“I’m happy to be here 3-0 and looking forward to the challenge. The last few weeks have been great to be on the road, seeing our fans in both Dallas and Laramie, but I’m really looking forward to being home for this game. We open the conference against Kansas State, a talented team. I’m excited about the game, they’re a ranked team and well-coached, I have a lot of respect for that program.

If you look at the connections, BYU has LaVell Edwards and Kansas State has Bill Snyder. The history behind both of those programs, I think it’s a cool story, and I have a lot of respect for Chris Klieman and what he does as a head coach. He’s a good friend, I got to meet him and his wife, Rhonda, at the Nike coaches retreat, and we were able to connect. I’ve always known about him as a coach, seen what he’s done, what he did at North Dakota State, and I have a lot of respect for what he did there and what he’s doing at Kansas State. I really admire what he does, and to meet him in person, he’s a great person. I’m looking forward to seeing him with our friendship, but this is going to be a game, our team versus theirs, and I’m looking forward to the game. He’s got a great coaching staff that he’s hired, like Matt Wells who’s on his staff, people that I’ve known from back in the day, and Mike Tuiasosopo is there as well.

They’ve done a great job this year with their team. They’re a very dangerous team, I think they play great on defense and offense, and they do a great job on special teams. I’ve talked about how well they’re coached, but they’re also very talented. It’s going to be a real test for us, they’re one of the teams that are favored to win this conference and are highly ranked, so we’re looking forward to the game. I’m excited about the opportunities that we have, to learn more about ourselves, our program, and how much progress we’ve made. I feel like we’ve made great progress this season, especially from last season, so I’m really looking forward to this game. It’s going to be a lot of fun at home, I know there’s a lot of excitement about the uniforms, but I just want to get to the game.”

With limited third down conversions
“I care about getting points on the board, and I know we’re leaving some points on the field, so let’s get some more conversions, keep those drives going and get the ball in the end zone. I’m not too worried about the last two weeks, but I want us to do better this week. We know how to fix it, so we’re going to work on it and hopefully we’ll be better this weekend. I mean, look at our fourth down conversions, so let’s just treat third downs like fourth downs and I think we’ll be fine.”

On the difference between this year’s 3-0 teams and last year’s
“I feel good about the team. I think people can realize that we’re a different team than we were last year, and we’re going to keep working on it. We’re 3-0 and there’s some good things we’re doing. I think a lot of people want to focus on the negative things, but we’re going to get better, and I like to praise the things we’ve done as a team.”

About balancing the little things and just playing the game
“I think the goal is just to be consistent. Those games are where when you add up all the little things, you can see if you’re on top of it or not. For example, we had an early turnover (at Wyoming), but then we controlled the football, so it’s a timing thing. When all those factors come together, that’s what wins or loses you the game. To do that, we have to be consistent, play brand new downs, and have a short memory on a lot of things. Luckily, we had a close game at SMU last week, so when we put all of our situational football stuff together in fall camp and practice, it’s fun to see our guys go out there and execute plays and make them work. That’s how we’re going to fix things and get better at things like tackling, creating turnovers, third down conversions.”

On Defending Mobile Quarterbacks
“Avery (Johnson, TCU QB) is a dynamic runner. They have the ability to just call QB runs, and he can take a little gap and turn it into a big play. He’s super athletic, so he can create even in the passing game on his feet, he can create more time in the pocket and he’s always a threat to scramble and hurt you that way. He’s a complete player at quarterback and when you look at different types of threats, he’s got a lot of weapons. He’s also a tough guy, and I think he’s got great command of the offense. They’ve done a great job setting him up to be successful, but he can do everything you want a quarterback to do, I’ve been really impressed with him on film.”

On how ready the underclassmen are for the Big 12 competition
“They’re going to be ready. I think they have a role and a lot of things are going to be asked of them depending on the matchups. I was happy with how they performed. Obviously I wasn’t happy with the drive in the Wyoming game when we gave up those points and a lot of yardage, but that’s what we needed. We needed those guys to get that valuable experience, and it was worth the sacrifice of yards and even some points in last week’s game. I think it’s going to pay off in games like this coming up this weekend. This is going to be a fun atmosphere and a fun game; everyone wants to be a part of it. We feel like we’re deeper than we’ve ever been. We had to test some of our depth at the running back position, and I think we’re going to be in a good position. We knew this was going to be a brutal, physical game, and I feel good about where we’re at and I feel good about our talent, especially the freshmen coming in, there’s a lot of talent there.”

On the difference between quarterback Jake Retzlaff’s four games last year and his three games this year
“He seems to be more comfortable, not only with the scheme, but just being on the field and being the starter. He’s starting to settle in a little bit. Being a quarterback at BYU, you get a lot of attention, good and bad. When things aren’t going well, everyone gets mad at the quarterback, but on the other hand, when things are going well, they get a lot of credit, so that’s part of being a quarterback here. The efficiency of the offense is everyone’s business, everyone has to do their part to make sure the quarterback can make the right reads. We need Jake to be at his best, but I like his comfort level and him getting a little more comfortable. I think we’re going to be in a good position with him. He’s doing a great job at everything we’re asking him to do right now. It’s not perfect, but there are very few quarterbacks playing perfect football right now. He’s improving, understanding, learning, and that’s what I like about him. Last year I thought he was in a difficult position because we were devoting a lot of his training to Kedon (Slovis). But now we are in a position where he is the one who is getting the bulk of the training. That means he is getting the bulk of the learning, and that will be useful for us.

About the opportunity to play a ranked opponent in a night game at LaVell Edwards Stadium
“I want to show our fans. That’s a big part of our program and the athletic department here, our fans are going to fill the house. You guys saw our game against Southern Illinois, it was a full house. There’s a lot of energy leading up to this game just because our fans are awesome, but we knew Kansas State had a good team coming back and they were well-coached, and they’re going to be ready for this game. I’m looking forward to playing our best this weekend. As long as we keep improving and getting better, I want to see us take a big step in improving from last Saturday to this Saturday against Kansas State. It’s a tough job and a tough team, but man, it’s going to be a lot of fun, and I want our guys to enjoy it. It’s going to be a great opportunity for us.”