Amid defensive end Tobi Osunsanmi's long-term injury, Kansas State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman mentioned the players who needed to step up in his absence.

And those players were the same ones coach Chris Klieman shouted out after the blowout victory over TCU Saturday afternoon. Klieman highlighted defensive end Jordan Allen and linebacker Desmond Purnell as the heroes against the Horned Frogs.

"Losing Tobi has hurt us, but I was proud of Jordan Allen," Klieman said in his postgame interview. "We’re gonna rotate a bunch of guys there. And I was trying to tell them to keep Desmond in the game; he was having one of those days. So happy for him and the game he had."

Wildcats fans were likely devastated after the Osunsanmi news, but Saturday's performance should provide some hope. In a must-have matchup against TCU, Kansas State had its best defensive performance of the season. Even allowing 28 points and nearly 450 yards of total offense, the team forced turnovers that turned into points, holding Josh Hoover and the Horned Frogs down most of the afternoon.

Purnell had his best performance of the season with two interceptions (one for a touchdown), a sack, and two pass deflections.

"Desmond is one of the best players in our conference, and I’ve said that for the last couple years," Klieman said. "He’s very underrated, very smart, and he’s always that guy who can make those splash plays. I think adding the couple of coverages we did really helped him, and he made some plays on the ball. He’s a really good dropper in coverage. He had a great rush on a sack; he just does everything really well. I was really pleased for him."

K-STATE'S CHRIS KLIEMAN EXPRESSES NOTHING BUT GLEE AFTER LATEST VICTORY

Kansas State is coming off its best performance of the season over TCU Saturday evening.

And no one is more excited than head coach Chris Klieman. Klieman gave a fiery speech in his pregame press conference, discussing how his team would overcome adversity amid the lackluster start. That message must have translated to the field against the Horned Frogs, who gave quarterback Josh Hoover a rough day despite throwing for over 375 yards and three touchdowns.

"I thought we played well in all three phases at times," Klieman said in his postgame interview. "There’s always going to be things that we’ve gotta get better at and work at, but we came out with energy and urgency. We came out with physicality and did some really good things. We let the first quarter slip, where we had some opportunities and didn’t capitalize. But to have the resolve after they scored, go right down the field and tie it, and then the big play that we get with Wesley [Fair] on the touchdown. Obviously, it was a big lift for us."