Sept. 22, 2007

Recap | Final Stats | Notes | |

Postgame Quotes

Kansas 55, Florida International 3<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

Sept. 22, 2007 – Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas Quotes

Head Coach Mark Mangino

On Brandon McAnderson:

“That’s the key thing, he bounced back. (The fumbles) were uncharacteristic of Brandon, and its unfortunate. Nobody feels worse than he does. That shows you the kind of competitor he is, he put it behind him, and played well the rest of the game. That’s all we look for. The next play is the most important one, and Brandon responded.”

On Todd Reesing:

“He’s doing the things that we’re asking him to do. He’s managing the football game well, managing the offense well. He’s doing a lot of positive things. We knew that he was a talented player and he seems to improve every week. When he does have an area that needs work from week-to-week he seems to get it rectified. He spends a lot of time with his position coach, trying to learn the game. He’s a good student of the game.”

On Aqib Talib’s interception return:

“That’s one of the best plays I’ve seen from a defensive performer in my career. I’ve had the good fortune to be around a lot of quality defensive players, All-Americans and first round draft picks. I’ve got to tell you that’s one of the most impressive plays I’ve seen. For the people that were in the stadium tonight, they got to see a real treat. It was an awesome play, and you don’t get to see that every day in college football.”

On being 4-0:

“No question we accomplished a lot of the goals that we set for ourselves in non-conference. Number one is to win, and we accomplished that. We needed some good work on defense with some of the veteran guys working with young guys. I think we’ve gotten that. We were in-sync except for early in the game tonight. We had some things occur that should not have, a couple of turnovers and penalties in key situations. I want to clean that up. I feel good. Like I’ve said all along, there’s a lot of people that wish they were 4-0, there are a lot of people that were supposed to be 4-0 that aren’t. Bottom line is we are and we have to get ready for conference play.”

Junior Cornerback Aqib Talib

On his interception:

“When I caught it in the end zone, I already had a wall formed. I had some great blocking. I saw four really great blocks, and I know I probably missed a couple. There was some real good blocks on my return. When I made the last cut, I figured I had one guy left to beat. I knew I caught it in the end zone, but I didn’t know how far. When I catch it, I am bringing it out.”

“It was a nice play, but I am not sure if it was the best I’ve ever seen. It was a pretty tight play – I am excited about it. I was out of gas after that play. I didn’t play another play the whole game. Coach (Mangino) told me to take a knee (next time). As soon as I caught the ball, I told myself I’ve got to score.”

On his dropped pass that lead to an FIU interception:

“I kind-of got alligator arms, because I felt (the hit) coming. I turned before I caught the ball, and he was able to put a good hit on me.”

Senior Tight End Derek Fine

On KU’s new offense:

“It is obviously pretty fun lining up in all of these formations and getting to be a part of it. I need to pick up my role a little bit, but it is nice to come out each week and have the opportunity to put up numbers.”

On Kerry Meier playing receiver:

“I was telling coach (Brandon) Blaney how excited I was that Kerry was increasing his role in the offense. He is too good of a player and of an athlete not to be one field. The more we can incorporate him into the offense, the better.”

Junior linebacker Joe Mortensen

On his performance in tonight’s game:

“I took a couple bad angles on the quarterback. He was running around. There was definitely some stuff I can improve on, but they ran the ball a lot and I like teams that like to run.”

On his touchdown that was called back:

“It would have been nice if they would have given it to me. It looked like a fumble to me. I thought it was a touchdown. I heard them blow the whistle when I was at about the two-yard line and I knew they couldn’t challenge it. But overall it was a good day. We scored a couple touchdowns on defense.”

On teammate Junior Linebacker Mike Rivera:

“Yes, it’s fun playing outside (linebacker). I know they’re out there making plays and they’re knocking people out. It’s fun when we are playing downhill, playing hard.”

Sophomore Quarterback Todd Reesing

On his overall thoughts on the game:

“I think we played a lot better on offense. We were moving the ball great in the first half. We just weren’t able to keep the ball in the end zone a few times, but that’s alright. We came out in the second half and played a lot better of finishing our drives. We had a lot of big plays. The line did a great job blocking. The running backs ran real hard. The receivers were open. We had a lot of guys getting open on pass plays. We missed a few and had a few drops, but that happens. I’m definitely a lot more pleased this week.”

On accomplishing what he wanted for himself and the offense in these first four games:

“I think we’ve had a lot of confidence grow from these last four weeks. We know where we’re at as an offense. We know what we can do, where our strengths are and we have to be able to build on that and continue to execute our plays. If we continue in this direction we’ll continue to do fine on offense.”

On Sophomore Quarterback Kerry Meier and the diversity of the offense:

“We want to get our best players on the field and Kerry Meier is a great athlete. We want to find a way to get him on the field. Tonight he made a couple of big plays and we’re going to continue to use him because he’s a threat with his size and speed. Just the knowledge of things we can do on offense is really unlimited.”

Florida International Quotes

Head Coach Mario Cristobal

On the game:

“It was a very humbling experience. Kansas is obviously an excellent football team. They played better, they coached better and they took it to us. We felt pretty good in the first quarter and thought it would be a good football game. Then their depth and execution took control and they ended up playing a great ballgame against us.”

On what FIU learned:

“We can learn that if you don’t jump on a team as good as Kansas early, and if you turn the ball over early like we did you dig yourself a whole against an offensive machine.”

On going into conference play:

“We were getting better every week up until this point. Today we took a step backwards, but it certainly wasn’t out of lack of effort. We’ve got to match up and do things correctly mentally.”

On the Kansas defense:

“They are an excellent defense. They are very physical up front. They do a great job stopping the run. They really mixed up their pressure well.”

On how KU compares to the teams FIU has faced:

“The way they execute their offense is very difficult to prepare for. They turned it over a couple of times as well. So they could have done a couple of things better, but they truly are a machine and they have a lot of talent.”

Sophomore Safety Ashlyn Parker

On the Kansas offense:

“They have a great offense. They have talented quarterbacks, receivers and everything. They did a great job preparing for our defense. They did a good job of completing the ball, they hit the open receiver every time.”

On the KU defense:

“They did a great job of playing harder than we did. They are all-around great job from their front four to everybody.”

Junior Running Back A’mod Ned:

On how KU compares to other teams FIU has faced:

“Their defense was like any other defense. They played hard and we didn’t execute, but they played great on defense. I don’t get into rating teams, but I know they are a great team. They handed it to us in every phase of the game.”

On the blocked punt in the first quarter:

“It’s just part of the game. We have to learn to overcome things like that. You have to make plays. We didn’t make enough plays and they made all the right plays.”