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 Wildcats’ first road game of the year on Saturday at Tulane. 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 he learned about the offense against UT Martin…
“Well, we learned quite a few things. We learned that we need to start faster, have a little bit more urgency. I think, collectively, and it was reflective of us early on, I think we were playing a little bit tight. In a regard – and I used this earlier – playing not to lose as opposed to playing to win. I was very pleased with the fact that you’re looking at a lot of new faces, and, knock on wood, we didn’t have an offensive penalty. I don’t feel like we had an operation error. From the sideline standpoint, there was one point where a guy got lined up in the wrong formation. (He) didn’t see a particular formation signal, and then a guy kind of jogged out, but we were able to, with a young quarterback, not rush that particular play. So, from a discipline standpoint, I was very pleased with that. I did very much like the way that we kind of answered the bell there in the second half. We had some adversity in the first half, and we had some adversity in the second half, and I felt like we handled that better.”
On the offensive line and their first time playing together…
“That was kind of a very similar synopsis. I know that we can play better. They know that we can play better. You look at it, and the statistics are what they are. I thought we made a poor decision a few times in some technique in pass pro, but, for as little pressures as we gave up, that’s encouraging. In the run game, like I said, I thought early we were kind of catching a little bit and feeling things out as opposed to attacking. That resulted, a little bit, in a slower start. When you have the success that we did have running a football, there’s a lot of positives to build on as well. I’m not going to say, ‘Well man, we averaged this per rush, so all is well and good.’ We know that we have to get better, and I expect that we will.”
What he liked and did not like about the passing game…
“Well, I like that we took advantage of some of the things that they gave us. There’s a few things where I think that we had some missed opportunities within the passing game. Where I didn’t like it was on some third downs. I thought that there were some third downs that we missed opportunities on. Maybe it was a bad read by a tight end, maybe it was a guy running into a backer that didn’t open up a particular window, maybe it was progressing through something just a little too quick, or not progressing completely right on it. That’s probably where I see that we need to improve. I didn’t like where we were at third down conversion wise. To me – and very much credit them – I believe that they are very easily correctable on our end.”
On the challenges that Tulane’s defensive line presents…
“I think the defensive line is very reflective of their defense in general. They are fast, they are physical, and they are aggressive. The defensive line is probably the greatest indicator of that. They do not make a ton of mistakes. They don’t get out of fits. I know that they played their first game under a new head coach under a new defensive system, and that’s one of the things that’s very impressive to me is you have a lot of new pieces. They do have a few players who did come with the head football coach from Troy that played right out here against Kansas State last year, including their starting nickel, who I think is a great football player. How physical they are, how well they get off blocks. We got a tremendous amount of respect for that head coach and that entire staff. They play their tails off.”
On if he got everything out of Dylan Edwards that he was hoping for in the first game…
“I was pleased with some of the touches that he got. When you look at the limited amount of plays that we had, I think there’s a couple things to that. One is, I’m kind of looking at a stat line late Saturday night, and I’m going, ‘Holy cow.’ The thing that you come back to is a lost possession on a block punt because that’s a lost possession. You come to a lost possession, or smaller possession, on a turnover. Then, obviously, the turnover in the second half (on the kickoff return). That’s a lost possession. Another thing that’s really going on in college football as well is there’s new play clock rules. I’m kind of looking at that, and I obviously very much knew about what had happened during the course of the game that may have caused our play count to be a little bit lower, and the first person I looked at was me. Then the second thing, I started looking at other teams around the country. With the new play clock rules that the (clock) is continuing to go on on first down, you’re seeing, I believe, something that the top 20 in the country with play count numbers from a year ago, they were all down about 10 plays. That could be for any number of reasons, but that’s something that we as coaches need to continue to look at. So, I do believe that ties into Dylan. There were some things that were on the card. There’s some things that we have done that you’re going to continue to see as the season progresses.”
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what he learned about the defense in the first game…
“Kind of what we thought. I think it was a good situation. I knew we had some veteran guys, and I really felt like our stars played like stars, the guys that you would expect to would play well, played well – Brendan Mott, Desmond Purnell, Marques Sigle, Jacob Parrish, I could name others. Then the guys that were new that we knew were going to have wide eyes had wide eyes. We made some mistakes early. As the game went on, they got a little more comfortable, and hopefully that’s going to be a trend that continues to just keep getting better and better because we’re going to need those guys to get better and better.”
On the next step for Tobi Osunsanmi…
“I think sometimes he’s a little inconsistent with his footwork in the run game. You bet – he can get off the ball and be really disruptive. He is a physical player. It’s not like he can’t play the run. It’s just that’s all new to him. We’ve got to keep that in mind with the different things that he sees. Obviously, he’s been going against our offense in the spring and fall camp and all those things. Sometimes he sees some run schemes that our offense doesn’t do. So, for him to get some game time in those concepts is a big deal for him. He’s just going to keep getting better, too.”
On Tulane’s running back being one of the best in the Group of 5…
“Great contact balance. I think he fits their run stuff really well. I feel like we’re at a little bit of a disadvantage because of how we played Troy last year, and I think they’re very similar, personnel wise, to what Troy had, honestly. They had a great running back at Troy; they a have great running back here. They had great receivers at Troy; they have great receivers here. I think they’re physical up front in both places. They probably know a little bit more about how we defended them a year ago than we know how they’re going to present what they do this year with their new personnel. So, that’s going to be the biggest challenge, is getting all that stuff sorted out. But, to go back to your question not to dodge that, he’s just a really physical runner with great contact balance. He doesn’t fumble. I can’t remember the stat, but he had all those carries and touches last year, and not one time did he put it on the ground. They say Group of 5, he’s one of the better ones in the country, I think.”
On covering Tulane wide receiver Mario Williams…
“Yeah, he’s really fast. That’s going to be the thing is checking out how our guys match up against their guys. He’s electric, fast and slippery and good at the top of route. Those guys are a really good group of receivers.”
On if there were any younger guys on the roster that he was pleased with last week…
“Aside from the guys that are in the two deep, is that what you’re asking? It was cool to see Donovan McIntosh sort through a few things at corner. It was really cool – I know he’s kind of quote, unquote in the two deep – but watching Wesley Fair run around and fly around and throw his body around. It was cool. Terry Kirksey, when he was in there, I thought was a difference maker. Asher Tomaszewski at nose played quite a bit at the end of the game. He’s another one, with Uso (Seumalo) and Damian (Ilalio), his role is going to be his role this year, but for him to get in there and get some snaps and run around like he did was cool. So, a lot of positivity from the young guys.”
