Kansas State coach Chris Klieman fought back tears in his postgame news conference following his team’s loss to Utah on Saturday.
Klieman had to pause to gather himself before his opening statement. In it, he praised the valiant efforts of his team in the 51-47 loss. The Wildcats rushed 42 times for 472 yards as RB Joe Jackson set a school record with 24 carries for 293 yards.
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The seventh-year coach defended his team and himself after the game and said he was proud of the way the Wildcats had played against the No. 12 Utes. As Klieman trailed off and became emotional after praising his team, athletic director Gene Taylor walked up to the podium, put his arm around the coach and told him “you ain’t going anywhere, brother.”
Here’s Klieman’s opening statement in full.
“Heartbroken for the kids and for the loss,” Klieman said. “But it’s one of the greatest efforts I’ve been a part of. One of the greatest efforts I’ve been a part of as a coach and it’s hard to say this because we lost the game.
“We’re down so many players. And I know a lot of people thought we’d come over here and lay down. And that maybe the kids had cashed it in because I’ve heard it enough. That I’ve cashed it in, I’ve heard the players have cashed it in. We need to get new leadership here, we need to get new players, coaches. I’m tired of it. I’ve gotta be honest with you, I’m tired of it.
“I’ve given my friggin-ass life for this place for seven years. I’ve given everything for seven years. And I think I deserve a little bit of respect. Because I’m frustrated like everybody else is but I love those kids. I’d go to friggin’ battle with those kids. Any day. That’s a top-10 team in the country, one of the best offenses in the country and one of the best defenses in the country that we rushed for 472 yards on. Because we told the guys that we were going to commit to running the football and we told the guys that buy into it, believe in it, we are running the football against these guys because nobody’s tried it like we’re going to try it and the kids bought into it.
“Kids don’t buy into it if they’ve given in. Kids don’t buy into it if they’re a half-foot out the door. Our kids bought into it and we stuffed it down their throat the entire game running the football and we lost. And I’m crushed because of that. But I’m going to stand up here with frigging pride and say we battled our ass off against a really good team and I’m crushed we lost the football game but I’m more upset with … “
Kansas State scored 24 points in the second quarter and had a 12-point lead with seven minutes to go in the game when Jackson scored on a 24-yard run and the Wildcats went for two and a 14-point lead. But Tao Johnson intercepted a pass on the conversion attempt and ran the ball back for a 2-point conversion for the Utes.
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That cut KSU’s lead to 10 before Utah went on a 12-play, 75-yard drive to make it a 47-44 game. After Kansas State went three-and-out and took just 22 seconds off the clock, Utah had a seven-play drive that went 70 yards as QB Devon Dampier scored the game-winning touchdown with 56 seconds to go.
Thanks to the interception on the conversion attempt, the extra point put Utah up four and meant Kansas State needed to score a TD to have any chance of a win. Utah then intercepted QB Avery Johnson on the second play of KSU’s final possession.
The loss kept Utah in the hunt for the College Football Playoff while Kansas State fell to 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big 12. The Wildcats need to beat Colorado at home in Week 14 to get to a bowl game.
