Postgame Quotes
Oct. 27, 2012
Final Stats | Notes |
Kansas Head Coach Charlie Weis
On what he said to the team after the game:
“I basically told them I feel really bad for all of them today. Every week is a different circumstance. Last week we should’ve been more embarrassed; this week I feel that there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We played our butts off on both sides of the ball. Physically we really not only hung in there, but more than held our own, and to lose with 12 seconds to go in a game is really disappointing for everyone and I just feel bad for them.”
On the play of his defense:
“It’s the same thing I said to [Dave] Campo, I told him, `Don’t feel bad about that last drive.’ We all feel bad about it, but it was their play that kept us in the game.”
On the effectiveness of the rushing game:
“We had a bunch of different packages, going into this game we had more passes in the game plan than that, but they saw an inexperienced quarterback and we figured they were going to have a lot of exotics on defense. It was exotics on defense that led us to open up our offense. Fortunately they had enough packages set up offensively to create some deception and give us some plays.”
On how his team will bounce back after the loss:
“Not to be redundant and give you coach-speak but every week is a different set of circumstances. I think that [the team] is really down right now, as well they should be. Hopefully I’ll come in tomorrow morning, get through this and then bring them in here and go over the game and get out there and practice. Hopefully we can put it behind us and start getting ready for next week.”
Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Michael Cummings
On KU’s Last Drive:
“We definitely came out with the mentality to answer. They scored so then we had to come back with a score. We were obviously going for the touchdown, but we had to settle for the field goal.”
On the play to TE Jimmay Mundine:
“It was a play we put in during halftime. The goal was to attack the cover they were showing us. As the play progressed, Jimmay was open.”
On the game:
“We come out as competitors every week. We came up short today and just didn’t get the win.”
Junior Running Back James Sims
On team’s progress:
“The feeling on that is good in the locker room. After this game of course we are down, but we see the progress as a program. That’s all that really matters at this time. We have to take it week by week, practice by practice and just continue to work as hard as we can.”
On his big run:
“They are fast and we knew that from the beginning. I just try to take what I can, so I took what they gave me.”
On his progress:
“I feel more confident now than I ever have. I’ve been trusting my offensive line and they have been doing great at doing their job. I have to give those guys credit. We are an offensive unit.”
Junior Wide Receiver Christian Matthews
On his play in the game:
“You always get excited when your name is called. So I was thrilled when I got a chance to run it in the game.”
On responding to the loss:
“We respond to this one the same we have responded to every other loss. A loss is a loss no matter what. It hurts but we played a pretty good game. We have to just keep working hard.”
Kansas senior safety Bradley McDougald
On the mindset during Texas’ final drive:
“We definitely had our fair share of drives and goal line stands and our backs against the wall, so that was nothing new to us. I don’t want to say guys were hanging their heads and thinking about a loss. If anything, what was going through our minds was overtime. Because we knew we were going to stop them, and we knew we were going to hold them to at least a field goal to keep the game alive. Unfortunately they made one more play than we did.”
On the coverage of the last drive:
“Wewere playing a cover four. The receiver out there, number one, he ran a double move and we bit on the double move. It just hurts because of the time and the situation. There were plenty of other plays that lead up to that so we can’t point any fingers at anybody and I am not trying to at all. In football, it was a critical situation and bullets were flying, and things happen.”
On the slow start of the game:
“On the first drive (Texas) opened up with a bunch of stuff that we had not worked on all week. We just needed a drive to sit down and come together as a defensive and draw some things on the whiteboard to come out and start executing.”
Kansas junior linebacker Huldon Tharp
On the overall defensive unit performance:
“I’m pretty proud of the guys. We hung in there and played exceptional for the majority of the game. Unfortunately they made a few more plays than we did in the end, but as a whole we had a good game.”
On the mindset during the final Texas drive:
“It was on our back. It was up to us to win the game. That’s exactly what we talked about. Before we went out, we looked each other in the eyes and told each other `we got to get this’ but it just didn’t happen.”
On getting over the hump to get a win:
“It’s hard to tell right now. Honestly after today I think we are extremely close. I think if we continue to play with that kind of effort, aggressiveness, and passion that we did today we will have plenty of opportunities to win more games. Our offense was clicking really well, and they ran the ball well throughout the game. We are getting there.”
On being in the locker room after the game:
“It was quiet; a lot of sadness. It is always tough losing a game like this. We thought up until the wire that we were going to win. There’s a lot of disappointment, but with all this disappointment it definitely brings out the hunger in everyone. Next week we’re going to come back and be ready to go.”
