VIDEO: Kansas State coordinators preview Tulane

“As hard as it was last week, you know, obviously, whatever we got to do to win the ballgame and play well, I think the second half provided some dynamics for us with the weather. Third quarter: I get on the phone with Adrian [Martinez] and he’s like ‘coach, the ball’s never been this heavy.’ It was just full of water. You know, obviously our guys battled through it. There hasn’t been a pick one way or the other saying ‘hey, this week we got to do this or not, or whatever. It’s just kind of the game flow, and how it’s been. We’re ready and excited to throw it around when we need to, and that part of the game.”

Have you learned much from the Tulane games?

“Two hard games to watch as far as film study. They’ve been able to be pretty vanilla and things, but Coach [Willie] Fritz and their whole staff – they do a really nice job. They’re well coached, they’re fundamental and then they’re going to do what they do, and it’s done for a little bit. It’s going to be a good test for us.”

How much of it is just experimenting with these first couple of games and trying out different moving pieces?

“We love working with our guys, and we have a lot of smart football players. They’re allowing us to do and put some people in different places in different personnel groups. You know that they can put pressure on people and Ben’s one of those guys, and being able to move multiple guys around is one of our strengths.”

Talk a little about the weather against Missouri, but that first drive there wasn’t any rain, and Adrian threw for more yards than he did against South Dakota. Is that kind of how you anticipate the game looking against Tulane?

“We can throw the football, we got great receivers, we got a good quarterback: I’ve been very pleased with his decision making and he definitely is processing the game at a really high clip and protecting us in certain runs, protecting some passes that he’s checked out because of certain pressure looks that he’s seen, and he’s taking the game as it comes. It’s not something that I want to force, but I think it’ll be a more natural flow, hopefully, as we move forward.”

They threw out a trick play there, at Kade? Double screen before the ball, with the anticipation, that the back side safety might not be as disciplined as they actually show..?

“He did a nice job. He got us and Kade saved me on that one. You know, I owe him lunch, so…”

Was it pretty disappointing that you did not get to throw out the gadget play if it had worked out?

“We had a decent look for it on tape, and the backside corner wasn’t over as much as we thought, and down in a short yardage situation in the red zone, we got it. It all kind of came together for us, knowing when we wanted to do it and where we wanted to do it. You know, Kade studies it quite often and knew exactly who it was that we needed to influence and credit to them – they covered it, and he still got us a first down so no worries there.”

Coach, Adrian comes to K-State with a rough history of turnovers: interceptions, fumbles. How did you go about trying to work those things out of his game since the spring?

“First of all, and as some of you know, we talked about and I tell all of my guys, you can’t play quarterback afraid to make a mistake. Thinking ‘hey, I can’t turn this over’, you play tense, you second guess yourself, you then see ghosts at times and all those things. You gotta take the game as it comes, you got to understand schematically what we’re trying to accomplish based on what defensive look they end up giving us, and you don’t feel like we have to do anything. You never have to make the throw. Take it as it comes, react and pull the trigger, and he’s done a great job of that. We just got to keep moving forward and keep getting better. You know I think, offensively, he’s made a lot of big plays for us, and we’ve left some plays out there at times, but there’s a lot ahead of this group and just working to get better is something I’m excited about.”

Can you explain what areas he’s really grown in that turnover prevention kind of space in his game since getting to Kansas State?

“I think he’s been patient. He’s been phenomenal for me that way. He’s up here watching tape all the time so he prepares very hard, he understands the look we’re going to get sixty-percent of the time, thirty-percent of the time, and then the curveball that you don’t know if you’re going to see it or not, and he categorizes that and he understands it. He’s doing a great job.”

Will Howard’s kind of in a unique situation where he’s not necessarily the backup every week, even though he’s listed as the backup. How’s he preparing for each game knowing that he might not be needed unless something weird happens?

“Will’s an unbelievable young man top-to-bottom, and he’s completely unselfish. It’s always team first with him, it has been since he’s been here. He’s extremely hard-working, extremely cerebral; one of the smartest kids I’ve ever been around and ever coached for sure, in any position. I think he gets it. I think he understands that we’re trying to do what’s best for him, as well. I know it’s difficult, but he does a great job of coming to work every day and hasn’t changed his approach at all.”

You go back and look at that Missouri game coach Klieman talked about how hard it was to rotate guys because of the rain and them standing on the sideline, and how cold it was. Is that something that you guys were talking about during the game or did it just kind of happen like that?

“You know, it’s something that in any game, especially if you get an extended period of time, whether it’s a long drive on one side, and then a special team score or something like that, that creates a longer rest time in between, trying to make sure that you’re staying dry, staying loose, getting snaps or whatever it happens to be, to be ready to go. Because from a player and then even now as a coach as part you know, that’s a little bit out of your control, right? ‘Hey, when we’re on the field, we got to go.’ We got to be sharp, you’re ready and however and whenever that happens, you just kind of got to not think about anything else and focus on what you can control.”

You mentioned Adrian Martinez’s patience has been an asset. How difficult is it for you to be patient when you’re kind of.. kind of feeling handcuffed probably a little bit by the conditions and stuff like that?

“I think, for all of us, myself and them, it’s about accomplishing the mission. We’ve been fortunate to play well enough to do that the first two weeks. My message to them and us as an offense, my position group is the quarterback says, ‘hey, we got to be the best we can be and take what they give us and that’s been our focus. It’s been about us, it’s been about getting better and I know we got a lot more in us in a lot of areas and that’s the exciting part. Our guys have embraced that and I’m not overly anxious one way or the other.., just again, enjoying that process of getting better, learning, improving at every position – it’s been a lot of fun.”

What can you say about what Deuce has been able to do in the first two games?

“Deuce [Vaughn] is Deuce. I’m not surprised. Not one bit. I mean, he’s top shelf and in every area. You see his notebook from the week of him watching tape on his own, and I mean, it’s darn near a novel. He’s special. Totally, you know, unselfish, too. I mean, you watch him and he’s sprung two touchdowns just by his blocking, and that’s what he’s called to do on that play. It’s an honor to coach him, it’s an honor that he’s on our team and a wildcat.”

How much does it facilitate your playmaking, your play calling abilities given Adrian’s fifth-year status and his play fake abilities?

“Just try to put as much pressure on people in as many ways as we possibly can, and that’s obviously with 22 (Vaughn). It’s with play action pass and then obviously, with Adrian’s ability to run as well, and always just trying to find the best mix of all three and what gives us the best chance with the lowest percentage of risk, and execute, and play clean and eliminate self-inflicted wounds.”

You never got to wear any special uniforms under Coach Snyder. Would you like to like they are this week?

“Of course, it would have been cool, but at the same time we have a mission and a lot to do on the field and that’s what matters.”