Postgame Quotes
April 30, 2011
Recap |
Postgame Quotes
Kansas Football Spring Game
April 30, 2011
Lawrence, Kan. — Memorial Stadium
Kansas head coach Turner Gill
His thoughts on the spring game:
“I think the execution of our offense, for the most part, particularly when (quarterback) Jordan Webb was in the ballgame, did some good things. I like the tempo in the huddle, getting out to the line of scrimmage, getting plays called, getting lined up and executing. Overall, I thought they did some good things.”
On the defensive line:
“I think Toben (Opurum) is going to be a guy to be reckoned with in the Big 12. I think he’s going to be a guy people are going to be talking about as time goes along. For the rest of the defensive line, I’m going to look at the tape and find a couple other guys who did some good things. (Pat) Lewandowski made a couple good plays. He got a lot of reps, so I know he was worn out towards the end of the scrimmage.”
On Huldon Tharp:
“It was good to see Huldon Tharp out there. I definitely saw some things there that I hadn’t seen because he just hadn’t had a whole lot of reps. He was able to get off the blocks and make some tackles, so I think he was one guy that caught my eye for sure.”
On if the team is farther along now than it was at this point last year:
“It’s no doubt that we are a better football team than we were last year, and we have a lot more confidence in our guys. Then there are some guys that are able to make more plays. When you’re playing games and scrimmages, you’ve got to have a guy on offense and a guy on defense who can make plays, and hopefully there is more than one person that can make a play for you. I think we have that potential. We are looking for the people that will be able to finish and be productive, and I think we’ve seen a few guys that can be productive and make plays in the game.”
On the quarterback Jordan Webb’s interception:
“It was a fourth down play. You still don’t want to throw an interception, but I don’t look at it at the same degree as a first, second or third down situation. I’ll have to see if it was a bad throw or a bad decision. I think it was a bad throw from the beginning, but was it a bad decision? We’ll see what he’s thinking. If he’s thinking in the mindset that it’s fourth down, he’s got to make a play. Overall, one play is not going to totally define what he’s done. Both guys have done some good things, though if I had to give an edge right now, I would give it to Jordan Webb; but with the tape, I will see it a little deeper.”
Freshman Tight End Jimmay Mundine
On what the best aspect of today’s game was for him:
“Probably just getting out there and playing and making plays. I haven’t felt like all of my practices have been that good. After the game today though I feel a lot better.”
On the pace of the offense in today’s game:
“You can definitely feel that we got in a rhythm on offense. We had some stupid penalties though that slowed a couple of our drives down.”
On how he thinks the defense has progressed:
“I think our defense is going to be really good. I hate it when they stop us, but I also like it because I know eventually we’ll be on the same team competing against someone else.”
Sophomore Quarterback Jordan Webb
On how he would evaluate the team’s performance in the game:
“I felt pretty good. I think we did some good things. Obviously we have some things to work on, but overall I think it went pretty well.”
On the tempo of the offense in today’s game:
“I thought our tempo was excellent. It might have been the best we’ve had the whole spring and I think that’s great especially since it’s the Spring Game. That’s when you want to be at your best at the end of spring, so I think we did pretty well.”
On his comfort level throwing out of the pocket:
“I’m definitely feeling a lot more comfortable, but that just comes with experience. The coaches have really been focusing on getting the quarterbacks comfortable with the system and making sure we stay within ourselves.”
On the team’s progress to this point this year, compared to last year:
“It’s been a complete 180. We’re all more comfortable. We know what the coaches want out of us and just try to execute that.”
Sophomore Wide Receiver Christian Matthews
On his play in today’s game:
“I feel like I played well. Our offense was pretty good too. Everyone had a good day today.”
On the improvement of the offense’s tempo this spring:
“It’s been a lot faster. We had a lot of young players last year and a lot of new guys. We’re just excited to get out there and show the fans that we’re ready to play this year.”
On his touchdown catch in the second half:
“It was just a good effort, a good catch. I got a little lucky, but I just made the play. I had clear view of the safety in the corner and I just went up for the catch and got it.”
Sophomore defensive end D.J. Marshall
On how he felt about returning to the field:
“It was really exciting; it has been a long time. I just wanted to prove to everyone that I can still play, to come back from everything that I have been through in the last year, and still play. That my strength and speed are the same caliber as everyone else, if not better.”
On preparing for the upcoming season:
“It is always about getting bigger, faster, stronger; but with me, I will probably need to gain the weight that I was at before my situation. My knowledge of the playbook and things like that are things that I need to get adjusted to, being back in the program.”
On playing time this fall:
“I always have the utmost confidence in myself, even if I still not at 100 percent, I feel like I am the best. If I was in any program I would want to be the best. I am still trying to figure out everything to do. I have to get my pre-snap reads down and the playbook and I think I will be primed to start and do whatever I want to do.”
Sophomore linebacker Darius Willis
On the team’s performance today:
“As a whole we played fast, something that we weren’t trying to think about too much. Everybody came out there and got after it. I felt like both groups looked pretty good, and we just had fun today.”
On if the offense or defense played better:
“I feel like everybody was competing. We didn’t really have a first team or a second team type of deal; everybody was just in the scrimmage. I felt like people going out and having fun was the big thing.”
On difference between this year’s team and last year’s team:
“I think it is the chemistry, everybody trying to come together and do the same thing at the same time. Everybody wants to be as one, and I feel like that is the big thing that we were getting accomplished during the spring.”
Junior defensive end Toben Opurum
On personal goals for the year:
“I do (have some), but I am not going to tell anybody. I keep my goals to myself; you can’t have anyone that expects too much of you, or expects too little of you, but my expectations are high, I will say that. I expect a lot out of myself, as my teammates do, as my coaches do as well.”
On the team’s defense:
“I think that we looked fast, and we are definitely up in our athleticism. We are playing with more intensity and we just have to keep that up.”
On the feel of a spring game:
“It is just another spring scrimmage for us, but it’s nice to have the fans out there to get a look and see what our guys have been working hard on for the 15 practices. While it is nice for everyone to get a look at what we have been working on, we still have a ways to come; we left a lot of stuff out of the playbook, but it will be a completely different looking team in the fall.”
