Sept. 6, 2008

Recap | Final Stats | Notes |

Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino Quotes:

On today’s performance:

“Any time you can defeat a good football team, shut them out, put up the kind of offensive numbers that we did today, you have to feel good. It wasn’t perfect. We still have areas that we need to work on, continue to work on, and continue to get better. The positives are, our defense played extremely well even in a couple of tough spots and the offense moved the ball extremely well up and down the field. We’ve got to work on red zone offense. We need to get more touchdowns in the red zone, and that is something that we will address this week. But there was an outstanding performance by our players, we beat what I think is a pretty good football team. I think they will win more of their share of games. They are going to have an outstanding year in their conference.”

On S Darrell Stuckey:

“I told the kids in the locker room a minute ago that the gutsiest play in the game of football is when a player is out in the open running for a touchdown and you’re the only guy that can make the play, and you may not have the angle you’d like to have, you have everything going against you, but yet you go down and make a play. Phillip Livas is a sprinter, Stuckey ran him down, and he had an angle, no question, but Livas nine out of ten times will outrun that angle and Darrell showed the fortitude that he was going to make that play, made a stop at the one, and comes back and makes a tackle on the next play. They miss a field goal, and the complexion of the game is completely changed because Darrell Stuckey chose to hustle.”

On QB Todd Reesing’s efficiency tonight:

“Our offense tonight I thought was well prepared and took what they were given. The first half of the game I didn’t think we ran the ball well, I thought we were poor on back side cut-off, and I thought the backs didn’t hit the lane as quickly as we’d like them to. But in the second half we did. Our offensive line did a better job.”

On RB Angus Quigley’s performance:

“I thought Angus did a lot of positive things. He still ran a little bit high, his shoulder pads aren’t quite down as much as you’d like, but I thought he did a nice job of picking his way and accelerating through lanes. It’s been a long road for Angus, and no one wants to see Angus do better than we do as coaches. Maybe this is a sign of things to come for him.”

Junior Quarterback Todd Reesing

On what receiver’s he targets on a given play:

“Whoever is open and whatever the play calls for. We have a lot of guys that are able to make plays. We’re not just looking for one guy. As you can see, we throw to a lot of different people. We have a lot of guys that can make plays and having that depth at receiver is real big for us.”

On having several offensive weapons:

“We have guys that can make plays at all the receiver spots, and at running back. If the offensive line blocks like they did, then there is an opportunity for a lot of big plays out there.”

On the running game:

“It’s tough to say. The first two teams we played blitzed a lot and put a lot of guys in the box, which gave us the opportunity to throw a lot. It’s hard to say where we are at right now based on that. When we play someone that doesn’t blitz as much, it will give us a chance to get some more things going. In the second half, we got the running game going. Angus (Quigley) came in and hit the holes hard. I’m pleased and a lot depends on what the defense gives us.”

Junior Running Back Angus Quigley

On his running style:

“I’m one of those downhill runners. I’m not going to get fancy. I’m going to do what I’m asked to do. If they want me to run downhill, that’s what I will do. I know the offense inside and out, so when the chance comes, I know what I’m doing. That helps a lot. This is my fourth year in the program and I know all the guys on the line and I trust them. Hopefully they trust me and we can build from here.”

On getting his chance tonight:

“I can’t tell you I saw this chance. I was amazed when Coach came to me at the end of the first half and said that I might be going in at the start of the next half. I was thinking, `What? I’m a fourth quarter guy, what am I doing in the third quarter.’ It was surprising to me. But if that’s what they want me to do, I’ll take them (carries) and do my best from here on out.”

Senior Joe Mortensen

On the defense not allowing a touchdown for the second straight game:

“It feels good. We now have the goose egg on the board and that is what we wanted. This is the second shutout that we have gotten since I have been here and it is nice to get another shutout.”

On Darrell Stuckey’s touchdown-saving play:

“It becomes routine because during practice the coaches always stress running after the ball and if we don’t then we will be running after practice. It becomes second nature. Everyone has to chase the ball and try to get to the ball carrier.”

Junior Safety Darrell Stuckey:

On his touchdown-saving tackle:

“I felt like I was moving pretty well. I saw that he was really moving so I told myself, `I’ve to go’. I thought I was fast enough to catch him and I was so thankful to God for that.”

More on the touchdown-saving tackle:

“I think Coach Mangino summed it up well after the game when he talked about how mental toughness defines character and defines a man. The play defines me as human being and how willing I was to throw everything out there for my team. It was important for us to get a shutout and for us to stop them from scoring. I thought if I made a play we could stop them from scoring and we did.”

Freshman Cornerback Isiah Barfield

On the defense in the first half:

“It seemed like the offense would come out and then we’d be in for a long time. We’re in great condition, so it didn’t affect us that much.”

On continuing to improve the defense:

“Everyone has to be assignment-sound. The defensive line has to stop the run, and we (the secondary) will stop the pass.”

On the turning point in the game:

“Chris Harris’ interception was huge, but I believe the turning point in the game has to be when Darrell Stuckey hawked down that runner at the two or three yard line. We had a goal line stand, and that was the turning point of the game.”

Louisiana Tech Head Coach Derek Dooley

His thoughts on the game:

“Kansas is an outstanding football team, and when you play an outstanding football team you better take advantage of any opportunities that you get. We had a couple of opportunities early to put some points on the board and we didn’t do it. When you don’t take advantage of opportunities against a good football team then it is going to be a long night.”

On the missed tackles on Kansas WR Dezmon Briscoe’s second-half touchdown:

“It was disappointing. It was a good run but that shouldn’t happen, I don’t care how good the runner is. We will look at the tape and hopefully correct it and get a little better next week.”

On missed scoring opportunities:

“Any time you get down there (in the red zone) and don’t get points it is devastating. We had two drives in the first half where we didn’t convert. The second time they knocked it out and got an interception. That was disappointing, but it was 13-0 at the half and we couldn’t get anything going on offense in the second half. We thought we had a chance when we were down 20-0 if we could punch one in. But we got no points out of it. When you play a good football team you better take advantage of those opportunities.”

On his team’s defense:

“We didn’t really stop anything. They had about 500 and something yards. The only thing we did do well early was keeping them out of the end zone. But that can only keep you in the game so long if you don’t score any points.”

On the play of the offense:

“We have a long way to go with throwing and catching. I was disappointed in how we ran the ball, and we aren’t going to win too many football games if we don’t run the ball better. Kansas is a good team and we didn’t play very well.”