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KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 19, 2016

Bill Snyder

Waco, Texas

Kansas State - 42, Baylor - 21

Q. What did you like most about what Alex Barnes did in the second half?
BILL SNYDER: Well, I just liked that he did what he always does, and that's run extremely hard. He makes a few miss on his way, sometimes, not always, but he's a gifted, powerful-type runner, which we have always known, I think.

Q. Did he help change the tempo of this game?
BILL SNYDER: Well, I don't know if it changed the tempo so much. It kind of depends on how you want to define the tempo, but we're slow as molasses all the time. But I think that he just made some things happen that -- who knows whether another running back would have done the same thing or not. But he knocked some balls in the end zone, he got some first downs when he had people hanging on him. So he just ran aggressively and hard.

Q. Are there some things that he gives you that the other guys don't?
BILL SNYDER: Just what I said. Now, that doesn't mean the others can't run hard, they have done that as well. But he, today, he had a, did a nice job.

Q. What was your approach, defensively, coming into this game? How did you want to stop them like you did?
BILL SNYDER: Well, we just needed to -- we played reasonably well against the run, we needed to continue to do that. We just need to stop giving up big plays. That's been our nemesis all along. And when you take away the big-play aspect of the game, then people have to go a long way.

Then you look at our offense and how hard it is to get from one end of the field to the other and for a team that doesn't have the patience to do that, I'm not saying Baylor is one of those teams, but that's -- you take away the big plays, there's, it's more difficult to get the ball in the end zone then. So, we did a little bit better job of that.

Q. How important was the defensive tackle pressure that you were able to apply in the middle of the defense?
BILL SNYDER: Well, I think that they played well inside. Backers are a big part of that. A big part of that.

And I think that our safeties get involved with it as well. Lynnwood's a very fine running back. I think we all knew that coming in.

But I think that for the most part, not totally, but for the most part, we did a decent job of holding him, didn't completely hold him down, but we didn't allow big plays in the running game, I guess that's the best way to put it.

Q. It was a big 180 reversal from the first half to the second half that you've had in a while? With the mistakes and penalties?
BILL SNYDER: Well, the penalties, we had seven penalties in the first half and they were spread out. We had two on special teams, and I think we had three on, well, we had more than seven maybe. But they categorize seven, but I think we had more than that. But we had at least three on each side of the ball.

We had three on the first drive on offense, which at the end of the day, kind of kept us out of the end zone. But that's -- and it doesn't have anything to do with guys being lax or not playing hard, it's just that it goes back to that, you got to play with great spirit and emotion and heart and still have poise and discipline about what you do. And we lacked some of that.

Q. The first half, Jessie had the four-yard run on fourth down, and then DJ's kickoff return late in the game. Were those two plays that really kept the momentum on your side?
BILL SNYDER: Well, again, I don't know about momentum so much. But I think that, obviously, they were a major factor in the ball game, but so were two interceptions when the ball was down on the other end of the field.

So then you mentioned the kickoff return, there's a number of things that were monumental in the outcome of the ball game. What it changed during the course of the ball game, I don't know. I guess, to a certain degree, probably the kickoff return as much as anything and one of the interceptions down there. That had a dramatic impact, probably, on the way, not on the way we handled it, but maybe on the way players at Baylor saw it. So it just meant a large amount at the time, I think.

Q. What are you seeing in DJ Reed as a kickoff returner?
BILL SNYDER: Well, I've been talking about him for a long time. He's just a very talented athlete, and he's got a lot of capabilities. And I watch him every single day. The other two guys do quite well back there. But DJ works with the twos all the time, and he just keeps knocking holes in the other side. So, Sean said, let's do it.

Q. Is it satisfying to play that well in the second half, kind of close out a game better than you have?
BILL SNYDER: Well, yes. You always have to finish. I think we have, sometimes we have, sometimes we haven't. You take two ball games that have gone down to the wire -- that shouldn't have -- that go down to the last snap of the ball game, you have a chance to win, can't finish it off. So, yeah, to be able to do that. And I think the thing that probably did that as much as anything, again, was the benefit of the kickoff return. They still weren't totally out of it until that happened, I think. So it's a major play in the ball game.

Q. What do you feel like your team showed you today?
BILL SNYDER: Well, if you think -- well, they showed a great deal of determination, and they showed some fight, and they showed some toughness, and you can go through a list of things. But nothing that they haven't in the past. All of a sudden, this isn't just a new football team, that's not the case. It's just guys comitting themselves to trying to get better and playing to be better every single day. I think that they have invested the time and the effort to do so and, consequently, you see step by step, that they are getting better.

Q. Since you get asked all the time, was the bye week beneficial?
BILL SNYDER: Yes. Thank you.

Q. Your concern level for Duke's injury?
BILL SNYDER: I'm concerned about any injury, whether it's on our team or somebody else's team. I have no idea right now. I haven't talked with the physicians and the trainers, but I will. So I'm always concerned about any of them, yes.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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