By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Each week, Big 12 coaches have their weekly meetings with the media at their press conferences during the college football season. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda’s comments have already been posted. Rankings are from the AP Poll. Here are some highlights elsewhere in the league. Quotes and notes are taken from those pressers if not specified elsewhere. All games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.
Chris Klieman, Kansas State (6-3, 4-2) – The No. 23 Wildcats play at Baylor: KSU surrendered too many explosive plays in the first half in their 34-27 loss to Texas. “You got to tackle better. That's the bottom line and you got to get a lot of hats on it. But everybody struggles to tackle that guy. I was pleased with the defense coming in and making some big-time strips downfield, not giving up on plays, they had a couple of explosive plays that we end up causing turnovers on so it's kind of give and take too.”
Lance Leipold, Kansas (6-3, 3-3) – The Jayhawks play at Texas Tech: Kansas is bowl eligible for the first time since 2008 following its impressive 37-16 victory over Oklahoma State. “I'm really proud of them and happy for them,’’ Leipold said. “Especially, we look at the guys that have been around a long time and everything that they've kind of gone through. They persevered. They stayed with this program. And then holistically for this group and as I told them, we're pretty demanding and things. And there's a big reason why we are; for moments like this.”
Brent Venables, Oklahoma (5-4, 2-4) – The Sooners play at West Virginia: Venables talked about Baylor physically beat up his team. "This game will punish ya," Venables said. "Gotta be disciplined. Sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes, I guess. ... We got soft on our edges and our secondary run support on us. They cracked us. We didn’t do a good job of crack-replacing. They physically got after us. We got stalled up. They got a good offensive line. They’re going to punish you when you make mistakes.
“…the other team was more physical. Why is that? I don’t know. We gotta be better there. We have to improve that. That’s an area we have to continue and improve.”
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (6-3, 3-3) – The Cowboys play at Iowa State: Gundy addressed this funk where the Cowboys have fallen out of the Big 12 title race. “So, we just had some new guys and just trying to get reps and get them going. But there’s nothing spiraling out of control. We just got to keep working. And I think that if you look across the country, you’ll see that there’s quite a bit of it going on. People around here have gotten accustomed to winning a lot of football games and expecting it to be every week no matter what, and sometimes when it doesn’t go that way, everybody’s like, ‘What hell’s going on?’ It’s good problem to have. My first few years here I was wondering what the hell was going on and we didn’t win any.”
Neal Brown, West Virginia (3-6, 1-5) – The Mountaineers play host to Oklahoma: The Mountaineers have fallen into the basement of the Big 12 and are one loss away from becoming bowl eligible. They only had 200 yards total offense in the 31-14 loss at Iowa State. "The story of our game was the inability of our offense to move the ball at all," Brown said. "The stats were putrid."
Matt Campbell, Iowa State (4-5, 1-5) – The Cyclones play at Oklahoma State: After catching 10 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, receiver Xavier Hutchinson set a single-season receptions record with 87. He broke his record set in 2021 at 83. "I don't know if I can say enough great things about Xavier," Campbell said. "We wouldn't even have a chance to be where we're at today without Xavier Hutchinson."
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech (4-5, 2-4) – The Red Raiders play host to Kansas: McGuire talked about the job Lance Leipold has done at KU. “He and I, over the last couple years, have texted a lot,” McGuire said. “I sent him a text after they became bowl eligible and congratulated him. The job that he's done there is absolutely incredible. The culture that he's creating after two years and having that team bowl eligible is pretty impressive. And he’s just a great guy.”
Sonny Dykes, TCU (9-0, 6-0) – The No. 4 Horned Frogs play at Texas: TCU is 9-0 for the first time since 2010 (the year it won the Rose Bowl) and could be ranked in the Top 4 when the new CFP playoff rankings are released. But a huge two weeks awaits when the Horned Frogs travel to Texas and Baylor. "Despite everybody in the program kind of doing everything we can do to preach the one-game-at-a-time thing, I think there are times our players start to see the enormity and gravity of things," Dykes said. "It starts with us as a coaching staff and just making sure our guys feel free."
Steve Sarkisian, Texas (6-3, 4-2) – The No. 18 Longhorns play host to TCU: Texas finds itself in the same position as Baylor – in control of its Big 12 title game destiny. ESPN College GameDay will be in Austin Saturday. UT put itself in that position with a 34-27 win at Kansas State. "I told the guys, ‘We're not done. We have more work,'" Sarkisian said. "We have a great opportunity ahead of us in this entire month of November. What you do in November is what everybody remembers."
