Postgame Quotes

Sept. 10, 2005

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LAWRENCE, Kan. –

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Kansas 38, Appalachian State 8

Head Coach Mark Mangino

On the game:

“I like the way we ran the ball. I think the offense is starting to come together. I thought our passing game was much improved from last week in terms of running routes and getting the ball where it should be. The defense played well most of the night. We need to develop the mental edge that we had on defense last year. The chemistry of the defense is not exactly where I would like it to be. I think we are even better than the way we played tonight. I thought we lost contain a few times and gave up a big play that I am not pleased about. The defense will start to come together. This was a good game to understand that we still have a little bit further to go on defense before we are where we were at this time last year.”

On KU’s Quarterbacks:

“I think Brian [Luke] did a good job. He had one bad series. Other than that, he managed the game pretty well. He made some good throws. He did a good job checking off. We gave Marcus [Herford] a segment of the offense that we will continue to build upon. There are things that he does well that we didn’t display tonight. He can run the ball extremely well. He can manage the game when he has to. There are routes that he does a very good job with. Marcus is a really good athlete, and he can give us a little spark.”

On Jon Cornish:

“Carrying the football is something that he does very well. The thing that he needs to do is stay on top of his pass protection and blocking in the run game. Slowly but surely, he is putting his game together and is pretty close to becoming a complete player, which is what we need him to be.”

On the defense:

“Last year, we were able to rotate at several positions and it didn’t take anything away from our chemistry. I’m not down on our defense. I think our defense is really good. I just think that there is another level of play for them. They are not far off, though.”

Senior LB Nick Reid

On the defense:

We just don’t have that mental edge that we had last year. We have to get that back. All the preseason talk about us being good got to our heads. We have to get back to that blue-collar mentality. I like to think we show up for every game, but these last two weeks we haven’t. Hopefully, next week we will.”

On ASU Quarterback Richie Williams:

“These last two weeks have been really good for us, because this is what we see in the Big 12. He can run really well. He is a slippery runner and is hard to bring down. He has a great arm. It really helps us for later in the season.”

Senior Quarterback Brian Luke

On his performance:

“I just want to go out each series and play my best. I can’t think of one incident where I thought I made the best play. I am just happy with the way the offensive line played. The guys supported me, and we made some good plays.”

On starting:

“I just try to go out each week and play my hardest. Whether or not I start, that is up to the coaches. I really focused on the things I need to improve on.”

On his receivers:

“Making more catches was something we harped on this week. They definitely did. There were some throws that I threw high, and they went up for it and made the play. They definitely deserve credit for how they played this week.”

Junior WR Brian Murph

On the game:

“We need to finish on offense and defense, and we have to limit the stupid mistakes that we made. I think if we do that, we will be good to go.”

On Jon Cornish:

“He is a great back. Not everyone knows that, but I think they are getting a good glimpse now. He runs hard. I think people are scared to tackle him. He is big, strong, and fast. He’s good.”

ASU Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Jerry Moore

On Kansas:

“Kansas is a good football team. They have a lot of speed and are well-coached. They do a lot of things well, but the thing that sticks out in my mind is the punting game. They have a terrific punter and return guy. They lost some games last year that they had the opportunity to win. We wanted to get them in the same scenario (as last year). We didn’t panic right after they scored. We thought that if we could score after the half to make it a closer game, we would put them in a position to see if they were better than last year. We missed an opportunity to score when we fumbled. We knew that they had really good speed, especially on defense. Their running backs were also quick. They made us miss a good number of tackles. They kept themselves in a good place offensively, and they could mix up their plays. They will be a team to be reckoned with in this league.”

On the game:

“The thing that hurt us is that they dominated the clock in the third quarter. They had the ball for almost eight minutes on their first possession and then we went three and out and gave it right back to them. They keep fresh people in the game especially running backs and receivers and they just wear you down. We enjoy playing Division I-A schools and I’m glad that Kansas wanted to play us.”

On team mistakes:

“Mistakes are part of the game and they’re deflating to everybody. I told our team that from now on the bulk of our schedule is I-AA teams and we can’t make mistakes against them. If Kansas makes the mistakes that we made tonight, they’re just going to be an average team in the Big 12, but if they played like they did and continue to get better, they’re going to have a good season.”

On Jon Cornish:

“Coming in I thought he was a good player. We don’t get the chance to see a lot of Big 12 games. When you get on the field the speed of the game is different than it is in the tapes. Generally we’re a good tackling football team. I was impressed that they were able to continuously break tackles and at how their running backs were always falling forward. I would venture a guess that they had over one hundred yards after contact. That’s the sign of tough kids and a good football team.”

Junior Tight End Daniel Bettis

On his touchdown and two-point conversion:

“We saw it open up and we thought it would be a good short yardage play. It opened up and it worked out.”

On the KU defense:

“They’re a real fast defense. I think we could have ran the ball on them a little more early, but they’re fast and a good defense overall.”

On his expectations of KU:

“I think they were a little surprised we were able to run the ball on them like we did. Their three linebackers are supposed to be pretty good.”

Sophomore Running back Kevin Richardson

On the game:

“We played well, but we just didn’t give the defense a chance to catch their breath.”

On the first drive ending in a fumble recovery for KU:

“It would have given us confidence, but it wasn’t the reason we lost the game.”

On KU’s team ability:

“I thought they were alright. They just have a lot of men. I thought they would be better though, especially in the ­ defensive line. I thought they would be unstoppable, but we had holes to run through.”