Watch Conor Riley’s Press Conference | Watch Joe Klanderman’s Press Conference | Listen on Wildcats Uncut
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’ contest at West Virginia on Saturday night inside Milan Puskar 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 DJ Giddens’ impact opening up plays…
“It’s pretty easy in those situations. Obviously, DJ had a phenomenal evening that night running the football. I think we looked, and he had 11 forced missed tackles in one game, which is pretty dynamic. It was pretty clear that early on we had to continue to feed him the football. Then, when you go through a situation when Ta’Quan (Roberson) came in and kind of eased him into that moment, when you have that tailback in the backfield, it certainly makes it a lot easier. It certainly does.”
On when he knew that DJ Giddens had great physical ability…
“I think we've known for a long time, that DJ has a tremendous amount of ability. One of the things that I'm so impressed with that we’ve always known is he's been able to run through an arm tackle. He's a very physical runner. There's one particular play where we ran a power play, and the flat-footed safety was right down in the hole. For him to make guys miss in the hole like he's making them miss in the hole, he just continues to improve on those things. You can go back to a year ago and I know we had challenged him pretty significantly going into the Central Florida game, is really where he began to gain more and more confidence, and it's just been building ever since.”
On facing West Virginia’s zone coverage…
“They're going to run a little bit more of zone coverage than what we saw this previous week. I think 99% of the country is going to show a little bit more zone coverage than what we saw this previous week. So, we're going to be prepared for both. They are very active up front. They have always been very active up front. I credit their head football coach (Neal Brown), I credit their defensive coordinator (Jordan Lesley), their defensive staff and their ability to do some things up front that are going to create the pressures where they don't necessarily feel all the time that they need to bring that fifth or sixth rusher. We ultimately need to be prepared to adapt and adjust no differently than we did this past Saturday night.”
On what is most impressive about the offense halfway in…
“Right now is our continued growth in the sense of maturity. I think we took a huge stride this past week. I know a week ago we discussed overcoming adversity while we're in the comfort and convenience of our own backyard. We've shown the ability to do that. When you look back at this past weekend and where we need to continue to grow and find the confidence, yet still not be overconfident. You can see we had some adversity in that particular game. Whether it be not starting out fast in the first series. You can look at them getting the lead and us responding. You can look at early on in the second half, our quarterback coming out for a handful, eight, maybe nine, plays. Then you can look at one point, if I'm not mistaken, up 21-7, and ultimately we were then down 28-24. You didn't see the guys get nervous. Granted, I'm not down on the sideline, but from what I'm told and from my vantage point, the guys responded really well. That is probably the most positive thing that I've seen with our group handling that environment. I think this was a big stride for us. I know that we had a few false starts, and I’ll credit their crowd and credit that environment. It was dynamic Saturday night, but that's where we have to continue to grow. We've got an opportunity on the road in another very challenging place to play this upcoming week.”
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what he sees from West Virginia’s offense…
“I think they’re an efficient group. I think this is a group that can beat you in a lot of ways. They have a quarterback that can beat you running it, beat you throwing it. They have tremendous backs, great personnel up front, skilled tight ends, a good receiving core. This is a really good offense, and we have to figure out how they're going to try to attack us. So, that's the key because they have a lot of diversity in what they do.”
On if this will be the most mobile quarterback K-State will face…
“I would say so, and we’ve played some pretty good scrambling quarterbacks. Even last week, he was a great scrambling quarterback. The difference is Garrett Greene, when he's decides to go, he's just going to go. He's not going to hesitate and try to find some other option. When he decides, he's going to take off with the most decisiveness, probably, of anybody that we play. So, that's going to be a challenge of keeping him restrained in the run game.”
On giving up 300-yard passers in wins…
“It bothers me, but at the same time, I think we're doing the right thing in taking away what needs to be taken away. That's Colorado's identity – when you drop back and throw it 60 times, you're going to get numbers. That's what it is. I think if you would have talked to me at halftime, I would have said we were doing a pretty good job in the pass game. Then in the second half, probably some technical things, more than anything, just breaking down. We gave up some bigger explosive plays. I don't think we're necessarily doing anything wrong. I think we just have to be a little bit more smooth when we do it.”
On the different styles of West Virginia’s two running backs…
“I don't think it changes what they do. I think they're comfortable running with either one of those backs. But, yeah, it's kind of like our attack here with thunder and lightning. The other running back, he's not a small guy by any means. I think he’s 197 pounds. He's just more of a jump cut, quick cut back type of a guy, whereas (CJ) Donaldson is going to be more of a power downhill in your face guy. Great compliments to each other. I think our guys will know who they're trying to tackle at all times, for sure. We’ll need to get a lot of bodies on those guys at all times.”
On who he believes the most improved player on defense is…
“Well, there are a number of candidates there. One guy that probably doesn't get a lot of attention but does a lot of things for us is Colby McCallister. He does a lot of dirty work, dirty roles, and doesn't get around the action as much just because he's doing his job. The probably more obvious answer is Austin Romaine from what he what he was a year ago. I think he's just in another stratosphere. You can make one more case up front in Damian Ilalio. I think Damian is playing at a really high level. He's a tough guy to move in there. So, I think we're getting better. I told the guys this on Monday – I felt like last year there was point in the year where we were pretty beat up and we kind of stagnated, I think, on defense. We had a couple really good games in the middle of the year, a couple shutouts or whatever. It was great. I feel like, with this group of guys, we’re getting better all the time at all three levels, and that's exciting. I think our best stuff is still in front of us. I don't think we have really touched our capabilities yet. So, hopefully we get a lot more names here for you in a couple weeks.”
RYAN LACKEY
Associate Athletics Director for Communications