Rapid Recap: Chris Klieman explains Kansas State timeout usage and clock management

CRITICISM OF THE KANSAS STATE TACKLING

When asked at his postgame press conference what went wrong with the Kansas State defense in the first half when they couldn’t stop Texas, head coach Chris Klieman pointed directly at their tackling and how it was not near good enough.

They couldn’t bring Bijan Robinson to the ground, and it was the same problem that they had with TCU back Kendre Miller. Part of it is just that those two are that damn good, to be honest, and part of it was needing an adjustment.

K-State found it at halftime, aligned a bit differently versus the Texas scheme and won the battle of adjustments against Steve Sarkisian at halftime and just tackled better, quite frankly. It wasn’t complicated for Kansas State.

EXPLANATION FOR NOT USING TIMEOUTS AND OTHER TIME MANAGEMENT

I chose to ask the K-State head coach about his timeout usage, or lack thereof, near the end of the game when Kansas State was attempting to complete the comeback versus the Longhorns before falling just short, 34-27.

The head coach answered that he was hoping to run more play before calling the second timeout. Klieman wanted to get it further downfield and he thought they had a good play on for it. That was his reasoning for his approach.

He did admit that they were a bit too deliberate on the last full drive that netted just a field goal and they needed to operate a little faster than they did. That is partially why there was pressure on the defense to force a three-and-out and why the offense had little time remaining on the clock.

They were also without Kade Warner and Malik Knowles after both left the game due to injury.

WHEN THEY DECIDED ON MARTINEZ

Klieman was asked by the Wichita Eagle and Kansas City Star’s Kellis Robinett when they chose to roll with Adrian Martinez as the starting quarterback versus Texas. Unlike the Oklahoma State contest, it was not a true game-time decision.

He and K-State offensive coordinator Collin Klein decided on Martinez when the coaches met with the quarterbacks on Friday. The felt he was healthy enough to give it a go and he was receiving plenty of practice reps throughout the week.

Martinez responded by completing 67 percent of his passes and throwing for 329 yards and two scores. It was his highest completion percentage in Big 12 games, which includes full contests against Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Iowa State.

It’s the most yards passing from Kansas State this season. Not only that, Martinez threw for the second-highest yards per completion on the year as well, only being out-done by his performance versus the Cyclones in Ames.

K-STATE INJURY UPDATES

While they knew Martinez would receive the start as of Friday, K-State linebacker Daniel Green shared that he knew on Sunday (a day after the win over Oklahoma State) that he would be available to go against Texas. So, that’s good news on that front. I’m surprised he was healthy enough to start.

An update was not provided on Kansas State receiver Malik Knowles. He left the game during the fourth quarter and did not return. Another injury was suffered by wideout Kade Warner. It is not expected to be serious. He brushed it off during the postgame media session and did not seem worried about it.