Publisher
Each week, Big 12 coaches have their weekly meetings with the media at their press conferences during the college football season. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda’s comments have already been posted. Rankings are from the AP Poll. Here are some highlights elsewhere in the league. Quotes and notes are taken from those pressers if not specified elsewhere. All games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.
Chris Klieman, Kansas State (6-3, 4-2) – The No. 23 Wildcats play at Baylor: KSU surrendered too many explosive plays in the first half in their 34-27 loss to Texas. “You got to tackle better. That's the bottom line and you got to get a lot of hats on it. But everybody struggles to tackle that guy. I was pleased with the defense coming in and making some big-time strips downfield, not giving up on plays, they had a couple of explosive plays that we end up causing turnovers on so it's kind of give and take too.”
Lance Leipold, Kansas (6-3, 3-3) – The Jayhawks play at Texas Tech: Kansas is bowl eligible for the first time since 2008 following its impressive 37-16 victory over Oklahoma State. “I'm really proud of them and happy for them,’’ Leipold said. “Especially, we look at the guys that have been around a long time and everything that they've kind of gone through. They persevered. They stayed with this program. And then holistically for this group and as I told them, we're pretty demanding and things. And there's a big reason why we are; for moments like this.”
Brent Venables, Oklahoma (5-4, 2-4) – The Sooners play at West Virginia: Venables talked about Baylor physically beat up his team. "This game will punish ya," Venables said. "Gotta be disciplined. Sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes, I guess. ... We got soft on our edges and our secondary run support on us. They cracked us. We didn’t do a good job of crack-replacing. They physically got after us. We got stalled up. They got a good offensive line. They’re going to punish you when you make mistakes.
“…the other team was more physical. Why is that? I don’t know. We gotta be better there. We have to improve that. That’s an area we have to continue and improve.”
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (6-3, 3-3) – The Cowboys play at Iowa State: Gundy addressed this funk where the Cowboys have fallen out of the Big 12 title race. “So, we just had some new guys and just trying to get reps and get them going. But there’s nothing spiraling out of control. We just got to keep working. And I think that if you look across the country, you’ll see that there’s quite a bit of it going on. People around here have gotten accustomed to winning a lot of football games and expecting it to be every week no matter what, and sometimes when it doesn’t go that way, everybody’s like, ‘What hell’s going on?’ It’s good problem to have. My first few years here I was wondering what the hell was going on and we didn’t win any.”
Neal Brown, West Virginia (3-6, 1-5) – The Mountaineers play host to Oklahoma: The Mountaineers have fallen into the basement of the Big 12 and are one loss away from becoming bowl eligible. They only had 200 yards total offense in the 31-14 loss at Iowa State. "The story of our game was the inability of our offense to move the ball at all," Brown said. "The stats were putrid."
Matt Campbell, Iowa State (4-5, 1-5) – The Cyclones play at Oklahoma State: After catching 10 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, receiver Xavier Hutchinson set a single-season receptions record with 87. He broke his record set in 2021 at 83. "I don't know if I can say enough great things about Xavier," Campbell said. "We wouldn't even have a chance to be where we're at today without Xavier Hutchinson."
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech (4-5, 2-4) – The Red Raiders play host to Kansas: McGuire talked about the job Lance Leipold has done at KU. “He and I, over the last couple years, have texted a lot,” McGuire said. “I sent him a text after they became bowl eligible and congratulated him. The job that he's done there is absolutely incredible. The culture that he's creating after two years and having that team bowl eligible is pretty impressive. And he’s just a great guy.”
Sonny Dykes, TCU (9-0, 6-0) – The No. 4 Horned Frogs play at Texas: TCU is 9-0 for the first time since 2010 (the year it won the Rose Bowl) and could be ranked in the Top 4 when the new CFP playoff rankings are released. But a huge two weeks awaits when the Horned Frogs travel to Texas and Baylor. "Despite everybody in the program kind of doing everything we can do to preach the one-game-at-a-time thing, I think there are times our players start to see the enormity and gravity of things," Dykes said. "It starts with us as a coaching staff and just making sure our guys feel free."
Steve Sarkisian, Texas (6-3, 4-2) – The No. 18 Longhorns play host to TCU: Texas finds itself in the same position as Baylor – in control of its Big 12 title game destiny. ESPN College GameDay will be in Austin Saturday. UT put itself in that position with a 34-27 win at Kansas State. "I told the guys, ‘We're not done. We have more work,'" Sarkisian said. "We have a great opportunity ahead of us in this entire month of November. What you do in November is what everybody remembers."
