What BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and district director Jay Hill said about Kansas State’s offense
State of KansasBYU’s offense will have the full attention of the BYU coaching staff as the Wildcats travel to Provo to open conference play on Saturday night.
After scoring 31 points against Arizona, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and defensive coordinator Jay Hill Both discussed the issues K-State’s offense will present during their media availability this week.
Here’s what Sitake and Hill said about their matchup with Kansas State.
Head coach Kalani Sitake on his relationship with Chris Klieman… “I have a lot of respect for Chris Klieman and what he does as a head coach. He’s a good friend. I actually got to know him and his wife Rhonda at the Nike coaches retreat. We were able to bond.
I’ve always known him as a coach. You see what he’s done, what he’s done at North Dakota State. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he does as a head coach there, now at Kansas State. I really admire his work and being able to meet him in person, he’s a great person. I’ve been able to spend time with him and his wife with other coaches, but I’ve really been able to connect with him. I’m looking forward to seeing him with our friendship, but it’s going to be a game, our team against theirs, but I’m looking forward to the game.
He’s hired a really good coaching staff. Guys like Matt Wells are on his staff, guys I already knew. Wells, he’s there, and then there’s Mike Tuiasosopo, the defensive line coach, too.
HC Kalani Sitake at QB Avery Johnson… “Avery is a dynamic runner. They have the ability to just call QBs to run, and he can take a little gap and turn it into a big play. And then he’s super athletic, so he can create on his feet even in the passing game. He can create more time in the pocket, and then he’s always a threat to scramble and hurt you that way. He’s a complete player when it comes to quarterbacks. You look at all the different types of threats, he’s got a lot of different weapons. He’s a tough kid, too. I think he’s got great command of the offense, and they’ve done a great job of setting him up to be successful.”
HC Kalani Sitake on the environment on Saturday… “I want to highlight our fans. That’s a big part of our program. And a big part of the athletic department here is our fans are going to drive home. You saw our game against Southern Illinois, and it was a sellout. So there’s a lot of energy already going into this game because our fans are awesome.
We knew Kansas State had a really good team coming back, and we knew they were well-coached and they were going to be ready for this game. I’ve said it every week, we’re going to give it our best shot. I felt like Wyoming did some tough stuff, and we had their best shot. And did we give them ours? I think sometimes. Was it consistent enough? For me, probably not, but I think we played our best game of the year last week, and I’m looking forward to playing our best game of the year this weekend.
DC Jay Hill on K-State… “They have our full attention and focus, obviously. A really good team coming in here Saturday. Very well coached, they’re good in all three phases. Offensively, the quarterback’s a really good athlete, the offensive line does a good job. They’ve got targets to throw to. I’m looking forward to that game.”
DC Jay Hill on Avery Johnson’s stoppage… “We’re going to use a lot of different things with him. There’s going to be times where we’re going to try to put pressure on him to keep him on his toes, cover to keep him on his toes. There’s going to be a lot of different things we’re going to use.”
DC Jay Hill on the challenge of defending Avery Johnson… “It reminds me a lot of the SMU quarterback (Kevin Jennings) we just played. He was a good thrower, he had really good athleticism, he could run the ball. I thought we did a really good job of containing him. We have the same challenge this week.
Avery Johnson can run, he can throw. He’s got good weapons around him and he’s got a really good offensive line. There’s challenges, but we like our current preparation and we like the mental level of our players, and I think we’ll play well against him.
***
Like what you read? Consider subscribing to EMAW ONLINE with a PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
Come join the conversation on CAT CAVE FORUM.
Follow EMAW ONLINE on Twitter: @RivalsFielder, @EMAWOnline
