any of that.”

On the chemistry level with Will Howard at quarterback…

“Yeah I do. I think throughout the season, or at least the preseason, Will got mixed in a decent amount, and we all kind of played with everyone during fall camp and even a little bit into the season and during that bye week. So we had a little bit of continuity with Will. There’s a little bit of a difference in his rhythm of his cadence that we have to adjust to, but he did a great job. There was not a single time where I would say there was an issue at all and, like I said, credit to all the guys along the offensive line for adjusting to it and just being ready to go and everyone being on the same page and everyone doing their job and taking care of the young kid. And he took care of us and made some plays and checked some protections and he did his job. At the end of the day, everybody do your job and do it together. That’s what we’re going to keep doing.”

On the performance of the younger guys on the offensive line...

“I am very impressed with, like I said, with Carver (Willis), with everyone along our offensive line. Obviously, our inexperience or whatever, but Josh Rivas has been getting so much better, and that’s a lot to say because he was already a very good player. I think now that he is the complete starter and playing all the reps he can be a real dominant force and he’s been super hard. I think Ben Adler has been doing a great job. He’s a very underrated player. He’s been very physical. Christian Duffie has had to bounce around at positions, and he’s adapted. He’s playing great football right now, he’s been playing with great technique. Cooper Beebe – he’s a redshirt freshman – I thought he was going to have a big year this season, and he’s been exceeding those expectations for me. He’s been ballin' out. K.T. (Kaitori Leveston) has really stepped up to the challenge this week and got so much better throughout the game. When he got under fire, he responded, and that’s another guy who can be a great player. If he keeps working at it, he’s going to be. He’s improving, and it’s super awesome to see that.”

On playing as a senior leader…

“Man, it’s been a long road for sure. I still think back to when I decided I wanted to play football again. I was trying to put on that weight and trying to get my strength back. Thinking back to what I was visualizing back then and to be here now, it’s very rewarding. A lot of hard work got put into it and being in a great situation and having incredible coaches. Coach (Conor) Riley gets so much out of me that I never thought I’d be able to get out. He’s an incredible coach. He pushes me super hard, and I appreciate him so much. Coach Klieman is the man. He’s the absolute man. Coach (Taylor) Braet was the guy who gave me a shot off a text message in November when I hadn’t talked to him in probably six or seven months. I just sent him my own film and asked if I could walk on, and he gave me a shot. Once you get an opportunity, it’s just about how much work are you willing to put into it? It’s a nice feeling to be out there again, and it’s just fun, it’s just a lot of fun. I missed it a lot.”

On if he would come back next season...

“Yeah, I’d lie if I’d say it’s a thought that hasn’t crossed my mind, but I’m 100% focused on this season and competing every day and getting better every day and trying to put something together here. When I have to make that decision, I’ll make that decision, but I couldn’t be happier at K-State or in this program or in this team and with my teammates.”

WYATT HUBERT, JUNIOR DEFENSIVE END

On the confidence level after starting 2-0 in conference play…

“We definitely know our potential. Those last two wins that we had, we were so cohesive and came together so tight and played so well as a team. We had struggles in both of those games. We weren’t perfect, but we definitely fought all four quarters and all 60 minutes. As long as you do that, you can keep winning every game. We just attack every day at practice and hope to keep the ball rolling.” 

On his impact in the Texas Tech game…

“My main goal is to go out there and do my job, stay disciplined to my gaps and rush the passer when I need to. Me and the other d-ends didn’t come up with any sacks, but obviously we need to keep getting pressure on the quarterback. It makes it a lot tougher when the quarterback is a dual-threat guy like their backup (Texas Tech) was and like Max Duggan at TCU will be this upcoming week. We just have to go out there and be as disruptive as possible.” 

On TCU’s offense…

“They’re returning three offensive linemen. They lost both of their starting tackles from last year. They are returning their quarterback, Max Duggan, a true sophomore and a very talented player. They lost a lot of key players. I think they had six or seven guys drafted last year, so they lost a lot of key players. They obviously have a lot of young talent stepping up. Their wide receivers are always fast. Their quarterback is a dual threat that can run and throw, has very hot feet in the pocket and isn’t afraid to pull the ball and run. Like I said, as long as we play our defense, stay true to our gaps and stay gap disciplined, we’ll be fine.”

On the challenges of facing different offensive schemes…

“Individually, it’s tough handling those double teams sometimes, getting chipped by the running backs or getting slide protection with the tight end and running back sliding your way. It makes it tough to pass rush, but it’s a challenge I have to deal with. I have to stay out there and be productive. As a team, every single offense in the Big 12 is a little bit different. We knew Texas Tech was going to pass the ball a lot. After the coaches broke down the games, it’s very simple. Same with TCU, offenses go out there and run a certain number of plays and a certain number of passing schemes. As long as we can watch film and get those memorized to a T, it makes the game a lot simpler.” 

On how the young players have been able to make adjustments…

“TJ Smith, Will Howard, Deuce Vaughn and a few others, those guys have definitely stepped into their role, and the stage isn’t too big for them. I want to give credit to a lot of the older guys who have taken those guys under their wings and helped them develop into great players. Those guys are definitely talented, and the stage isn’t too big for them at all.” 

On running back Deuce Vaughn…

“I heard a lot of good things about him before he came here. He’s always been around football his whole entire life. The thing that makes a player like him great is that he’s been around football his whole life. His dad is a scout for the Dallas Cowboys. What makes a player good and great isn’t just what they do on the field, but off the field as well. How they handle their business. How they watch film. The decisions they make and who they spend time with. All that kind of stuff plays a big factor in what you do on the field on Saturdays. He’s just a very mature young man. He just goes out there and does what he does. He works hard, and obviously the hard work is paying off for him.”

On the differences between how Joe Klanderman and Scottie Hazleton call games…

“Scottie Hazleton was a little less conservative, ran a lot more blitzes and pressures. We still do that with Coach Klanderman, too, but it’s a little more laid back and we run a lot more base defenses. You can make plays with blitzes or base defenses. We just try to go out there and do our thing and get off the field.” 

On how satisfying it is to get a sack off a four-man rush as opposed to a blitz…

“I’d say four man rush because it requires four versus five or four versus six and is more rewarding sometimes. With a blitz, you usually have more blitzers than pass protectors, but a sack is a sack. It’s a great feeling.” 

On Chris Klieman’s contract extension…

“I think he definitely deserves that. I say that because he just shows up every day and works his butt off. I’m trying to think what to say, because I have so much emotion for him. We sit in our captains meetings every Monday. Things we talk about as a staff and as captains on the team and what he gives us advice about, how he keeps us updated on things, how he’s going to do things for the week. He’s always asking us what we want. He wants our input, and we can always give it to him. He gives us an honest feedback answer. The thing about Chris Klieman, he’s always going to say, ‘we,’ and not, ‘me’. That’s something that really sticks out to us players. He always emphasizes that nobody is bigger than the program. The program is bigger than all of us. That’s the thing that really sticks out with us.”