K-State coach Bill Snyder previews the Oklahoma State game
Kansas State coach Bill Snyder held his weekly press conference on Tuesday, previewing Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State (7 p.m. on ABC). Here are some highlights:
On Joseph Randle…
“You name it and it is a challenge. (Joseph) Randle is an extremely talented running back. He runs hard, but he is a smart runner. He picks his lanes extremely well, and they (Oklahoma State) have good depth at that position. Now that they have guys healthy again, they can give him a break when he needs it, and it makes him that much stronger. He is a very fine player.”
On Oklahoma State’s defense…
“I think it is kind of a collective improvement. I just look at being able to assess them, and our assessment is that they are a physical and rangy group up front. They have good quickness and lateral movement with their linebackers. They are an aggressive front seven and have tremendous experience and speed in the back end. They have been good against the run and pass. The thing about Oklahoma State is they are a tremendously balanced football team. They are up in the rankings in our conference in defense. Their specialists are as good as you can get. They rank high nationally in some facets of the kicking team. They rank high nationally in all aspects of offense. They have tremendous balance, and that has been brought upon, perhaps by, the improvement in each of those areas of their defense.”
On Oklahoma State’s balanced offense…
“I think there is a slight difference in the approach depending on which quarterback is on the field. The downside to that is both are awfully good. Both of them have tremendous numbers to support that. It is not a matter of one of them having a great deal more experience than the other. It is just the idea that they are young, extremely quality quarterbacks. One of them is a little more dual-purpose than the other, but the other one can run as well if he has to, and I am sure he will. Any ballgame you go into – and you play in a conference where everybody talks about spreading it out, throwing the ball around, etc. – I do not think there is a football program in the country that does not realize that if you cannot be effective against the running game, then you give them the capacity to do both at that time, and it really is a threat to you. But their running game, as we have talked about it with (Joseph) Randle, is two or three deep in the running back position. They have an awful good auxiliary player or a fullback, who plays extremely well.
They are good up front. They have three starting returning seniors that were good last year as well as this year. They are sound, solid up front. They have good schemes and run the ball well. If you allow it to happen, then sometimes it is a little hard to do something about. They can line up and run the ball all day. They have the capacity to say that they are an awfully good rushing football team. They have such great balance. They have tremendous balance in their offense, which makes it doubly hard.”
Follow
