Matt Rhule on play of Zach Smith, injuries, KSU

— I think they’ve gotten a lot better from week to week and we’re hoping to do that again this week. We think we’re a team where every game is going to come down to 5-6-7 plays and we hope we can be on the right side of those. I’m definitely proud of how far they have come.

— KSU is my kind of football team. Tough, hard-nosed, disciplined. QB that can run throw and run. Every side of the ball complements each other. No greater coach to coach against than Coach Snyder.

— The team feels that a close loss isn’t what they want. Anytime you win or lose you can let emotion take over of be very disciplined and get better from it. We can’t say we gave a great effort. We have to become a tougher football team. Toughness shows up in the fourth quarter. Proud of their courage, but at the same time, we have to get better in a lot of areas. That to me is the whole point of what I said.

— I thought Zach Smith was fantastic and even ran it a couple of times where we hoped he’d hand the ball off. I think he was just out there and playing and he was trusting his receivers. We challenged our receivers and our receivers stepped up. The biggest thing that I took away is that he is courageous and he can make the big throw that a lot of people can’t make. He made throws that I haven’t seen a lot of people make. He wasn’t careless with the football.

— Xavier Jones will be out for a while with a broken bone in his leg. Maurice Porter we think will be available but we will wait and see with an old injury that flared up. Chris Platt is getting a second opinion on his knee.

— Two weeks ago Zach Smith had some bright moments. I think you saw leadership versus Oklahoma. He played at a really high level. We challenged the team to allow him to play well. Denzel Mims, Tony Nicholson and other receivers made him plays to help him get going.

— It cements to Smith that he can do this. I can be out there, take some hits, get us in the right play, and make some of the throws he makes. He’s a confident guy, but he’s working on start No. 6. He’s still a young pup. He can make the big play while not turning the football over. That’s what kept us in the game was that he made big plays but never made a bad decision. He’s in here as much as the coaches. He’s a film junky and gym rat. So for that to pay off, I think that will only push him forward in that regard.

— I think the biggest thing (preventing him from starting earlier) was protecting the football. The No. 1 job for our quarterbacks is not turning the ball over. That’s why Saturday was such a huge step. Other than the last play of the game, to throw the ball that many times and be really accurate and protect the football, that’s what we were kind of looking for from him. He’s a young guy and learning it so to play on that stage against that team and do that, that was something that didn’t happen in his first start and wasn’t always what we were looking for in the preseason.

— I see a lot of guys on defense who are walking around here on defense who are pretty angry right now. I’m just kind of an incrementalist, so I think of things as all getting slightly better week in and week out. I think the way our defense played against Duke, and you see Duke go out and beat North Carolina, that was encouraging, and our offense steps up and do what they did.

— JaMycal Hasty is expected back after the off week and hopefully, will play against Oklahoma State.