KU Football Press Conference Quotes (Sept. 4, 2007)
Sept. 4, 2007
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Kansas Players of the Week vs. Central Michigan
(as selected by the KU coaching Staff)
Offense Todd Reesing
Defense John Larson and
James Holt
Special Teams Scott Webb
Scout Offense Alex Smith
Scout Defense Richard Johnson
Head Coach Mark Mangino:
Reflecting back on the victory over Central Michigan:
“It was a good start for us out of the blocks. I am really pleased with all phases of the game, but there are still plenty of things left to be done.”
On the defensive effort on Saturday night:
“We were able to play good, solid defense against the pass and the run. We still have some things to work on with our defense. Our interior defensive linemen need to learn to start playing with leverage and our secondary still needs to squeeze and narrow the zone lanes down in pass coverage. We played a good first game, but we missed too many tackles. We had the opportunity to put people on the ground pretty quickly, but we didn’t do it. Having said that, overall, I am pleased with the first night out.”
On the offense against Central Michigan:
“I like the way our kids managed the game. Our quarterback, Todd Reesing, did a good job of managing the game. He played very well, not a lot of mistakes. He made some, but he will improve on them. We ran the ball well. The offensive line got off the ball and created some creases. Brandon McAnderson and Jake Sharp both ran very well. That’s the way you want to start of the season. There were a lot of positive things (on offense) as well.”
On the special teams play against Central Michigan:
“I liked the way our coverage people played with the exception of the first kickoff return. But other than that, the coverage was very, very good. I especially liked the fact that we were able to return a punt for a touchdown. When you look at the tape you see that everybody got a hat on a hat. Raimond (Pendelton) found the lane and burst through it. He leveraged his blocks the way he was supposed to. (Kicker) Scott Webb did a nice job. He was perfect on PAT’s. He had a field goal and he booted three (kickoffs) through the end zone for touchbacks, which were crucial.”
On this week’s opponent, Southeastern Louisiana:
“On defense they will be speedy in the secondary. They will have a huge offensive line and they are working a young quarterback, Brian Babin, who shows a lot of promise. They ran the ball decent (last week) against New Mexico State. They are looking for their first victory and it is our job to make sure that it doesn’t happen here.”
Kansas Player Quotes
Freshman cornerback Chris Harris
On his first collegiate game of football:
“It’s a lot different to go from playing in front of 300 people to thousands. I was very anxious going into it. After I made my first tackle, it took away a little bit of nerve.”
On preparing for Central Michigan:
“It was hard to prepare for. We prepared for so many different teams because we didn’t know what they were going to do. That was kind of hard going into the first game knowing that we were basically just going to have to play and do what we do best without knowing what they were going to do.”
On preparing for Southeastern Louisiana:
“We just want to work on the stuff that we messed up on last weekend to get better. We just want to go into it a better team and better on everything we do on defense.”
On having Kendrick Harper back in a couple of weeks:
“Having Kendrick (Harper) back is just going to make us both better. It’s going to make the whole team better. From the team aspect I look at it as a lot better. I don’t know what the coaches have planned, but as long as I keep playing good, the only thing I worry about is making this team better.”
Freshman wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe
On the speed of the Kansas offense:
“It’s pretty fast. Coach (Tim) Beck, my recruiting coordinator, told me that they were changing the whole scheme, and with the new offense, I believe that it got us more conditionally sound. I like the offense; it’s similar to my high school offense.”
On other options for school:
“I had Boise State, Missouri, Iowa, Baylor and Texas Tech. The recruiting coordinator for Texas Tech wasn’t sure if I would have an opportunity to play and show my talent early. Coach Beck told me that I would have the chance to come here and play early, so I took advantage of that opportunity.”
Sophomore wide receiver Raimond Pendleton
On his first game in a couple of years:
“It was a very long wait. I was excited to come into it and see what I could do. I forgot what game day jitters were like. I needed to work on my speed, learning the playbook more and understanding our offense better. I worked with the strength staff on my speed. I worked really hard in the off-season last year and worked on my game. I’ve always thought of myself as more of a game-time player. When you practice for two years, it makes you better, but when game time comes around, you have the chance to see how you are. I was extremely pumped. It was my time to shine and get on the field and execute.”
On his punt return game:
“I returned punts in high school. I had really good hands and good awareness of the ball in high school. I returned a lot during two-a-days last year and in the spring I picked it up again, but the rugby kicker (for Central Michigan) was weird. The ball bounced funny. There was usually one hop, then it went out of bounds, you never knew where it was going to go. Sometimes he would kick it high in the air, sometimes it was a low line drive. There were helicopter spins or end-over-end punts. It was unpredictable. We studied that in practice last week and we were prepared for how it was going to go. We had Tuck (Kyle Tucker) roll out and soccer kick the ball like the kicker was doing on film. He did a good job of it.”
Senior Fullback Brandon McAnderson
On Offensive Coordinator Ed Wariner:
“I think its fun working for him; he has a great sense of urgency. On the practice field he’s high wired and he’s confident. He makes every practice repetitions important. A lot of time at practice people will take reps off, but he makes the player focus on every rep and the execution of every rep and remember the little things you were taught every time on every play, so when you get to Saturday you can perform the task.”
On what’s new about the running game:
“Not a whole lot. It’s pretty much the same thing. I’d say our mentality is different. It is probably because of (Wariner) and because of our team in general and our leadership. I think it is just more of a confidence and he’s obviously had a lot to do with that, and our team and our peers have had a lot to do with that as well.”
Junior Cornerback/Wide Receiver Aqib Talib
On true freshman cornerback Chris Harris:
“He did a great job. We are graded on every game and he graded-out pretty well. He did not have any minuses or missed assignments and he had a lot of tackles. He had a pretty good game.”
On his role on offense:
“I’m going in to do the same thing the other receivers do. I am going in a series at-a-time, just to run whatever plays they want to call, as if any other receiver were in there.”
On the Jayhawk offense scoring 52 points:
“I love to see our offense put points on the board like that. It’s exciting for us too. It’s different and it will carry over to the next game. It gives us confidence to open up the new offense. If we had come out and scored like 21 points, we may be thinking, `Man, our offense is not that good.’ But we scored 52 points, so we already know that we have an explosive offense. There were some questions because we had never run the offense in a game. But we scored 52 points, so we know how successful it is now.”
On if the team fears being overconfident:
“I do not think our coaches will allow us to be too confident and overlook our opponent. That is not the type of team that we are. We are going to take this game as if it were any other game.”
Junior Guard Chet Hartley
On the game:
“We played real well together. Everybody fit together and everybody was talking and communicating out there real well. This year it seems like everybody is communicating, every technique and defensive alignment. We are molding together really well.”
On two running backs running for more than 100 yards:
“It’s a good feeling. It makes us feel that we did our job. It shows that. Even if they did not (reach 100 yards) we may still feel good, but that just proves that we did our job.”
On the team’s conditioning:
“I think our conditioning paid off. You could tell that they were more tired than us by the end of the game. Their defensive linemen were tapping their heads, wanting to get out after every third snap. They were tired.”
On the meaning of Appalachian State’s victory over No. 5 Michigan:
“It goes to show that anybody can beat anybody on any given day. They (Southeastern Louisiana) look pretty good. They are pretty athletic, so it should be a good game. We hope to keep our momentum going, just like last week.”
