TCU-K-State Postgame Quotes
10/10/2020 8:15:00 PM | Football
TCU – KANSAS STATE POSTGAME QUOTES
TCU 14, K- STATE 21
October 10, 2020
TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson
"I am disappointed in the loss. I am not disappointed with the younger guys who played. Bottom line is, you've got to make plays when you're in a game and you can't give them anything. Well, we gave them something. At the end of the day, we've got to do a better job on all accounts. We need to move forward from it. We have two weeks to get better before we have a four-game swing starting with Oklahoma."
On the offensive struggles:
"You can't go backwards. No. 1, you can't have penalties and No. 2, you can't take sacks. We have to be able to run the football. It's a pretty simple formula for us."
On the defense's performance:
"(Will Howard) is a pretty good young quarterback. The drive I was disappointed about was the last one. We stopped them, but we gave up too much time. We had a blitz where the guy bounced and they were two young guys that haven't played. We had him in the backfield for a two-yard loss and it ended up being 2nd-and-2. You've got to put the nail in the coffin when we get there, get the ball back and give our offense more time to get down the field. We gave up too much time on that drive. Our group has to get to a point where they understand there has to be some urgency in what we do. It's hard to win games in this league. For the second game in a row at home we didn't come out with much urgency. I thought we had a lot more down at Texas, and it showed. We have to have more urgency if we want to win ballgames against teams in this league because everyone is dangerous."
On Max Duggan running the ball and taking hits:
"Duggan is taking his biggest hits when he is dropping back in the pocket. To be able to control those hits we have to run the football to slow the defensive front down."
TCU Offensive Tackle Austin Myers
On losing despite the defense holding Kansas State to just one offensive touchdown:
"We've just got to get back to the drawing board and figure it out and then come back with a better plan and execute it."
On the biggest issues concerning the offensive line:
"It's collectively playing as a unit. I feel like we are on different pages and we need to get back to the drawing board and figure out the issues and tweak it and come back next week better.
On needing to start out games with more energy:
"That just comes from within. We've got to come out as a unit and we've got to be prepared and be ready. I feel like that all comes with preparation."
On what Kansas State did defensively that they didn't see on film:
"No, I feel like we beat ourselves with pre-snap penalties and stuff like that. I feel like we put ourselves behind the chains, so that was on us."
On watching Max Duggan limp off the field after some big hits:
"It hurts me too. That's my quarterback. That means we're not doing a good job. When our quarterback is limping off the field that means he's getting hit too much, taking too many blows."
TCU Linebacker Garrett Wallow
On making sure the team is stronger moving forward:
"Moving forward, especially in this conference, you need to have energy in every game. We definitely lacked in that category today. Every game is a battle, every game is a fight, and every game is like a championship game in this league. We definitely need to come out with more energy. I think that it is something we need to improve on as a team, not just as an individual game."
On how it felt to play well defensively and still come out with a loss:
"Kansas State played a really good game. They are a really good team. They came in with a second-string quarterback and won the game. It is definitely tough when you lose any game, not just if you play good or not. Moving forward, you just have to find ways to come together and win regardless of what the situation is."
On having a bye week before the OU game:
"It is good to have a bye week. We definitely need to brush up on some mistakes and see what we can get better at. As a team, we faced a lot of adversity, even before the start of the season. We have a lot of strong-minded individuals on the team. I feel confident in our team that we will bounce back. It is one of those things where you have to take the game and learn from the loss. It has to be a learn, it can't just be a loss. We need to take this week to strengthen the categories that we need to get better at as a team, on both sides of the ball."
On loosing Washington and Foster stepping in:
"Ar'Darius is definitely one of our big-time safeties. It is tough, but Josh definitely came in there and played a great game. He came in as a freshman, basically starting the game. Josh played great. He came in there and there was definitely a lot of pressure and responsibility on him, but he rose up to the challenge. It is one of those things where when one man is down, the next man has to step up and do the same job as the first man did."
