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ADVOCARE V100 TEXAS BOWL: KANSAS STATE VS TEXAS A&M

December 27, 2016

Jesse Ertz

Houston, Texas

Q. How would you evaluate the week before the game through practice?
JESSE ERTZ: Just on a general basis or this week in particular?

Q. The week in particular, leading up to it. Coach said in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, you had some of the best practices that he could remember.
JESSE ERTZ: I think this was a really good week of practice. I think the way you kind of judge that is just by, you know, the energy level, as well as there's going to be time where you screw up a play and you have to re-run it and things like that.

We just have a very small amount of those this whole week and I really feel like even last week and the week before that, it's been a really good Bowl prep, one of better ones I can remember being a part of.

Q. How anxious are you to play after the layoff?
JESSE ERTZ: I think we are all biting at the bit to get out there and play. There are so many practices and time between now and the last game. It's been three weeks, and I mean, we are just kind of tired of doing the same thing every day. We want something new. So we have all been watching film and seeing this opponent and we are ready to go.

Q. How do you carry your momentum from all those wins into this final game?
JESSE ERTZ: I think you just keep doing what we always do, and kind of like what Coach said, the preparation to each game is always the same. It's not really going to change a whole lot. You know, we know the schedule. We know what each day, the important things to focus on, and as long as we do that, we'll be ready.

Q. As you go back and study your own play this year, how do you self-assess?
JESSE ERTZ: I mean, I have a lot of room to improve. I believe I will improve. So throughout the whole season, obviously I think it was kind of about what you would expect looking back. I was pretty inexperienced. A lot of the guys went off as pretty experienced, so as a unit we continue to get better, and hopefully the next season it's the same.

Q. Traditionally when the quarterback star comes back, shows great progress; Collin did; Jake did. How much does it excite you that you have that opportunity in front of you now?
JESSE ERTZ: I mean, I said it from the start of the season: After last year, I just want to get on the field. There's nothing more fun to me than just being able to play football with friends, and to get the opportunities, I'm very thankful and really that's all I'm looking for.

So as long as I'm on the field, I would care less about stats, as long as we win.

Q. What would the thrill be to lead this team to a Bowl victory?
JESSE ERTZ: I think it would be big because as a fan base, everyone always talks about that we have not been good in Bowl games; that we have a low win percentage in Bowl games. I wasn't around for any of those losses, a lot of us weren't, so we're kind of get tired of hearing about it. So we are all anxious to get out there and try to get a win for the fans.

Q. What do you think the turning point was for you this season? Was it maybe the Texas game?
JESSE ERTZ: I think West Virginia was a really big learning experience for everybody. You're in an environment where I can't hear the running back next to me and it's a tight game. We're having a lot of miscommunication and things just going wrong and stuff.

I think after that game, we kind of all left knowing it's never going to be as tough a situation as that was. I mean, that was really good. I think that was, as bad as it is to lose the game, there's a lot of positives that came from it and from then on, whatever the next game would have been, we slowly started building and here we are.

Q. You worked closely on the offense with Byron. Can you talk about his production a little bit?
JESSE ERTZ: Yeah, Byron, he's got a ton of talent, and we have multiple receivers that have a lot of talent but I think we all knew from this off-season that Byron was going to be huge. He's so versatile, he can play inside, outside. He's strong. He can run, and you're starting to see him now, he's really getting comfortable with knowing the schemes and stuff; that he's playing more confident, and it's starting to show.

Q. You've probably already been asked this, but what do you see from A&M defense?
JESSE ERTZ: I think, you know, you're looking at an athletic defense that's got good size. They have got a real big defensive line, athletic, that can rush the passer. You know, secondary, they fly around and they like to tackle. They are solid. They are a good team. So it will be good.

Q. Was the rest off during the end of the season beneficial for your own health? Do you have to go through less to get on the field each day?
JESSE ERTZ: Yeah, I think it's good for everybody. Everyone is going to have aches and pains and certain sprains and things like that and all that stuff just to clear away in these weeks. It's good for everybody.

Q. How much better do you feel right now?
JESSE ERTZ: I feel much better. I can't complain too much because everybody is going through it.

Q. How physically demanding is the quarterback run game? You went through a whole season.
JESSE ERTZ: It's obviously a whole different ballgame in high school and this is really my first year running the ball in the Big 12 and things like that.

I'm running the ball and I know my running backs want the ball so, I can't complain too much about anything, because I'm the one getting touches a lot of the time. I'll do whatever I need to do to win and to help the team. It's really no problem.

Q. What's your favorite running play?
JESSE ERTZ: My favorite running play? It's my job to like all of them. I've got to feel comfortable with everything and I try to do that, so I feel pretty good about it.

Q. They compare you to Collin Klein a lot, right?
JESSE ERTZ: I'm not near as big as Collin, I don't think. He was probably -- he was probably 20 pounds heavier than I was, and I didn't actually watch too many of those games. I was still in high school in Iowa. I wasn't really watching a lot of the games here.

