Oct. 11, 2008

Recap | Final Stats |

Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino Quotes

On today’s game, advancing to 2-0 in the league:

“I thought we played well on offense. We played very well on defense, we made a lot of plays when we had to, got some takeaways, and the guys made some key stops. You certainly have to give Colorado credit, they’re a good football team, and on offense we pretty much did what we had to do. Field position was a factor. We were backed up the whole first quarter again. That’s two weeks in a row. We have got to stop that and it points directly to special teams. But I’m pleased with overall play, I think we’re getting better in a lot of areas, some young kids are starting to mature, units are starting to communicate much, much better and get comfortable with each other.”

On Jake Sharp’s recent success:

“Jake did a great job today. He’s running the ball very well, he’s blocking very well, catching the football, and he’s really come to life. He’s really comfortable, and we were really pleased with his performance today. He’s a guy that plays well based on sheer determination. He’s a determined guy. He has a lot of heart, and we all respect that.”

On Defensive Performance:

“Our defense played really well. We got a safety, got them backed up, and got a key interception, actually two interceptions, but one was key right before the half. I think our secondary is improving. We’re putting more pressure on the quarterback, which is a positive for us for the pass defense, so the overall performance of the defense I was very, very pleased with. Things are starting to come together. Some guys have been banged up, some of the younger guys are coming along, and we’re a little thin in a couple of areas. We are concerned we may have gotten thinned out a little bit more on defense, but that’s okay. We have some young, enthusiastic guys that want to play.”

KU Player Quotes

Junior Defensive Back Darrell Stuckey

On the play of the defense:

“Defensively I felt that we went out there and ran on all cylinders. We executed a lot of our plays and came out with mental toughness that has been in and out of our defense this year. I think that we want to grow together as a team and go out there and have fun and run to the ball and get our heads on the ball. There are a couple of things that we can always improve on, but this is probably one of the better games of the year.”

On the safety:

“Jake (Laptad) did a fine job on that play. The defensive backs had great coverage while their quarterback was trying to find someone open. We had great pressure and he kept getting deeper and deeper and luckily we got the sack.”

Sophomore Defensive End Jake Laptad

On his sack resulting in a safety:

“The play was 16 yards out and I wasn’t expecting a safety on that play. I just fired out and I wasn’t expecting to get past the running back who was trying to block me inside. For some reason the quarterback tried to get to the outside and Max (o) was pressuring from the backside, and I got a safety.”

On the play of the defense:

“I think we have been getting better and better every week. Today we held them under 100 yards passing and rushing. I think today was probably our best game of the season (defensively). There are some areas that we had a few missed tackles. We can always improve.”

Sophomore Wide Receiver Dezmon Briscoe

His thoughts on the game:

“In the first half we had our special teams playing a little rough. We will have to work on that. Offense and defense, we really executed on both parts. In the second half we sped up the tempo and it worked out for the best.”

On special teams:

“On special teams we just need to work harder. We just need to go out there and execute and play like it is our last game we will ever play in our lives.”

On blocking:

“The linebackers get free hits on us all of the time because they are bigger and stronger. When we get a chance to take advantage of hitting them, we do.”

On his touchdown reception:

“I remember just doing my assignment. I was just looking to get open, grab the ball and make the catch.”

On facing Oklahoma next week:

“We are very excited. Oklahoma is a very talented team and I believe that we will be prepared like we are prepared for every other team.”

Junior Running Back Jake Sharp

On the offense:

“We came out with some things and the Colorado defense was prepared. We came in at halftime and made some adjustments on the field. Coach Warinner did a great job and we came out rolling in the second half.”

On the running game:

“The more carries I get, the more confidence I get. Confidence and rhythm is everything. It gives me the confidence that we as an offense collectively can run the ball, and we can pound it when we need to or run around the outside. We have a lot of things to work on. There is room for improvement.”

Junior Quarterback Todd Reesing

On field position:

“A lot of the reason we couldn’t get things going in the first half was because our field position was so poor. It isn’t something that we can control as an offense. We would like get a little more help there on special teams.”

On the running game:

“We always knew it would (come together). We had confidence in our running backs and offensive line. We got Jake going last week and he got some confidence back. He is running the ball hard and hitting the holes. As it showed today it compliments our passing game well because we are able to mix it up and throw the defense off balance.”

On the play of the defense:

“The defense did a great job. They had their backs against the wall and Colorado got some great field position quite a few times. Our defense came through and made a lot of big plays and caused turnovers. Any time you can have your defense step up for you when we are having a tough time getting things going, it is a three-part ballgame.”

On the 77-yard drive:

“Any time you can come out and have a long drive that stops the clock and gets the defense sucking wind, it is big. We were hitting on all cylinders on that drive. It got us going in the right direction in the second half. We never looked back after that.”

Colorado Head Coach Dan Hawkins Quotes

On quarterback Cody Hawkins being tackled for a safety:

“He (Hawkins) just lost concentration and did something he shouldn’t have done.”

On when the game got away from the team:

“We gave up the safety and they had an opportunity for 3 points there so that’s kind of a five-point swing. The offense got back into it and there were a couple times in the third quarter that we couldn’t stop them.”

On what the team must do to improve:

“We have got to move the ball. We’ve got to stop people and play better on special teams. We’ve got to coach better. It’s the whole deal.”

Colorado Player Quotes

Freshman Tailback Darrell Scott

On injured ankle:

“I should be back for next week. I’m just ready for next week. Hopefully we can get three more wins and get to a bowl game.”

On if season is a waste due to injury:

“It’s not a wasted season. It’s ups and downs and that’s football. I’m used to it. I’m getting adapted to it. I just need to bounce back from this ankle injury.”

On if he has ever had an injury affect him like this injury has:

“Never in my life. This season and right now I feel unlucky. I know we’re going to get a win next week. We’ve just got to stay focused and do what we do.”

Freshman Quarterback Matt Ballenger

On his play after coming in for starter Cody Hawkins:

“I didn’t play as well as I’d like. The circumstances weren’t the way we like to see them.”

On the overall performance of the offense:

“Kansas was playing really well on defense and we made a couple of errors on offense and it just kept tumbling down. We made a couple plays here and there, but we just couldn’t capitalize for the entire game.”

Sophomore Quarterback Cody Hawkins

On Colorado’s struggles midway through the season:

“It’s a tough game. We had a couple of opportunities early, but we didn’t capitalize. When you play in the Big 12 you’re going to play great teams every week. It’s the fourth team in a row that was undefeated or was a one-loss team when we played them. We know we have to bring our A-game every time because we play a very tough schedule. We weren’t able to play very well today and the momentum kept bouncing back and forth. We couldn’t get anything going for an extended amount of time. We expect to win a lot of games. We just need to fine-tune a couple of things and we’ll be fine.”