On backup QB Howard's 80-yard run settling his nerves:
"I would agree. When any young player gets in there and makes some plays, it builds confidence. Starting out the game with a big play, you definitely are able to settle in. I give my props to him; he played a really good game. He is going to be a really good quarterback moving forward. K- State is a good team. Every game that we play is like a championship game, especially in this league".
On opinion of the offense being better than what they showed today:
"We have a good offense, no doubt about that. We have a tough fighting offense. In some games one side has to lift up the other. The best thing that we can do as a defense is to keep trying to get the ball in their hands and let them adjust to the other team's defense. I definitely put my trust in my offense and believe in them, there is no doubt about that."
- - -
Kansas State Head Coach Chris Klieman
On the game:
"What a great effort by our guys. Total team win. I'm real pleased that we battled through the adversity that we faced. Brought a freshman quarterback into a tough environment and against a great defensive coach in Coach (Gary) Patterson. I thought Will (Howard) did a great job and managed the game exceptionally well and did enough for us to be successful. What do you say about the defense? Our guys on defense, it's a credit to Coach (Joe) Klanderman and the defensive staff. It was a phenomenal game plan. Almost executed to perfection by the guys. I know they are disappointed by the last touchdown at about the five-minute mark. They played relentless. They did a great job rushing the passer. They did a great job covering guys. We got a big pick-six by AJ Parker on a play where they tried to go fast. I think it confused their own team on it. I couldn't be happier with the resolve on a bunch of guys that came in here when nobody expected us to be successful except for the guys in that locker room. It's a credit to our leaders and a credit to our coaches for a great effort today.
On the defense:
"It's the ability to rush the passer for starters. We're getting better and we did a good job defending the run today. It allowed us to get after the quarterback. We are breaking on balls better. We're making a lot of 50-50 plays and people are just making plays."
On the secondary:
"I was really pleased. We played a ton of guys. We played four corners for sure. We played every safety we had, every nickel we had because it was hot. It was a grinder. We needed to have a lot of bodies out there. It's so fun to have that many guys contribute and that many guys make impact plays. We didn't pressure very much. We said we were going to play zone and try to keep the ball in front of us and try to come up and tackle and I thought we did a nice job.
On the punt game:
"I thought we punted the game really well. We did a great job in coverage. We talked about the return specialists that they have and they weren't a team that was going to go for blocks, they were going to get returns. I thought we punted the ball extremely well. We were able to get off some coverage things and get down there and force some fair catches. That was really important. We won that battle. Then we got a big punt return ourselves."
On running back Deuce Vaughn:
"I was happy for Deuce. He had to play a grind it out big time Big 12 football game. He did a great job. He was able to get a lot of tough yards. That's a tremendous defense that we just faced today and it wasn't perfect by any means but it was good enough to win and be able to continue to learn and get better from."
Kansas State Junior Defensive Back Justin Gardner
On the breakup on second and ten
"In my perspective, it was just a man coverage. He gave me a quick little outside release off the line. I kind of already knew it was going to be a fake (fade?). Basically, I just tried to get my head around as quickly as possible and try to hop one at its highest point. Unfortunately, I didn't come down with it but most definitely got the PBU. That is our main goal everytime it's a fade ball: locate it at its highest point and make a play."
On the difference between the defensive now and the defense from week 1
"We are way hungrier, way more disciplined for sure. We just have a team full of guys who really want to win. I just think that is the biggest difference. We never give up. Ever. Even when we are down, even when we are getting big plays made on us, but we just never give up. We just always have that mindset that the game isn't over. We have this thing in our locker room that you just have to play the full 60, and that is just what we basically put our heads into after week 1. Play the full 60, the game is never over, until that fourth quarter whistle is blown so that is kind of the mind set that we probably didn't have week 1 that we turned into following weeks."
On how healthy did he felt throughout the week and today during the game (hurt last week)
"I was definitely in the training room like every single week. I wasn't 100% better, but I was good enough to play, ya know, you push through certain things. We are D1 football plays, you are expected to push through little injuries. I felt like my pain coming into this game wasn't necessary to sit out so I am here to push through it. I was in the training room, got treatment on it, got better. It is pretty much good."