Kansas sophomore linebacker Ben Heeny
On the overall defensive unit performance:
“We played good. Just those busts, and those big plays is what killed us. Other than that play by 84 (Marquise Goodwin) with the jet sweep and the long pass on the final drive, we played good. But the big plays are what hurts us.”
On the defensive mindset on Texas’ final drive:
“We just had to stop them. That’s basically all it was. We knew we had the lead and we had them on fourth-and-six. We were in zone coverage, and the wide receiver got it. Just another busted play and just turned out how we didn’t want it to.”
On the defensive preparation for next game:
“Our coaches are going to give us the best game plan to win. They make the right calls. If we keep doing what they tell us to do, keep grinding, keep working hard and keep getting the extra work in we will see a win.”
Texas Head Coach Mack Brown
On Kansas:
“I want to give Charlie Weis, Dave Campo and Kansas a whole lot of credit. They’ve played TCU down to the end here, they’ve played Oklahoma State down to the end here and did the same with us. They couldn’t have hired a better couch than Charlie. He’s a great coach. The guys are playing hard. They had a good crowd. It was loud and you can tell they’re headed in the right direction”
On putting in Case McCoy:
“The offensive staff thought he was ready to go. We thought case was prepared and he gave us the little momentum that we needed to get it turned in the right direction and we made some speed plays there. We did things that we needed to be doing with him.”
On the possibility of a Loss:
“You all (the media) always talk about losses. I don’t. What I thought about was it’s so similar to 2004 and the 2004 team ended up in the Rose Bowl. Same end zone, 17 seconds left in 2004 and there were eight seconds left in the same end zone this time. It was Vince Young throwing the ball to Tony Jeffery back then and Case McCoy throwing it to D.J. Grant this time. I thought the offensive staff did a great job of killing the clock and getting it down to where Kansas had no chance at the end.”
On the victory:
“I’m excited that we won the game. It was really, really hard to win this game and it can give this team and this staff so much confidence moving forward to play poorly most of the game and win. That is when you get better, believe it or not. Not the blowouts. You walk out and feel too good about yourself, one like this, we have a win and we have their attention next week and that’s about as good as it gets.”
Texas Junior Quarterback Case McCoy
On the game-winning drive:
“It wasn’t anything I did. I think our coaches and our team just decided to dig down deep and decide to fight. We definitely came out slow and sluggish and that’s something we can’t do the rest of this year. We got lucky and we were able to come out of here with a win, but for the most part, I thought our team decided to dig deep. We were able to start running the ball, get downhill and give me time to get warm for when we had to throw in that last series.”
On the fourth down conversion on the final drive:
“I wish I was never in fourth-and-seven, but we got into that situation and luckily had a dropped pick on the first play. A couple of things definitely went our way, but at the same time, we got into that situation. It’s just like every other play. We’ve got to execute. We just turned our execution level up. (Sophomore wide receiver) Jaxon (Shipley) saw a live safety. He bent in like he was supposed to and we were able to connect on that and convert. That was a big momentum swing for us and we executed the rest of the game plan and scored.”
On learning from last year’s game against Texas A&M:
“A&M was last year. I learned a lot from that and that was that team. This is a new team, and we’ve got higher goals and higher standards this year. I’m glad we got this win, we’re going to move on and go play Texas Tech next week.”
On what was going through his mind before going into the game:
“Like (quarterbacks) coach (Bryan) Harsin said, he does a great job of preparing us like we’re going to play. Some of us are redshirting and some of us are backing up, and he prepares us like we’re all the starter. That’s part of football. I was a backup for part of last year and I was a backup for part of my freshman year. There was a game last year where I was called on to win a game and come in during the second half, and I wasn’t prepared at all. That’s something where I learned from immaturity last year, and I’ll never let happen again. I’m glad that he prepares me and we’ve just got to move forward from here.”
Texas Senior Safety Kenny Vaccaro
On the defensive mind-set late in the game:
“I thought the defense was playing solid the whole game, so our confidence level was already up. We were confident and knew we could get the stops we needed. We made a couple in the first half and it was really stress-free.”
On holding Kansas to a field goal on its late drive:
“It’s our goal to just keep the offense out of the end zone and make stops. That’s our goal on every drive and it’s just something we had to execute, because the offense had been carrying us all year. This game, we had to get a stop to set them up for good field position.”
Texas Senior Defensive End Alex Okafor
On what he was trying to communicate to the defense late in the game:
“It just came down to if we wanted to be the defense that we had talked about. We had to change our mentality in the game and start getting some stops and start taking action to stop the run. That’s just what I was portraying to them.”
On becoming bowl eligible:
“We go game in and game out and prepare for each team differently. This win is a win and luckily we got a bowl berth.”
