 | Head Coach Gus Malzahn |
Opening comment...
"We are very happy to get a hard fought victory. We knew it would be tough here. Going on the road in non-conference against a top 20 opponent. They were everything that we thought they would be. I am very proud of our defense. I think we held them to 40 yards. I think that was a big thing. Forcing some turnovers in the red zone I thought that was huge. Second half for our offense I think we were 8-for-11 on third downs, and we were able to have the ball more and take some clock down. Our guys found a way to win. I told them after the game that this was a game that will help us in the future. We faced some major adversity tonight and our guys responded well."
On third and nine play and calling the time out...
"You are just trying to predict the defense that they are going to play. It is kind of one of those deals if you run the football you take away 20 seconds and give them a chance to win the game, or you can take a chance and try to win the game. We just felt strong about trying to give our guys a chance to win. We caught them in a defense that we liked and it worked out."
On Nick Marshall...
"He has that knack for when the game is on the line. He did it all last year, and he did it tonight. He helped find a way to help our team win the game."
On play of Tyler Lockett...
"I thought that was a big key to the game. He is just such an electric and impactful player. A lot of our focus was on him. We tried to get our hands on him before he could get going. I think that helped us and through him out of his rhythm. He is a phenomenal player. You know on the punt returns he really hurt us bad."
On Trovon Reed`s play...
"I am very proud of Trovon. You are talking about a guy that has not been playing defense since the spring. To go out there and play one of the better receivers in college, he played it pretty well. I was definitely impressed with him. He had the big interception in the fourth quarter that was huge for us.
Running Back Cameron Artis-Payne
On Nick Marshall's leadership...
"You know Nick is always level headed, and he keeps his spirits up no matter what. Whether he completes three passes in a row or whether he gets ten drops in a row, he is our leader so we look to him. So he has to stay level headed."
On tough opposing defense...
"It was just discipline, and they stayed at home. They did not get out of their gaps. They stayed in their gaps, and it did not create a lot of cut back lanes for the zone read. They were tough."
On playing in a close game...
"A win is a win. You come on the road into hostile territory, and they are a top 20 team, and they have a legendary coach. So we knew what it was going to be. We knew they were going to be prepared. We knew it was going to be a dog fight, and they did not disappoint."
Defensive Back Jonathan Ford
On Winning in a Tough environment...
"This crowd was very, very hostile. It was a very nice crowd. It was very big for our team as we go on the road and play tougher opponents for us. It was a great test for us defensively and offensively."
On the defense stepping up...
"It was a great game for the defense to step up. We were really focused in the game, really locked in. We were ready to play."
On second half adjustments...
"We did not get bored doing our job. We stay locked in. We kept on playing and making sure we knew our tasks. We did our jobs."
Defensive Back Jonathon Mincy
On having to make personnel adjustments in the secondary...
"Our coaches had a great game plan throughout the week and did a good job of shuffling different guys in and out. The main thing is just being confident, and trusting the game plan the defensive coaches made for the game"
On making big defensive stands throughout the game...
"As the game went on, we were getting stronger and more confident. We played together, trusted coach, and went out there and had fun. We saw what we were made of mentally tonight"
On K-State being a tougher opponent than they thought they would be...
"We knew this was going to be a tough game. We knew they were not a bunch of pushovers. They have great players on their team. I just go back to our preparation and coaching leading up to the game. That is what won us the game."
 | Head Coach Bill Snyder |
On the errors affecting play...
"There was a ton of mistakes that we made that impacted the outcome of the ball game. Auburn is a tremendous football team. We just made too many mistakes."
On Jack Cantele's performance...
"I mean we did have some bad snaps on two of the field goals attempts."
On taking step forward in defense today...
"I think we went three forward and one back."
On overall performance of the defense...
"I think we played hard. We were responsible with that kind of offense where you need some discipline to execute your responsibilities well. I thought the young guys did that for the most part. We gave up some plays late in the ball game when Morgan (Burns) was out of the ball game."
On starting Dakorey Johnson...
"I think that Dakorey (Johnson) played well. He made some plays that I am well aware of. I have to watch tape to give you an overall assessment, but I believe that he played well."
On gaining or losing momentum for next game...
"I think that next week will define that a little bit better. In all honesty, I do not know. I would like to think that we got good young people that care. I think that it will be painful for them. If all of those things are really in place then I think they will respond well."
On satisfaction of moving the ball...
"Well on occasion we did, but not on the regularity that we needed to."
On Sexton relieving pressure from Lockett...
"Well I think it is always good for us to have that diversity and have balance in our offense whether it is throwing or running the ball. We cannot be a one player team. We cannot have one player running or throwing the ball. It is significant. Curry (Sexton) did play well in the ball game."
On facing Auburn's defensive line...
"They did give us some problems. They did. I thought it was up and down. I think there were some sacks we had, and we blocked reasonably well, some we did not. There was just not much consistency there. In addition to some of the learning mistakes we made."
On biggest challenge while running ball...
