Watch Conor Riley’s Press Conference | Watch Joe Klanderman’s Press Conference | Listen on Wildcats Uncut | Media Download
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State offensive coordinator Conor Riley and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman met with members of the media on Thursday at the Vanier Family Football Complex prior to the Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Saturday night inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Links to video and audio of both press conferences are above, and a transcript of select quotes are below.
CONOR RILEY, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what Avery Johnson did well in the passing game at West Virginia…
“Well, there’s quite a few things that he did really well. I think he got through his progressions extremely well. I thought that he saw the coverage pre snap, I thought that he played very fast. Then, throughout the course of the game, especially on that fourth down that the defensive end got a little bit of a jump on Andrew Leingang, for him to have the ability to keep the play alive, keep his eyes down field, was just a fantastic job. I thought he was extremely accurate. As you guys looked, there were quite a few times on third down that we threw under the chains, and it’s that accuracy that allows us to be more efficient with the run after the catch.”
On how much Andrew Leingang cross-trains between guard and tackle…
“We are very fortunate to have Andrew. He cross-trains from time to time at left tackle. He’ll cross-train at left guard, at right guard, at right tackle and even play center. So, there’s a variable, and I think what was most impressive is probably the fact that you look back at the previous week, when Carver (Willis) did come out for a period of time, that Andrew Leingang was able to go in without doing much cross-training. Andrew was prepared for that, but it’s really about that mentality of next man up and let’s not balk, whether it’s in the middle of the game on the road or he gets called into his first start. So, for Andrew Leingang, what he’s meant to us and for him to get his first start, he’s played a lot of football for us, but that was pretty special, and I know that the other guys were pretty damn excited for him.”
On how if Brayden Loftin is going play against Kansas …
“Yeah, I’d say that. I’d say that he’s ready now. How close, how much are we going to utilize him? He’s been out a significant period of time, and I do foresee him being very available and being a part of things on Saturday, but what is that rep count? Is it going to be 25? Probably not. That’s just based on some of his conditioning, based on protecting him, based on him continuing to progress and knocking a little bit of the rust off. We’re excited to get Brayden back into the mix.”
On the Kansas defensive backs…
“Well, the number one thing is they’re experienced. I know that Coach (Klieman) has talked about it is, you look at some of the faces back there, and you’re like, ‘Holy cow, we’ve been playing these guys for quite a long time.’ Not only from their athleticism, not only from the ability standpoint – because they are an extremely talented group – but you look at the experience that they have. They’ve seen route patterns before, they have the ability to do some things that maybe typical defensive backs aren’t able to just because of that experience because the amount of football they’ve played. I have a tremendous amount of respect for that coaching staff. I think they do a phenomenal job. It’s not just the defensive backs, it’s the entirety of their defense. I think is going to present quite the challenge for us come Saturday night.”
On how encouraging it was to put up so many points through the passing game…
“I think it was encouraging to say that we had the ability to throw the football. I know that that’s kind of the big talk about the running game, and we didn’t get in a very good rhythm. There’s a number of different reasons as to why we did not get in that great rhythm. Avery (Johnson) didn’t have one carry in that game, whether it be a sack, whether it be a cold run, whatever the case might be, but to see the versatility of our offense, to see how expansive it has come and to see the growth, not only from Avery, but from our wide receivers, our tight ends, I think that’s pretty exciting for us. That shows that we can do multiple different things within our offense in order to be productive. With that being said, do we need to be better in the run game, especially early on. Absolutely, we do, and that message was sent loud and clear to the guys up front.”
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what jumps out about the Kansas offense…
“I think they’re tremendously experienced. A lot of those names are names that we’ve been seeing for many years. It’s a huge advantage for them to be able to work together for so long. Even though there’s a change in coordinator, I think a lot of the concepts are still very similar. There’s probably a great rapport with the quarterbacks and receivers. They’re a good offense, and they are complicated with the things that they do, and they execute.”
On what they do with motions to confuse defenses…
“Yeah, you’re hitting the nail on the head. It’s hard to dig into formational tells, and it’s hard to dig into splits and things that we typically would do just because they’re going to be shifting around and moving around all the time. That’s part of their MO. That’s how they think. They did it back in the day when they probably didn’t have the personnel that they do now, and now that they that personnel, it makes it a little bit more scary.”
On if the locker room taking Kansas lightly…
“No worries there”
On if this is an ‘expect the unexpected’ type of game…
“Oh yeah, and, honestly, we’re not talking too much about what their record is. We know that they have the ability to beat anybody, just as West Virginia had the ability to beat anybody, just as Colorado had the ability to beat anybody. That’s what the Big 12 is right now, and I don’t think that we’re, by any means, feeling like we’re high and mighty just because we won a few games. I think we know we have to go out and earn it every week. I think this means a lot to our locker room, means a lot to the Kansas kids that we have on our team, means a lot to the community, means a lot to us personally. So, our guys will be ready to go.”
On how the secondary has been able to create turnovers…
“Guys are playing with good technique. I think guys are finishing plays. I can think back to a few situations earlier in the year we maybe had balls in our hands and didn’t finish them. Now we’re just putting them away. I don’t think there’s any magic formula. I always kind of say that about turnovers. I think they come sometimes in bunches. Sometimes they have a little bit of a drought, and I think our guys have it in their heads all the time, and they’re capitalized. We got some good playmakers back there.”
