Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman met with members of the media Thursday at the Vanier Family Football Complex prior to No. 15 K-State traveling to face Missouri Saturday.
COLLIN KLEIN, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On the Missouri defense…
“We played them early last season. Kind of watching as their season went, I thought they were very good defensively when we played them, and I thought they were playing better as the season went on. They have good length. I think they run well across the board, and I think they are going to be aggressive. I think they’re a really good unit.”
On the success of the offense through two games…
“Right now, it’s more of just trying to keep pushing ourselves forward. While we have been able to do some good things and have good production, there’s been things we have left out there. This group is still coming together. That’s the exciting part. That’s what this game is all about, to constantly get better, getting more continuity with our receivers, our quarterback, across the board. Even though we have a lot of experience, there’s still some new pieces too. We are working together. I’m proud of them, too. We’ve made some good steps, to be able to have that production, and still have things to work on is a good thing.”
On wide receiver Keagan Johnson receiving more snaps at Missouri…
“We are hoping so. I really thought he turned the corner last week. We were hoping that held, and it did. He was able to go in, and when he got out there made some big plays for us. That third down in the red zone was huge and almost got us in the end zone. I hope that continues for sure.”
On moving around the offensive line…
“It will probably be a week-to-week deal. I think it’s been a good thing that we have been able to get as many guys snaps thus far. I would imagine things will level out as we continue to go, but then a little bit of that too is just keeping guys fresh and managing their load as we get through the entirety of the season. Probably week to week, I’d imagine.”
On Troy taking away tight end Ben Sinnott…
“They did a great job. It was clear that they knew where he was most of the time, which is not a bad thing and credit to him. It is something we’ll definitely calculate moving forward.”
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what the defense can improve on after two games…
“We still have to execute better. I think we still are leaving some things out there, leaving some opportunities out there. A couple of the runs we had last week, I put our guys in a tougher situation. They did a great job stopping the run except for two plays, one of which was easily avoidable, probably, on my part. I got maybe a little greedy, but I just want our guys to continue to improve, especially our young guys. I want those guys to continue to push and be in a situation where there’s not a drop off between the ones and the twos.”
On looking at Missouri’s previous cut ups…
“With only two games this year, we are looking at some things from the past. They may not have had 50-point games, but they’re explosive. They have some great athletes, they have a quarterback that can run, they have talent over there and good coaches. It’s a scary group.”
On Missouri’s receivers…
“They’re really talented. I thought Troy had some really fast, electric kids at receiver too. The difference between these guys and those guys is they are just bigger, they are heavier, they are stronger, and equally as fast. I worry not only about the route running but the catch and runs, some of the screen games, some of the things that get the ball to those guys in space. Those guys aren’t going to be easy to get on the ground. It’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
On the success of the run defense being due to players or play calls…
“Those two things work hand in hand because we are trying to do things to get people in positions to be successful, but at the end of the day, they are the ones doing it. We’re really talented up front. We’ve got a lot of quickness on the defensive line, and anytime you can get those guys moving, I think that that’s helpful. We’ve got some linebackers that like to get downhill, too, and take the challenge in the run game. I give as much credit as I can to those guys.”
On having 20 tackles for loss over the first two games…
“I’m not one of those guys that sits after the game and looks at the stat sheet a whole bunch. I’m more about, ‘Okay, we did this call this many times and this was our efficiency in it.’ I’m looking more at it probably from an analytical point of view rather than a results-based point of view. I’m looking at it as, ‘Hey, we are executing this call at a high level,’ or, ‘This other call we are not executing at a high level. Either we are going to get rid of it, or we are going to work with it, and massage and make it better.’”