Kansas State Senior Tight End Briley Moore
On his perspective on how good TCU's defense is and was today
"They have a really good defense, and they lived up to that hype. They were fast, they were physical especially at the point of attack on the line. Their guys are flying and it was a gritty win by our team. Our Oline played great against their Dline that was very physical, flying off the ball, so tip out hat to the Oline for handling that."
On Will's play today (true freshman QB)
"He was amazing. His composure in the huddle was what we expected. But to think about that after, I was talking to Coach Kliem, a true freshman in his first start like that to have that composure to get settled in is ana amazing thing and gives the team confidence that no matter what the situation we are going to have a chance to win every game."
On what went into scoring the touchdown drive
"Guys were making plays, making routine plays and getting more out of them. I believe we went for two after that which was huge to be able to get that. Again, it was Will's composure to make the plays that he needed to make and everybody else on the offense just taking care of their assignments one play at a time and all of the sudden you look up and like you said, it was 91 yards or whatever, and we are in the end zone."
Kansas State Freshman Quarterback Will Howard
On his first start at Kansas State
"We got the win. That is always what matters to me and I'm happy that we got the win. I mean there's still a lot to clean up and you all know that and we all know that. It was far from perfect but like I said we got it down and we did what we came here to do. I am excited about that and it is a lot better to learn from a win than learn from a loss and there's a lot to learn from here. We have a bye week now and we are going to continue to push through and recover a little bit this week and get back into it next week."
On him being the first true freshman in Kansas State history to win his first road start
"I feel great. It is a blessing and all I've ever dreamed about being on this stage. It is what you come to big time program for. I am so glad to be doing it with the group of guys that I have with me. We are going to keep grinding, keep getting better, and like I said, not perfect, but we are going to keep getting better."
On the touchdown drive mid through the second quarter
"that was awesome. That was a big-time confidence booster for our team. You could tell after that we started playing with a little more swagger. Our defense was kind of boosted for that and our defense played a heck of a game I keep saying. They kept us in it especially when we couldn't get much going on offense. That was a big drive for us and made a couple big plays we kind of started wearing them down and started winning the line of scrimmage and Oline played great. Ya that was a big-time momentum switch for us."
TCU 14, K- STATE 21
October 10, 2020
TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson
"I am disappointed in the loss. I am not disappointed with the younger guys who played. Bottom line is, you've got to make plays when you're in a game and you can't give them anything. Well, we gave them something. At the end of the day, we've got to do a better job on all accounts. We need to move forward from it. We have two weeks to get better before we have a four-game swing starting with Oklahoma."
On the offensive struggles:
"You can't go backwards. No. 1, you can't have penalties and No. 2, you can't take sacks. We have to be able to run the football. It's a pretty simple formula for us."
On the defense's performance:
"(Will Howard) is a pretty good young quarterback. The drive I was disappointed about was the last one. We stopped them, but we gave up too much time. We had a blitz where the guy bounced and they were two young guys that haven't played. We had him in the backfield for a two-yard loss and it ended up being 2nd-and-2. You've got to put the nail in the coffin when we get there, get the ball back and give our offense more time to get down the field. We gave up too much time on that drive. Our group has to get to a point where they understand there has to be some urgency in what we do. It's hard to win games in this league. For the second game in a row at home we didn't come out with much urgency. I thought we had a lot more down at Texas, and it showed. We have to have more urgency if we want to win ballgames against teams in this league because everyone is dangerous."
On Max Duggan running the ball and taking hits:
"Duggan is taking his biggest hits when he is dropping back in the pocket. To be able to control those hits we have to run the football to slow the defensive front down."
TCU Offensive Tackle Austin Myers
On losing despite the defense holding Kansas State to just one offensive touchdown:
"We've just got to get back to the drawing board and figure it out and then come back with a better plan and execute it."
On the biggest issues concerning the offensive line:
"It's collectively playing as a unit. I feel like we are on different pages and we need to get back to the drawing board and figure out the issues and tweak it and come back next week better.
On needing to start out games with more energy:
"That just comes from within. We've got to come out as a unit and we've got to be prepared and be ready. I feel like that all comes with preparation."
