Post Game Quotes
Nov. 15, 2008
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Post Game Quotes
Texas 35, Kansas 7
November 15, 2008
Head coach Mark Mangino
On Kansas’ defensive:
“Our defense, especially in the first half, played well throughout the whole game. They gave us opportunities. We got good field position, we got several three-and-outs, and we got turnovers. The key is they gave us opportunities and our offense did not capitalize on the opportunities that our defense gave us.”
On the Kansas offense keeping drives alive:
“You have to do it. You have to convert third downs and fourth downs, you have to keep the ball moving, keep the chains moving. You have to score, get in the end zone, and we just didn’t do that. We were not successful in that area offensively.”
On the impact of the seniors:
“They’ll go down in history for the simple reason that they were bowl-eligible for four years. They’ve reached milestones in their time here. I think our seniors would like to go out known as winners. With the last scheduled game of the year coming up, I think they’d like to go out as winners. I don’t think today left a very good taste in their mouth.”
Senior Center Ryan Cantrell
On the offense struggling:
“Our defense put us in every possible situation. We just weren’t clicking today. Little things just weren’t clicking for us. We’ll come back tomorrow and get all that going right.
On falling out of contention for the Big 12 North:
“You can’t really add much more to the disappointment of today.”
On if KU is still vying for a bowl berth against Missouri:
“Honestly, we’re not really worried about any of that. We’re only concerned with our regular-season game against Missouri right now. It’s all about us. Starting tomorrow, its only going to be about us.”
On Todd Reesing and other players being banged up:
“Todd’s a gamer. He’s going to come out and give it everything he has every single play. He is just like everyone else. Everybody is going to come out and do what they can every single play. Football is a pretty physical game. It’s not like we’re going out there and having a pillow fight. People are going to get hurt. It is late in the season and everyone is banged up. If they say they feel great, they are either lying or they aren’t playing.”
Junior Quarterback Todd Reesing
On the game:
“We came out and tried to throw a lot of short passes and get the ball out of my hands, so that our tackles didn’t have to hold up for too long. We had some success, we had guys open and we were able to move the ball a little bit. We were just too inconsistent and didn’t convert any fourth downs and didn’t get a run game established. Jake (Sharp) was a little banged up and we had some turnovers that we can’t have that hurt us. We did some good things and also some bad things. It wasn’t the kind of effort we needed to beat a team like Texas.”
On why the offense struggled:
“There are a lot of reasons. There are a lot of things. You can’t point a finger on one thing as to why we didn’t move the ball or get the ball in the end zone. I’ll have to look at the film to answer that better.”
On his health:
“I’m feeling fine. I’m upset that we didn’t give it a better run. We’re not going to hang our heads and feel bad for ourselves. We just wish we could have had a better game for those seniors.”
Senior Linebacker Mike Rivera
On the inspired defensive effort:
“We wanted to leave it all out on the field in our last game as seniors in our stadium. We just wanted to do the best that we would could to try and win the football game. I thought we were playing some great football as a defense in the first half. We were fundamentally sound, we were making stops, and we were playing good football. It felt like the old KU defense just flying around and feeling good. It was a good thing to see and we will get back at it this week.
On what the defense can take out of this game:
“We did a lot of positive things and we have to look at those. There are also a couple of things that we have to shore up and we have a bye week that we can make the adjustments and make sure the mistakes don’t happen again. We have two weeks before this next big game and we are excited about it.
On what was going through his mind on Senior Day:
“I was just trying to soak it all in. I was looking at the scenery, the fans, and I just wanted to make sure that I will remember this moment. Being out there with the senior class we just wanted to play inspired football and we did our best to do that.”
Senior Linebacker James Holt
On the defense:
“Other than the K-State game this was the best our defense has played this year. Overall I think the defense played very well.
On the motivation going forward:
“We just have to keep our heads up and play for pride now. For the senior class the last game versus Missouri is going to show what we are all about. We are either going to lay down or we are going to come out and fight and I think we have a lot of fight in us. I am definitely looking forward to that game two weeks from now.”
On the Missouri game:
“We are just going to go out and play hard because it is a big rivalry for us. We look forward to playing Missouri every year. Win or lose against Missouri we will just have to wait and see what the bowl committee has to say in regard to our fate.”
Texas Head Coach Mack Brown
On the play of Colt McCoy:
“Colt McCoy has done amazing things since he has been at Texas. Coming north this time of the year is tough. Today was a tough day for offenses, both for Colt and for Todd (Reesing). There were 20-30 mile per hour wind gusts and it was spitting snow at times. I thought Colt played one of the toughest, grittiest games he has played since he has been at Texas. For him to tie Vince (Young’s) record with more than a year left is significant. He now has the most wins in the history of Texas football.”
On the Texas defense:
“Our defense was physical. They just knocked people down and were knocking balls loose. We had some great fourth down stops. We might have had four stops if (Dezmon) Briscoe hadn’t made that unbelievable catch. I thought this was our best day on defense.”
On the game plan coming into this week:
“When you go on the road you need to take care of the ball, you need to have a great kicking game, and you need to play great defense. We thought that in this type of weather, defense would win the game.”
On the Texas running game:
“We thought that we could get the running game going in the second half. When we were going into the wind we probably got stubborn and tried to run when they had too many people in the box. We thought that we would be able to run the ball after we got our passing game going, and that is what happened.”
Senior Defensive Tackle Roy Miller
On the play of the defense:
“I think we did a good job, but we have things we can improve on. We hold ourselves to a standard. We’re going to take the win, but we have to go back tomorrow and fix things.”
Junior Quarterback Colt McCoy
On the play of the offense:
“In these conditions, as an offense I thought we played great. When the wind is blowing 30 mph in your face it’s hard to complete passes. Give credit to the receivers they caught the ball and the offensive line blocked well. There were some times when I could run the ball. My leg felt better this week. I just did what they told me to do. We took care of the ball. That’s important when you go on the road against a tough team.”
On things Texas could have done better:
We would have liked to score at the end. They weren’t going to give up. We went through a slump in the second quarter. We should have capitalized on some opportunities in the first half, but we didn’t. Great teams respond, and we came out and dominated the third and fourth quarter. I’m proud of that.”
On his running the ball:
“Their backers spread out some. They’re really big up front. Their front seven are some really good football players. We felt like as they spread out as the game went on, it might open and I might be able to make plays with my feet.”
Junior Linebacker Sergio Kindle
On containing Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing
“Our whole things is to stay up field. He’s a lot more mobile than quarterbacks his size. Watching him on film, he reversed field and made a lot of plays over the years. We put a lot of emphasis on staying up field and containing him.”
On the overall defensive effort:
“I feel like our defensive effort is good every game, but just based off of numbers this would top it all so far.”
On stopping Kansas on their last drive of the game:
“That was our second team. We have this thing where we don’t want to let them down and they don’t want to let us down. They did a great job.”
