Quotes
Sept. 20, 2008
Recap | Final Stats |
Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino Quotes:
On the team’s performance today:
“First of all, I thought that Sam Houston State did a good job of coming here and being prepared, and they played really hard and really well. I thought we played okay. I don’t think there was anything that was remarkable about our play tonight. I think we got a win, which is a key thing, but we still have areas that we must improve in before Big 12 Conference play.”
On the success of third-down conversions:
“That was a bright spot. That was something that we did well. We still have to be able to put ourselves in situations where we’re not in a lot of third-down situations. We get ourselves in a lot of third-down situations that I don’t like.”
On Reesing’s pass to Briscoe:
“I think Todd did make some plays happen tonight, and I think he’ll be the first to admit that he flushed the pocket on several occasions where there was protection. He threw off his front foot, jumping in the air and throwing it, and I talked to him about it. I just want him to play quarterback, and I don’t want him to think that he has to do everything. Obviously he believes that somewhere, somebody told him that he needs to be the whole show. He doesn’t. He has a good supporting cast there, and he’s putting a lot of pressure on himself to make too many plays. He flushed the pocket several times when he didn’t have to. He told me he realized it and he settled down in the second half.”
On offensive blocking:
“I thought the perimeter was better in the run game. I think the offensive line still needs work, and we’re not just talking about the freshman guys here. We’re talking about veteran guys, and I told some of those guys that they need to get it moving, or we’re going to have to find some younger kids that will get in there and create some creases in the run game. We ran the ball decent in the beginning, and then we didn’t run as well as I’d like to. The running backs did an adequate job tonight, but in the offensive line we’ve got to get better at creating some creases and finishing blocks in the run game. That’s an urgent need for us.”
Kansas Player Quotes
Junior Quarterback Todd Reesing
On Kerry Meier’s play at wide receiver:
“It’s really unbelievable what he does on the field, because of the amount of time he spends working with the wideouts is not much at all. He still has to be ready as a quarterback if he has to play in certain situations. His work at wideout is limited, so for him to go out there and make the plays he does game after game is unbelievable. You can’t coach that and you can’t teach that. It’s just his ability to make plays as a receiver.”
On the 57-yard TD pass to Dezmon Briscoe:
“I guess I just pulled a rabbit out of the hat there. I just kept running around, and I picked up some good blocks from my offensive line who stayed with the play. They know when I’m back there, they never know what will happen. They get a little upset about it sometimes, but they stayed with the play and Briscoe found a way to get open. We made a big play there.”
On trying to do too much:
“We don’t want to be scrambling around too much. We want to be able to sit in the pocket and execute our offense. The main thing is knowing when there is a chance to make a big play through scrambling and when to just tuck the ball and get what I can. On the fumble that I had, I tried to do a little too much and I bobbled it. I should have tucked it and taken what I could have got. But that’s how I play, I’m going to go out there and try and make a play every time. I just need to know when I have a chance to make one and when not to force things.”
On the running game:
“I thought we did a good job. We got the run established early. We hit some big plays, so we didn’t have a chance to get a drive going through running plays. We bounced back in the end and did some good things in the running game. I thought Angus and Jocques both ran the ball well. I thought we did a better job, but we still have a lot of improvement to make.
Junior Running Back Angus Quigley
On his first start as a Jayhawk:
“It was fun. It was a little different. I’ve worked hard and I’m just happy to have gotten that opportunity.”
On trying to become the team’s featured back:
“We’re just going to continue to work. Whatever the coaches go with, then that’s what I’m going to go with. We’re just trying to get this run game going and get these numbers up.”
On the shake-up in the starting lineup:
“I’ve been playing a little more in these past few games. I guess Coach figured that I could help the team out, so I got my first career start tonight. I was happy about that, but I know we’re going to just keep trying to improve.”
Junior Wide Receiver Raimond Pendleton
On getting the start:
“I was told that I would be starting on Thursday after meetings. I brought a lot of intensity in practice and I felt like I blocked well this week. Blocking was an emphasis all week in practice. We were supposed to block until we heard the whistle. I thought I did a good job of blocking tonight.”
Junior Safety Darrell Stuckey
On the defense making the first big play of the game:
“It felt good to be on the field and play together as a defense. It was nice to come up big and put our offense in the position to score. We did a great job tonight and I think we came together as a defense.”
On wanting to get into the end zone after his interception:
“I wanted to get in the end zone pretty bad. I beat myself up pretty bad about it, but it happens.”
On the Sam Houston State offense:
“Their offense played hard and they have a lot of heart. Rhett (Bomar) is a great quarterback. He played very well and put balls where they needed to be. He did a lot of great things, scrambling-wise and reading coverages. He did a lot of good things and kept us on our toes all night. I respect him a lot.”
Sam Houston State Head Coach Todd Whitten Quotes
His thoughts on the game:
“We need to be cleaner in a lot of areas. I think that we will be. I think that we have a good receiving core, but we are not as clean as we should be.”
On what he said to the team after the game:
“I told them that I was proud of their effort and I appreciated the way they played. I thought that they played hard. We really got a handle on some things and know what we need to work on. We have to play better on third down and improve the kicking game.”
On whether or not the loss was acceptable because of the division difference:
“I don’t know. There might be some of that in there. Any time you lose it is tough. The bad stuff and the kicking game are just irritating me now.”
Sam Houston State Player Quotes
QB Rhett Bomar
On the game:
“I took a lot of positives out of this game. We hadn’t played in more than three weeks because of the hurricane and everything like that. We came out on fire in the first half and shot ourselves in the foot. I thought as a whole we went up against a good team. I just came out and played with them. They have a good offense. A few times you have to go out and try to make a big play and they had a few interceptions. They have a real good team defensive-wise. I thought we played well against them.”
On playing against Kansas:
“I’ve played in the Big 12 and I thought we came out and played really well against Oklahoma State last year. We couldn’t score like we did today against Oklahoma State, otherwise, that would have been a completely different ballgame. I’ve played these guys before. It’s not like I was scared. I thought (the 2006) team was very solid defensively. They struggled on offense. Now they have both offense and defense.”
On if he could move the ball at will:
“I wouldn’t say I could move it at will. We pulled off some good plays and executed well for the most part – getting the ball out quick and avoiding the pass rush. I thought in the first half we moved it at will. We just made a few mistakes and you can’t do that against a team like this.”
LB Nolen Bucek
On the performance of the Bearkat defense:
“It felt good to keep the score close. I think defensively we played pretty well. Kansas is not a big run team but we shut down the run pretty well. I think what killed us was mistakes and Reesing’s ability to scramble and get guys open. It was a lot like sandlot ball.”
On building confidence:
“It was a very competitive game and should bring us a lot of confidence going into the next game.”
On Reesing’s scramble:
“It wasn’t the killer but it definitely hurt our morale. We felt very confident but I saw some of the guys’ heads go down after that play. We did a good job picking each other up and stayed strong throughout, but that was a pivotal point.”