On what Kansas State did defensively that they didn't see on film:
"No, I feel like we beat ourselves with pre-snap penalties and stuff like that. I feel like we put ourselves behind the chains, so that was on us."
On watching Max Duggan limp off the field after some big hits:
"It hurts me too. That's my quarterback. That means we're not doing a good job. When our quarterback is limping off the field that means he's getting hit too much, taking too many blows."
TCU Linebacker Garrett Wallow
On making sure the team is stronger moving forward:
"Moving forward, especially in this conference, you need to have energy in every game. We definitely lacked in that category today. Every game is a battle, every game is a fight, and every game is like a championship game in this league. We definitely need to come out with more energy. I think that it is something we need to improve on as a team, not just as an individual game."
On how it felt to play well defensively and still come out with a loss:
"Kansas State played a really good game. They are a really good team. They came in with a second-string quarterback and won the game. It is definitely tough when you lose any game, not just if you play good or not. Moving forward, you just have to find ways to come together and win regardless of what the situation is."
On having a bye week before the OU game:
"It is good to have a bye week. We definitely need to brush up on some mistakes and see what we can get better at. As a team, we faced a lot of adversity, even before the start of the season. We have a lot of strong-minded individuals on the team. I feel confident in our team that we will bounce back. It is one of those things where you have to take the game and learn from the loss. It has to be a learn, it can't just be a loss. We need to take this week to strengthen the categories that we need to get better at as a team, on both sides of the ball."
On loosing Washington and Foster stepping in:
"Ar'Darius is definitely one of our big-time safeties. It is tough, but Josh definitely came in there and played a great game. He came in as a freshman, basically starting the game. Josh played great. He came in there and there was definitely a lot of pressure and responsibility on him, but he rose up to the challenge. It is one of those things where when one man is down, the next man has to step up and do the same job as the first man did."
On backup QB Howard's 80-yard run settling his nerves:
"I would agree. When any young player gets in there and makes some plays, it builds confidence. Starting out the game with a big play, you definitely are able to settle in. I give my props to him; he played a really good game. He is going to be a really good quarterback moving forward. K- State is a good team. Every game that we play is like a championship game, especially in this league".
On opinion of the offense being better than what they showed today:
"We have a good offense, no doubt about that. We have a tough fighting offense. In some games one side has to lift up the other. The best thing that we can do as a defense is to keep trying to get the ball in their hands and let them adjust to the other team's defense. I definitely put my trust in my offense and believe in them, there is no doubt about that."
- - -
Kansas State Head Coach Chris Klieman
On the game:
"What a great effort by our guys. Total team win. I'm real pleased that we battled through the adversity that we faced. Brought a freshman quarterback into a tough environment and against a great defensive coach in Coach (Gary) Patterson. I thought Will (Howard) did a great job and managed the game exceptionally well and did enough for us to be successful. What do you say about the defense? Our guys on defense, it's a credit to Coach (Joe) Klanderman and the defensive staff. It was a phenomenal game plan. Almost executed to perfection by the guys. I know they are disappointed by the last touchdown at about the five-minute mark. They played relentless. They did a great job rushing the passer. They did a great job covering guys. We got a big pick-six by AJ Parker on a play where they tried to go fast. I think it confused their own team on it. I couldn't be happier with the resolve on a bunch of guys that came in here when nobody expected us to be successful except for the guys in that locker room. It's a credit to our leaders and a credit to our coaches for a great effort today.
On the defense:
"It's the ability to rush the passer for starters. We're getting better and we did a good job defending the run today. It allowed us to get after the quarterback. We are breaking on balls better. We're making a lot of 50-50 plays and people are just making plays."
On the secondary:
"I was really pleased. We played a ton of guys. We played four corners for sure. We played every safety we had, every nickel we had because it was hot. It was a grinder. We needed to have a lot of bodies out there. It's so fun to have that many guys contribute and that many guys make impact plays. We didn't pressure very much. We said we were going to play zone and try to keep the ball in front of us and try to come up and tackle and I thought we did a nice job.