Q. I remember they sent the Band-Aids out for the Heisman. I still have them in my medicine chest. Do you still get all the scrapes?
JESSE ERTZ: I did earlier on. I know I started wearing tights and things like that. That kind of helped a little bit. But sometimes, you know, you're going to get a little turf burn.

Q. How much fun was it as a team, once you established the running game, second half of the season, to stay with it and just keep gaining yards when teams know it's coming?
JESSE ERTZ: Yeah, I think we had so many new players that we were kind of trying to establish what our style really was. You know, because we feel like we're strong in every area, but you know, we're trying to get everything on the field, and I think for whatever reason, you know, we started hitting big plays in the run game and we just stuck with it and it's been great for us. It's kind of been established as who we are as we run the ball. So it's been positive things for us and hopefully we can keep doing it well.

Q. You guys have gained a lot of momentum coming into this game but how important is it to keep that momentum going?
JESSE ERTZ: It's huge. I think every one of us is feeling like the next year, next two years, could be really special. We have a lot of returners and we are just a young people.

9-4 would just feel a lot better than 8-5. Just a bigger separation, I guess, wins, losses. We're all feeling like it's a really important game.

Q. You were talking a second ago about the identity of the offense, running the ball. At Stanford, beginning of the year, did you think this was going to be the identity of the offense?
JESSE ERTZ: I don't know necessarily if I would have said I didn't think that or I did think that. It was just kind of one of those things where we're kind of figuring things out, and you know, it just kind of happened that way.

Q. From your perspective, do you think this time off is an advantage or disadvantage for your team?
JESSE ERTZ: I think it's an advantage because we had some guys missing some games at the end of the year and we were able to get them back. Like I said earlier, just small things, everyone is dealing with, playing with, a lot of those go away. It's good for everybody.

Q. Have you been totally healthy all year?
JESSE ERTZ: Me, I've been healthy enough. I've been pretty good. I've been lucky.

Q. Your knee wasn't an issue early on?
JESSE ERTZ: No, I just had some -- it was kind of like some deep bruising. They were just kind of swollen and it's nothing anymore. It's gone away.

Q. How much has the running game changed from the first six to the last, was it all execution?
JESSE ERTZ: There's more to it than just throwing a run play out there and running it. We're getting in the right run play that accounts for everybody that needs to be blocked. The execution, and playing with confidence; there's less hesitation. Maybe a guy pulling knows exactly where he's going compared to maybe being a little unsure or a running back is hitting at full steam. Just everyone is improving. It's just kind of showing as we go along.

Q. What challenges do you see from their defense tomorrow?
JESSE ERTZ: They are going to be big. They are going to be fast. It's a solid defense all around. I don't think there's any in-particular thing where it's like, we don't think we can do that. We're going to do what we do and come to play. But you know, they are definitely going to be a quality team.

Q. Anything jump out at you when you see Myles Garrett?
JESSE ERTZ: You know, he's a really good pass rusher. I'd say that's probably what jumps out at first. He's got very good speed for his size. You know, you have to account for that.

Q. When you talked about this could be a very special team in a year, two years, are you talking about Kansas State, like the very, very elite, competing for a National Championship?
JESSE ERTZ: That's our goal. You look at it, an offensive standpoint, we lose I think three guys that played quite a bit of minutes. That's a lot of people coming back. A lot of those guys have more than one year. It could be really special but I mean, if we just say that, it doesn't really go too far, so we'll play and see what happens.

Q. How does going against Jordan Willis help you out, going against Myles Garrett tomorrow?
JESSE ERTZ: I think you ask any of us on offense, who go against Jordan, we feel like Jordan is as good as anybody. So to have that, and you hear all of these really good things about Myles Garrett, and he's a really good player, it's pretty obvious.

But you feel like you have a measuring stick and you kind of just say, you know, it's going to be similar to Jordan, that type of thing. I've never played him. I really don't know. That's kind of the way I look at it.

Q. Do you ever go good-on-good in practice where you would face Jordan?
JESSE ERTZ: Yeah, we have a couple periods every day that is like up-tempo, ones-against-ones and things like that.

Q. So you have a taste of it?
JESSE ERTZ: Yeah, yeah. So it's nothing like I've never experienced, having to account for him or anything like that. He'll be a good player.

Q. They have a pretty good defensive end on the other side, Daeshon Hall. Do you feel like you might have to have kind of your head on a swivel a little bit?
JESSE ERTZ: Yeah, I think he doesn't get enough credit probably. Because I know he plays hard and I know he's, again, a big player that can move. You know, anybody that plays aggressive and plays with confidence, we feel like their whole defense has that. That's going to be tough.

It's going to be a good challenge and we are looking forward to it.

Q. Do you guys feel like tomorrow will be a neutral site game, or do you feel like a road game with A&M being so close?
JESSE ERTZ: I guess we'll see how it feels when we start. I mean, you know, you can kind of tell with crowd noise and things like that I guess. We'll be ready for that regardless.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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