Head Coach Bill Snyder
On quarterback Jake Waters…
“As I have said often in here, I see a young guy that is committed to becoming a better player and works diligently at it. He studies the game, has made that improvement, has gained more and more confidence about his abilities in all the facets of the game. Over a period of time, it goes with the experience aspect of it. He has started 18 or 19 games for us, and if you are committed to that continued improvement, then that experience is very beneficial to you. He is a good player.”
On the goal-line stand at Oklahoma…
“It was impressive. Our players did a great job because Oklahoma did not have any trouble getting the ball down there. I thought we did awfully well. We played hard and our guys gave up no ground up front. I was proud of our defensive front. I thought they did extremely well. We probably had a little bit of an advantage as Oklahoma had two of their players that are normally on their goal-line package that were out at that particular time. That may have helped a little bit too. Our guys stood in there against some pretty big and pretty good offensive linemen as well.”
On the importance of having multiple explosive running plays…
“Well it was. We had a couple of substantial gains in the passing game as well. But we had a 50-plus yarder with Jake (Waters) and a 30-plus yarder with D-Mac (DeMarcus Robinson), and that is something that has been instrumental. My dialogue with our team is that we need to create big plays offensively and certainly defensively as well. From an offensive standpoint, you just do not like to put yourself in that position where you have to drive 80 yards at four and five yards a clip. You need some of those breakaway runs or throws, and fortunately we got some.”
On the Texas defense…
“They are probably as good of a front four as you will find in the game today – big, physical and run well. You take a guy like Malcom Brown and he is 320 pounds or something like that and runs a 4.7 40 (yard dash). He is athletic and he can do all of it. He can knock you around and run you down when you try to run away from him. They have a very physical, mobile and athletic front, and that makes it hard to run on them.”
On K-State’s offensive line…
“We have improvements still to make. We gave up three sacks, but that was not all on our offensive line. What I was pleased with is that we only had one penalty. In reality, they were not penalized and being in that environment down there with so much noise, it is easy to get discombobulated with the cadence and snap counts and communication. They handled that part very well. They are becoming a little bit more seasoned.”
On the Texas offense…
“They have two very fine running backs that have been in the system for a long time. (Jaxon) Shipley, I have always admired him. He is a young guy that just makes plays, he always does and always has. He can do so many things. He can catch it, he can run great routes, he can throw it, he can run the ball on reverses, he can do all of it. (John) Harris has really come into play at wide receiver and has made some tremendous plays. The other receiver, (Marcus) Johnson, is a 4.4 guy, so he can run awfully well. The guy that has really come front and center has been the quarterback. You can just see the progress that he has made. He is a talented, talented young guy who is extremely capable. The numbers just show what experience will do in a particular system. He is growing rapidly. The last two games he has accumulated 800 yards of total offense. They utilize him in a lot of different ways. He has invested in the quarterback run game and does that well. He is as big as most linemen, so he is not an easy guy to bring down by any stretch of the imagination. He really gives it that added dimension.”
Linebacker Jonathan Truman
On his feeling after the Oklahoma game…
“A Big 12 win on the road is always hard to come by. With it being such a hard-fought win against a great Oklahoma team, we just felt really good after it.”
On memories from the game…
“I do not know what I think of first, but I will remember being with my teammates in the locker room afterward. Everyone congratulating each other and being so proud of one another it was just awesome.”
On his motivation…
“I am pretty self-motivated. I think a huge motivator for me is my teammates. Those guys, they work so hard and I cannot let any of those guys down. So I try to do whatever I can to do my best for this team.”
Defensive Lineman Travis Britz
On if Texas’ running backs are similar or different in any way…
“They are both pretty similar; they are both one of the best running backs in the league. We faced them last year, and we know what they can do. They are great athletic guys.”
On his kick-blocking abilities…
“It was an attitude. You cannot give up; most guys give up on that play. It is something that you have to be trying for and take it as a chance to help the team out.”
Defensive Back Morgan Burns
On the grind of the Big 12 season…
“With the Big 12, that’s how it is with West Virginia beating Baylor. It seems like everyone is playing well. The Big 12 is even across the board. Right now, anyone can beat anybody. You have to look at each team the same each week.”
On staying focused while at the top of the Big 12 standings…
“It is about not letting our record, or what the media is talking about, or thoughts of winning the Big 12, or the playoffs at the end of the year, get to our head. Texas is still a good football team, they will be hungry. We have a target on our back right now. We got to stay focused.”
On the toughness of Jake Waters…
“Jake Waters is one of the toughest guys I know. I saw him the last game. As a quarterback, it is hard to run the ball, taking the hits that he took. He persevered and kept on playing with the team really well.”
Offensive Lineman Luke Hayes
On running game…
“All together we are getting a little bit more consistent with our plays, which helps a lot. If our offensive line is consistent, then our running backs will know where to hit the hole a little bit better. As an offensive line, we need to work on finishing our blocks; that way we aren’t letting three defenders go and put a lick on our running backs.”
On making big plays…
“It’s good to know that we can get those big run plays. Then on film, a lot of the times you see that we would have a lot more big run plays. But a lot of the times it is just one of the offensive linemen not getting their hat in the right place or being too slow or a little too fast on a double team that puts it at a four-yard gain or three-yard gain.”
On his confidence in run game…
“I’m really confident in our running backs. At practice, they show us what they can do. During games, they both have showed us what they can do, so I have all the confidence in the world in those guys.”
Linebacker Will Davis
On his thoughts about playing with Jonathan Truman…
“Truman is well known as one of the toughest guys on the team. His mindset is that he is going to compete and outwork everyone, no matter if he is a little banged up or 100 percent healthy. He is going to be on the practice field and the weight room doing everything he can.”
On how impressive Jonathan Truman’s performance was…
“Any time you put up statistics like that, it is very impressive, especially coming from a guy like Jonathan, who you know puts in the work every day in practice. It is a testament to his work ethic and everything he does.”
On if he is fired up to play Texas…
“It is not that I am from Texas, it is more that my dad went to Texas. So it definitely gets me more excited for the game. It should be fun.”
Defensive Back Dylan Schellenberg
On his takeaway of the individual play of Sterling Shepard…
“He is a great player. We could not really stop him, and he gained a lot of yards on us. We had some breakdowns and we could have done some things differently. Looking back, we did not play as well as we wanted to.”
On his stance of coming in and out of the game…
“It has been up and down. I just have to stay focused and just wait for my turn. It has been a ride so far. I just have to prepare like I am a starter and give my all.”
On the biggest challenge defending the Texas offense…
“They have a lot of good players at Texas. They have a lot of threats. We just all have to do our jobs and stay fundamentally sound. We just have to prepare hard this week for them.”
Kicker Matt McCrane
On getting more playing time…
“It has been pretty surreal. Luckily, they have been all short field goals not testing my range. I am glad to get some playing time and get some experience.”
On watching fellow kickers miss field goals…
“I really feel for (Michael) Hunnicutt. There was a lot of pressure and a lot on the line. It takes a lot to go through missing that. It is really your whole experience with kicking and you just have to think that every kick is the same every time. I was with Jack (Cantele) through the whole process. It is good to get over it and get to that next game and that is what I am trying to do.”
Release by RYAN LACKEY Assistant Director | Athletics Communications
DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer
