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KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 23, 2019

Chris Klieman

Lubbock, Texas

Kansas State - 30, Texas Tech - 27

CHRIS KLIEMAN: Our coaches and players, tremendous fight, tremendous resolve. Good football team that we beat today in Texas Tech and did it on the road and had some adversity and fought through the adversity and had a couple of tough weeks. But I also told the guys that we're getting better, we're growing, guys are believing, we're heading in the right direction and this was a big win for the program so that the guys know that the direction we're heading is the right way. And I couldn't be happier for our seniors to rally the troops this week. And we played a lot of guys. We were beat up out there and we played a lot of guys and guys stepped up and made plays and we just had to finish. We kept talking about finishing and believing and we did that and I'm happy for the win.

Q. What kind of lift did Josh Youngblood give you on that return?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: Big play. Some great blocks. He followed the blocks. But the special teams part, I thought we won each phase. Even if it were by a little bit, I thought we won each phase and that was a big play to get us a quick score.

Q. I thought maybe the D-line looked tired late, but then Wyatt makes a huge sack. Makes another one later. How about his play in the fourth quarter for you guys?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: He was determined. And, yes, and we played 81 snaps and, that's probably about average for what Texas Tech is doing. And when you throw the kickoff return in there, then you're back-to-back on defense, which is always difficult. But I thought Wyatt really stepped up, especially in the second half. And I kind of knew as good as we played in the first half on defense, and we played lights out in that first half, they were going to make some really good adjustments and they did. But we found a way late to get a couple stops.

Q. What was it to you that made the biggest difference in the second half for both offenses to get going?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: Well, our offense, I thought just we blocked a lot better. I thought we blocked exceptionally well. And then we had talked at halftime about we had to take some shots vertically and we took a number of shots vertically and got a number of pass interference. How about Se-Bas? What about Sebastian? What a great job of going for the football and creating a number of pass interference. And I thought Skylar threw a great ball to him on the touchdown. And you just got to give Texas Tech credit. We threw everything at them in the first half and I thought we did a phenomenal job, but they're a good offense. And that's what a tempo offense does, they make adjustments. But I was still really pleased, obviously the last touchdown that they make we were out of position. We didn't blow the coverage. We were just out of position. But that was probably the only time all day that I thought we were out of position. And against that offense that's pretty good.

Q. On your last possession on that third and 11 deep, what did you see on Skylar Thompson's scramble for a first down?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: Well, I think it was more designed to run a QB draw, because they were playing some two man against us trying to take away Dalton. And so they weren't having eyes to the football. I thought Skylar did a great job of letting it clear and then making a guy miss to get a first down. And that's something that was really big for us, with four minutes left or whatever it was, and they're kicking from the 50 and they kick off deep and say, okay, we're going to get a stop. And hats off to our offensive line and to James for a big run as well. But we were able to kill that clock with two timeouts left for them.

Q. What was the key for you guys surviving all those injuries and still getting by?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: It goes to everybody has a role on this team and you own your role. And you don't know when you're going to be called upon, but when you are, you got a ton of brothers that you're battling for that you got to step up. I thought Lance did a great job. We were going to play him this week. He's been doing a really good job at practice. We were going to play him no matter what. Then all of a sudden Walt goes down early in the game and Lance is playing basically the whole game, and did a great job there.

Then we lose Malik and now Sebastian's getting a chance to come in and make some plays. So it's just the next man up and we're beat up. There's no doubt about that. But so is everybody else and nobody's going to feel sorry for you, so the next guy's got to be ready to play.

Q. Do you have any idea on the severity with Malik and Walt?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: I don't. Hopefully we'll know early in the week.

Q. The flag that Josh got on the, after the kickoff return, what was it specifically that he got flagged for?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: I think it was an unsportsmanlike. And I didn't see it. The guys in the box were telling me. He can't do that. He knows that. I know he's an excitable guy. He's 18 years old. This is his second kickoff return in the Big-12. I want him to be excited. I want him to have some juice, but whatever he did, we have got to clean up. But we like Josh Youngblood back there returning kicks.

Q. On the late interception from Skylar, is that a play where you think a deep shot is like a punt if it gets picked off or was that a mistake that maybe he made and you didn't want him to throw?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: No, I didn't mind that because we tried to throw the underneath route and they took Phillip away. And so then he took a shot on a third and what was it, five or six. And so, no, I was okay there because you're trying to make a play. Plus, think of it from the kid's perspective. We threw it deep six, seven times and they just mug us, and they're calling pass interference penalties. So let's take a shot.

Q. Is this the kind of game that can really launch you guys? You guys win ugly, you show your moxie today, and here --
CHRIS KLIEMAN: Do you think we won ugly today? We only got one game left. How much is this going to catapult us? We got one game left. We found a way. But you're right. I mean, it's probably never going to be just perfect for us because we're learning our systems and we're beat up and those other things. I just, I was so excited because the guys are believing that we're getting better. And I know, and I told the guys, does it show up every Saturday on the scoreboard? No. But I see it every day in practice. And that's what I want. I mean, I'm not building this thing for one year. We're seeing this thing, five, six, ten years down the road, if Gene will have me here. But I want to make sure that those guys say, hey, we can find a way to win these games. And that's what I'm so excited about is the guys believe.

Q. Another pick for Da'Quan where he got great depth. He started pretty close to the line of scrimmage and made an interception. How good has he gotten at that part of his game?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: He's gotten so much better at zone coverage, and Coach Hayes has done a really good job of emphasizing that. And to go along with that, Denzel Goolsby came up big time with his interception after they ran the fake punt and they went right it work. And Denzel did what we asked him to do, be a great center fielder back there and make a big-time play.

Q. Did you see the block Skylar threw on James to get that first down?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: I did not. Was it a good block? James was kind of bottled up and then he broke it outside and that was a big play.

Q. I know it didn't end up mattering because Denzel intercepted the next pass, but what did go wrong on that fake punt that they ran?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: We talk all the time about covering those guys all the way down until they get within 15 yards of Phillip or whomever, and we had a lapse. It was something that we have talked about and something we got to make sure that doesn't happen again. But it's a good play by them. We kind of fell asleep to, be honest with you.

Q. Sorry to call the win ugly. But this is --
CHRIS KLIEMAN: You're okay. It still counts.

Q. This is kind of the version of Big-12 after dark here. Things just got kind of crazy. What is the Big-12 season been like for this team, and for you as a whole, the first time through?
CHRIS KLIEMAN: Hey, it's great learning experience for me. And just, the venue's being tough. The band never would stop playing today when we would have the ball. I mean, it was really difficult for us to get some plays off. But the venues are tough. The athleticism is exceptional. But you just got keep fighting. You're always in games. That's the thing I'm so proud of is the guys keep fighting in every game and, obviously, as a staff we're going to learn a lot as we go back in the season and see all the opponents and the commonalities between the teams.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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