Nov. 12, 2007

Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening statement:
"Our players are taking the day off today and hopefully getting energized and getting ready to go tomorrow morning. Our coaches are still working on the gameplan. From the injury standpoint, we're in pretty good shape. Chase Coffman has had an ankle that he keeps tweaking every game, but he's doing okay. He's working through it. It's nothing serious, but it's just more aggravated. He did that in the second quarter of our game against Texas A&M, but he came back and played. I think he's going to be fine. Jeremy Maclin bruised his shoulder. He hit the same spot that he hit before, but he's going to be fine and he was doing much better yesterday. He's going to be 100 percent. I would expect Rex, our trainer, would want to put him in red. Knowing Jeremy, he won't want to be in red so we'll have to deal with that. He's a pretty tough guy. Other than that, we're very fortunate from the injury standpoint."

On Kansas State:
"As you look at K-State, we're looking at a very good football team. Josh Freeman is a great quarterback. They have an excellent offense, their passing game is outstanding, they have great receivers, they run the ball well and they do a lot of different things defensively. They are one of the best blitzing teams that I have seen as far as getting to the quarterback and sacks. They are one of the best in the league and certainly within our conference and we will have our challenges. That being said, we're focused on trying to play our best game, improving everyday in practice and that's what we will do tomorrow as we have done all year."

On Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman:
"I thought he did an excellent job last year. It's very difficult to play as a true freshman. Chase Daniel did that as a backup and was called to duty a few times, but it's very difficult to do. It's so complex, the speed of the game is very difficult. I think what happens, every year you play, generally with quarterbacks, they'll say the game slows down. The defenses slow down, your recognition goes to a higher level, and the speed of what you see slows down, which allows you to make better decisions and better reads, get the secondary receivers better, and I see him doing all those things. He's a very talented player, we recruited him and I really like him. He's a great kid, he just keeps getting better and better and we're very impressed."

Quarterback Chase Daniel
On looking at Kansas State's loss to
Nebraska: "It's one of those type of games, anytime you score 70 points, that's a lot of points. For the most part, we're just going to break down the film like we normally do, not change anything, prepare as well as we possibly can for this week because it's a big game."

On enjoying the season and taking advantage of their success:
"I think for the most part it's just fun. It's fun winning, enjoy this time. It doesn't happen a lot in your life, if anytime at all. That's the main thing here, I'm going to try to keep all my teammates loose, all the coaches loose and just enjoy the time. Coach Pinkel's keeping us loose. Enjoy it and have fun with it."

On the offensive line getting more recognition"
"Ours should. They've been playing at a very high level the whole year. I think that's one thing that's been overlooked. I try to tell people, but week in week out, they're playing at a very high level."

On making adjustments and focusing on themselves:
"Our coaches make the best adjustments out of anyone in America. I'd like for someone to debate me on that. I love our coaches. They know what they're doing and that's why they're paid the big bucks to do it. They're doing a heck of a job right now. It's about us and what we do. Just go out there and execute the offense at a high level week in-and-week-out. Things will take care of itself."

Defensive Lineman Lorenzo Williams
On Kansas State's offense:
"They got the quarterback [Josh Freeman]. The guy can throw the ball. He's better than most quarterbacks in the nation. Jordy Nelson is a great receiver and their offensive line has a lot of big, tall guys. They're real physical, so it's going to be a challenge for us."

On Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman:
"He's more tough to play because you can't get a hit on him. He can still have the ball and be dragging you along and still throw a 30-yard touchdown pass. Just being able to get on top of him and pull him down is the hardest part about playing him."

Tight End Martin Rucker
On whether history affects how they prepare:
"I think so, but at the same time, you can't focus too much on those things, you just have to go out and play football, you have to bring your `A' game and the rest will take care of itself."

On Kansas State's defense:
"They're a pretty good and sound defense, they're very disciplined. They have some athletes, we're going to have to go out and play our best."

On enjoying the season:
"Whenever you're winning, everything's fun. That makes it that much easier. To be where we are, to finally get here, we're not there yet, but we're on the right track. It feels good, everything's going in the right way and everybody has the right attitude."