Kansas-Texas A&M Postgame Quotes

Oct. 23, 2010

Recap | Final Stats | Notes |

Texas A&M 45, Kansas 10

Postgame Quotes

October 23, 2010

Head coach Turner Gill:

On the reason the team was down three touchdowns even though the offense was picking up yards:

“Turnovers and penalties were the two factors that hurt. When you have an opportunity to put the ball in the end zone and we don’t do that, then they come back and score a touchdown.”

On the hit Webb took before throwing his last pass:

“The injury occurred on the play before the last throw he made. We talked to him after the game and asked him about his shoulder and he said he threw it as well as he could, but just couldn’t get it there. So the injury was a factor.”

On the status of his quarterback situation:

“We’ll find out here in the next few days. Jordan Webb had the shoulder injury and Kale Pick has a concussion. We’ll talk to the medical staff and go from there.”

On the injuries that continue to mount:

“We just try to get to better. That’s all we can do is try and get better as a football team and obviously we have injuries. We have to put the next person in and get them to execute the best they can.”

On the team’s play:

“I thought the guys played with effort. It wasn’t an issue with effort, we just didn’t make enough plays. I think probably a little more on offense. We needed to make a little more plays to keep our defense off the field. Our defense was out there for a lot of plays and got a little winded. We have to score some points to help our whole football team.”

Kansas Junior Tight End Tim Biere:

On what the feeling on the sideline was after he scored his touchdown:

“We felt good. We were in a game for the first time in a long time and then things kind of spiraled after that. It was exciting. The momentum was there with us for a little bit.”

On what happened to make the team lose momentum:

“I can’t really put a finger on what exactly happened, something just always happens. It seems like a little thing here or there always happens and it kills drives and scoring opportunities – and that is what has been hurting us all season.”

On how he felt he played:

“I felt like I caught the ball well, it just absolutely wasn’t enough. 67 yards (receiving for me) is decent, but it definitely wasn’t enough.”

On what they have to do and what the team mindset is coming off tough losses:

“I think we just have to go to the drawing board and come together as a team, keep it in house and keep it going from here. Obviously we can only go up, it has been a tough three weeks, but there are better days ahead.”

Senior defensive end Jake Laptad:

On the teams feelings after the loss

“We are all frustrated and angry about losing three games in a row, but we have to go back to work this week and get ready for Iowa State.”

On his penalty

“I was trying to get my hands up and deflect the pass but I ended up hitting him and they called a penalty on me.”

On how the defense needs to perform better

“We need to work on tackling better and creating turnovers. We need to get out there and work on creating more turnovers.”

On his confidence in his team

“I have all the confidence in the world in my team. We need to get our heads up and get ready to come back to practice ready to work and improve for this next game.

Sophomore defensive end Toben Opurum:

On his switch to defensive end

“The coaches knew what they were doing and they are putting me in a position that I can better help my team.”

On his development as a defensive end

“I think I have improved a lot but I still have a lot of work to put in to help my team. I have improved the most in my knowledge of the defensive and being more aggressive when attacking the offensive player.”

On his defense

“I think we need to eliminate the big plays that our opponents have on us and we will be good.”

Texas A&M Head Coach Mike Sherman:

On going with two quarterbacks:

“Last week at practice we worked with both quarterbacks. We just wanted to give Ryan (Tannehill) a chance to show what he could do. I think we’ve got two good quarterbacks and they both played well.”

On when he made the decision to play two QBs:

“I made the decision after last ball game. We had lost some games and it wasn’t on our QB by any stretch, we had protection issues and route issues. We just lacked consistency, and I thought shaking it up a little bit and getting some competition at the position would be a good thing.”

On how he assessed the QBs:

“They both did very well. I left Ryan in a little bit longer at the end because he had played the least.”

Senior Linebacker Michael Hodges:

On playing well:

“The way that they were forced to run, it so much gave Garrick (Williams) and I opportunities to make a lot of tackles. Unfortunately I still missed a couple so there is room for improvement still.”

On his feelings after the win:

“It’s unexplainable. I can’t tell you how happy I am right now. At the same time there’s a 24-hour hangover for losses and a 24-hour happiness (window) for wins also. We have a big one at home next week. It does give us momentum, but there are a lot of things we can fix.”

On this game being a ‘must win’:

“You only get 12 games in a season and two of them barely got away from us. Last game, we got out-played from beginning to end. We had to come out and show something this week. We got an opportunity to do it and fortunately we came out on top.”

Junior Quarterback Ryan Tannehill:

On getting a lot of playing time in the game:

“It feels good. I’ve been waiting a long time to get in there and I finally got my opportunity. (Head) coach (Mike Sherman) gave me an opportunity this week. I got a few more reps in practice and I was able to get in this game. It felt really good. We still have a lot of things to fix on offense. We made a lot of mistakes. When I first got in there I was missing a lot of throws that I make everyday in practice. It felt good to rub those off and get on the field.”

On if he knew that both quarterbacks would play so much:

“No I didn’t. (Coach Sherman) didn’t really tell us what was going to happen. He told me to be ready and that I could get in at anytime. Lucky enough I was able to get in.”

On if he knew he would play at all:

“He never said that I would get in or that I was going to play. He just said to be ready. There’s a chance I could get in and to be ready when I got the chance.”