Post Game Quotes
Nov. 6, 2004
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Kansas Postgame Quotes
Kansas 21, Colorado 30
Nov. 6, 2004 – Memorial Stadium – Lawrence, KS
Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino
Opening Statment:
“I’ll give credit to Colorado. It was a good game. They made plays in the second half and we did not. And they played well enough to win. We felt really good coming into the game about our preparation on offensive and defensive sides of the ball. We practiced very well this week. We just couldn’t make enough plays to win the game. Our defense at times was superb. At the end we didn’t finish like we wanted. Offensively we made some plays early on but we didn’t make enough to get into the endzone. The effort was tremendous by the offensive unit.”
On KU’s first two scores:
“It was a great start for us. The offense was clicking and Jason (Swanson) was making good plays and good reads. It started off very well.”
On sophomore Charles Gordon:
“I don’t like to brag about my players but he’s got to be among the best, at least the top 15 in the country. He makes interceptions, covers people, returns punts and in his spare time we put him on offense. I haven’t seen all the major conference schools in person, but he has got to be among the top 10 to 15 players in the country.”
On the final home game of the season:
“We’re going to play a very good Texas team here next week. If we’re not going to have a party at the end of the year, maybe we’ll spoil somebody else’s. It’s been a long time since KU has been able to defeat K-State and Missouri in the same season, so there is still some things to play for. Our kids have a lot of fight in them. They have resolve. Our seniors understand the big picture here. They know things haven’t gone the way we’d like this year. They see it as well as the other kids that sometimes progress is painful. Nobody said it would be easy for any of us. We’re going to keep at it and get this things where it needs to be and keep slugging away.”
Senior Quarterback John Nielsen
On the perfromance:
“I had good practices this week so I felt pretty comfortable. I felt a little rusty because I haven’t played a whole lot since last year. I missed a few reads and I could have done some things better, but I felt pretty good when I was out there.”
On his attitude entering the next game:
“This is my senior year and I wanted to get out there. I don’t want to see anybody go down but I want to get out there and try and help the team win. I gave it my best.”
Junior Linebacker Kevin Kane
On Charles Gorden:
“Charles played phonomenal today. He’s a playmaker and he makes plays. He stepped up big time and helped us out like he does every game.”
On the loss:
“That’s the game of football for you. There are bumps and bruises along the way. We have to fight through them and come together in the next few weeks and be strong.
On the outlook for the rest of the season
“We have to figure out if we have what it takes to come together and we have to make a decision to go do it. We can’t be in any better situation considering everything that has happened to us.”
On halftime changes
“We really didn’t do anything different. The went down and scored on their first drive, so it wouldn’t have really mattered. We just hung on, supported each other and somehow found a way to win.”
On CU’s chances of winning the Big 12 North
“I told the guys that if Kansas State beats Missouri and Nebraska loses again, then we could be in the drivers’ seat.”
Defensive tackle Matt McChesney
On the win
“We came in here with our backs against the wall, knowing that unless we win we were pretty much done [in getting to the Big 12 title game]. We made the plays when we had to and responded well. I think the ball bounced our way for the first time in a long time.”
On hitting KU’s Swanson and his leaving the game
“He didn’t look too happy when I got off of him. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone out there, but I got a pretty good lick on him. [Nielsen] came in and executed the offense pretty well for the most part. I think we he gets the opportunity to really play, he will be good.”
Tight end Joe Klopfenstein
On his catches and TD
“It was nice to get back involved in the offense. Those were some pretty big plays in the game and it is always nice to make those kind of plays. The touchdown was kind of an unexpected play after we ran so much that drive. I was hiding off to the right and they didn’t see me sneak away to the other side.”
On the final TD drive
“After we made the first few first downs, I knew at that point they weren’t going to stop us. We were driving them off the ball and getting three or four yards each play running the ball. They were getting mad at themselves and we stuck together. I felt confident at that point.”
On the possibility of playing for the Big 12 championship
“After we lost a few big games, we still knew we had a chance for bigger things. We have needed a lot of games to go our way and every week that just seems to happen. We just have to keep doing our part and winning, and we’ll see what happens.”
Colorado Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Gary Barnett
On the game
“It’s good to get the bad taste out of our mouth. Stephone Robinson’s punt return was as big as anything that happened in this game. We came out lackadaisical. We put ourselves in a hole and had to fight back. I was real proud of the way we played in the second half. We played with spirit and energy. Kansas was struggling with their quarterbacks and I had a feeling they were going to have trouble moving the ball. Consistency is still what we’re looking for and working toward on both sides of the ball.”
On the outlook for the rest of the season
“We have to figure out if we have what it takes to come together and we have to make a decision to go do it. We can’t be in any better situation considering everything that has happened to us.”
On halftime changes
“We really didn’t do anything different. The went down and scored on their first drive, so it wouldn’t have really mattered. We just hung on, supported each other and somehow found a way to win.”
On CU’s chances of winning the Big 12 North
“I told the guys that if Kansas State beats Missouri and Nebraska loses again, then we could be in the drivers’ seat.”
Defensive tackle Matt McChesney
On the win
“We came in here with our backs against the wall, knowing that unless we win we were pretty much done [in getting to the Big 12 title game]. We made the plays when we had to and responded well. I think the ball bounced our way for the first time in a long time.”
On hitting KU’s Swanson and his leaving the game
“He didn’t look too happy when I got off of him. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone out there, but I got a pretty good lick on him. [Nielsen] came in and executed the offense pretty well for the most part. I think we he gets the opportunity to really play, he will be good.”
Tight end Joe Klopfenstein
On his catches and TD
“It was nice to get back involved in the offense. Those were some pretty big plays in the game and it is always nice to make those kind of plays. The touchdown was kind of an unexpected play after we ran so much that drive. I was hiding off to the right and they didn’t see me sneak away to the other side.”
On the final TD drive
“After we made the first few first downs, I knew at that point they weren’t going to stop us. We were driving them off the ball and getting three or four yards each play running the ball. They were getting mad at themselves and we stuck together. I felt confident at that point.”
On the possibility of playing for the Big 12 championship
“After we lost a few big games, we still knew we had a chance for bigger things. We have needed a lot of games to go our way and every week that just seems to happen. We just have to keep doing our part and winning, and we’ll see what happens.”