On the punt game:
"I thought we punted the game really well. We did a great job in coverage. We talked about the return specialists that they have and they weren't a team that was going to go for blocks, they were going to get returns. I thought we punted the ball extremely well. We were able to get off some coverage things and get down there and force some fair catches. That was really important. We won that battle. Then we got a big punt return ourselves."
On running back Deuce Vaughn:
"I was happy for Deuce. He had to play a grind it out big time Big 12 football game. He did a great job. He was able to get a lot of tough yards. That's a tremendous defense that we just faced today and it wasn't perfect by any means but it was good enough to win and be able to continue to learn and get better from."
Kansas State Junior Defensive Back Justin Gardner
On the breakup on second and ten
"In my perspective, it was just a man coverage. He gave me a quick little outside release off the line. I kind of already knew it was going to be a fake (fade?). Basically, I just tried to get my head around as quickly as possible and try to hop one at its highest point. Unfortunately, I didn't come down with it but most definitely got the PBU. That is our main goal everytime it's a fade ball: locate it at its highest point and make a play."
On the difference between the defensive now and the defense from week 1
"We are way hungrier, way more disciplined for sure. We just have a team full of guys who really want to win. I just think that is the biggest difference. We never give up. Ever. Even when we are down, even when we are getting big plays made on us, but we just never give up. We just always have that mindset that the game isn't over. We have this thing in our locker room that you just have to play the full 60, and that is just what we basically put our heads into after week 1. Play the full 60, the game is never over, until that fourth quarter whistle is blown so that is kind of the mind set that we probably didn't have week 1 that we turned into following weeks."
On how healthy did he felt throughout the week and today during the game (hurt last week)
"I was definitely in the training room like every single week. I wasn't 100% better, but I was good enough to play, ya know, you push through certain things. We are D1 football plays, you are expected to push through little injuries. I felt like my pain coming into this game wasn't necessary to sit out so I am here to push through it. I was in the training room, got treatment on it, got better. It is pretty much good."
Kansas State Senior Tight End Briley Moore
On his perspective on how good TCU's defense is and was today
"They have a really good defense, and they lived up to that hype. They were fast, they were physical especially at the point of attack on the line. Their guys are flying and it was a gritty win by our team. Our Oline played great against their Dline that was very physical, flying off the ball, so tip out hat to the Oline for handling that."
On Will's play today (true freshman QB)
"He was amazing. His composure in the huddle was what we expected. But to think about that after, I was talking to Coach Kliem, a true freshman in his first start like that to have that composure to get settled in is ana amazing thing and gives the team confidence that no matter what the situation we are going to have a chance to win every game."
On what went into scoring the touchdown drive
"Guys were making plays, making routine plays and getting more out of them. I believe we went for two after that which was huge to be able to get that. Again, it was Will's composure to make the plays that he needed to make and everybody else on the offense just taking care of their assignments one play at a time and all of the sudden you look up and like you said, it was 91 yards or whatever, and we are in the end zone."
Kansas State Freshman Quarterback Will Howard
On his first start at Kansas State
"We got the win. That is always what matters to me and I'm happy that we got the win. I mean there's still a lot to clean up and you all know that and we all know that. It was far from perfect but like I said we got it down and we did what we came here to do. I am excited about that and it is a lot better to learn from a win than learn from a loss and there's a lot to learn from here. We have a bye week now and we are going to continue to push through and recover a little bit this week and get back into it next week."
On him being the first true freshman in Kansas State history to win his first road start
"I feel great. It is a blessing and all I've ever dreamed about being on this stage. It is what you come to big time program for. I am so glad to be doing it with the group of guys that I have with me. We are going to keep grinding, keep getting better, and like I said, not perfect, but we are going to keep getting better."
On the touchdown drive mid through the second quarter
"that was awesome. That was a big-time confidence booster for our team. You could tell after that we started playing with a little more swagger. Our defense was kind of boosted for that and our defense played a heck of a game I keep saying. They kept us in it especially when we couldn't get much going on offense. That was a big drive for us and made a couple big plays we kind of started wearing them down and started winning the line of scrimmage and Oline played great. Ya that was a big-time momentum switch for us."
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