"The biggest challenge would be probably throwing the ball more effectively because they did put a ton of people up in the box. It put you in a position where you really had to throw the ball. We did not throw the ball as efficiently as we should have."
Quarterback Jake Waters
On leaving that many points on the field...
"We should have won that. There is no excuse. It almost hurts worse. It is frustrating because you work so hard to get in those situations and to play a great team like that. We had them on the road and had the chance to win, but we just did not make the plays we needed to make. It is just really frustrating."
On if the team beat themselves...
"We beat ourselves, for sure. They will probably say they did not play their best game, but that is just credit to the way we played defensively. Offensively, we just could not finish in the red zone and that is what we are usually best at. To leave that many points on the field is just frustrating."
On what the loss says about where the team is currently...
"I am not in to moral victories or anything like that. We lost the game, so you have to give credit to Auburn. At the end of the day, we are going to go back and watch film and realize that we should have won. This was our game, and we let it slip. That is hard to take."
Running Back DeMarcus Robinson
On Auburn's defense...
"They have a really athletic team. Their defensive line, the linebackers, and the safeties are all athletic. We still had our opportunities, but we just came up a little bit short."
On K-State difficulties on offense...
"The speed of their defense. They are a fast defense and really physical. We prepared for that all week so it was not hard to adjust to. They just made more plays than we did."
On recovering after loss...
"We have to go back and look at the mistakes we made. We cannot harp on it too much. We have Big 12 play coming up. We need to learn from our mistakes and take that into conference games."
Wide Receiver Curry Sexton
On the team played...
"It was not good enough to win. We left a lot of plays on the field. We as an offense did not do enough to win. I do not believe in moral victories, plain and simple."
On taking pressure off of Tyler Lockett...
"In football you have to make plays when you are called upon. Tyler (Lockett) deserves so much attention. Other guys are going to have to step up. They put two guys on him most of the night. Having him out there helps the rest of us, but at the same time you have to make plays. We did not make enough tonight."
On being the go to receiver tonight...
"They were so focused on Tyler (Lockett) and not letting us throw the ball down field. They were letting us run through the middle of the field. I told Jake (Waters) let us throw the underneath stuff all night long."
Wide Receiver Tyler Lockett
On how bad the loss hurts....
"It hurts a lot. We left a lot out there on the field. One of the plays that I remember the most is that I dropped a touchdown that turned into an interception. We missed field goals and fumbled the ball. We just made a lot of mistakes."
On the touchdown that turned into an interception...
"It was just one of those plays. You just drop the ball. I do not know what happened, and I am still trying to figure that out for myself. It is just one of those things, and we did not let it bite us. We just kept fighting. That is one of the things I can give us. We never gave up, and we kept fighting but mistakes were made."
On looking back on missed plays...
"Everybody does that. Anybody can look back and say `if this would have happened, we would have won.' Adversity hit, and we just kept fighting. Even if things did not always go our way, sometimes things did go our way. Offensively, we just have to learn to score when we get in the red zone and that was the biggest thing today."
On Curry Sexton's performance...
"I think Curry did a great job. He showed a lot of leadership out there. He made a lot of great plays, especially when we needed him on those third downs. This was a great game for Curry, and I think his confidence is going to be boosted going towards the rest of the season."
Linebacker Dakorey Johnson
On how K-State's defense performed against Auburn...
"I felt good. We were practicing two weeks for Auburn. I think we played well as a defense. There were some things we could of fixed. We were not perfect, but I think we played a solid game as a whole. I just went out there and played and did what I had to do. I could not do my job without everybody else doing theirs."
On the significance of his interception...
"When I saw it in the air I knew I had to go get it. It was a huge turnover for us."
On if Johnson knew he would play a lot against Auburn...
"My coaches told me I was going to play a lot. I guess they saw me and recognized I was having good practice sessions. I got a lot better as the season went on so I gained confidence in myself."
On where Johnson goes from here...
"I just have to keep getting better. It was just one game. I still have a lot more games left to play to improve."
Linebacker Jonathan Truman
On the game...
"We need to find out what we need to do to correct, and we will surely do that and be better next time."
On Dakorey Johnson starting...
"He is a great player, and he is in the right spots at the right time. Playing beside him has been great. He played lights out tonight."
On taking steps forward...
"As a defense, we came together and played well. We also have a lot of things to correct and that is what we plan on doing."
Defensive End Ryan Mueller
On adversity throughout the game...
"It is disappointing, but it is what it is. We could have held them to a lot more rushing yards and passing yards. We could have played a lot better. We played a better football team, and we did not play as well."
On dealing with loss...
"The defense could have played a lot better. We did not make plays when we should have made plays."
On mistakes...
"As far as missed opportunities, it was a collective team loss. You could say the defense stepped up the whole night, but in the fourth quarter, third down, if we get that stop it is a different ball game. It did not happen so there was a missed opportunity there and that is all I can speak for. When you are playing defense there, it is every guy's job to do their job and stay focused on the task at hand."