Postgame Quotes
Nov. 17, 2012
Recap | Final Stats | Notes |
Kansas Head Coach Charlie Weis
On Saturday’s game:
“Besides getting philosophical, what it really came down to was two things. When you turn the ball over the volume of time we did on offense, it doesn’t give you a chance to win to start with, especially when you are a ball control type of team, which we are. You can’t lay the ball on the ground. I thought that was a big deterrent. Defensively, I just thought that the culmination of things that worked against us, like double moves and stuff like that and just totally taking advantage of us on defense. That’s what happens. You put negative things on tape and people are going to try to exploit them. The experience should be you better understand when you put something on tape that is negative. Those coaches are going to see it and they’re going to try and go to it as well.”
On the cost of the turnovers:
“The game is a three-point game. I believe it was 17-14 at the time (when Sims turned the ball over), I could be wrong. There were four plays in the first half, two dropped passes on third down that killed us, and twice we laid the ball on the ground. When you’re playing the game we’re playing the game, at this state, you just can’t let that happen.”
On the changing of the quarterbacks throughout the game:
“We haven’t been throwing the ball very well down the field. We haven’t been doing that at all. With Michael (Cummings) running our offense, our base offense, basically dives and options and all that other stuff and then play actions off of it. Then we’re going to go to drop back passes we were going to go to Dayne (Crist) because he is a better drop back passer.”
On the team bouncing back for the final game at West Virginia:
“I think that was my main theme when I was in there talking to those seniors. I thought that we had a lot invested into this game and we tried to get the seniors to walk out of here with a W. There’s still one more opportunity. Now you’ve got Thanksgiving week coming up. There will be some down time later on this week to spend time with their families and friends. But the bottom line is at least they get one more crack at it.”
Kansas senior wide receiver Kale Pick
On his emotions during the game:
“This one definitely hurt. I had mixed emotions. I was excited and ready to play. I was also sad when I went walking into the locker room before the game and realizing it was the last time.”
On the game:
“We got out of rhythm (in the second quarter) and they got right into rhythm. Give credit to them, they are a heck of a football team. I never thought we were out of it until the final moments of the fourth quarter. But once I came to and realized it, it was kind of a hopeless feeling.”
Kansas senior quarterback Dayne Crist
On tonight’s game:
“As an offense, anytime you shoot yourself in the foot, you’re asking for trouble. Tonight we did that quite a bit as an offense collectively. With the type of game that we tried to manipulate that kind of killed us. We just need to find ways to take care of the football better on offense.”
On Charlie Weis’ and his recruiting:
“I have all the confidence in the world in Coach (Weis). I think that the progress and the strides that have been made this year have been huge assets to this program. They aren’t really backed up by wins this year, but I have nothing but confidence that these guys will be able to get this program turned around.”
On Tony Pierson’s effort:
“I’ve said this on the record before, but nothing that Tony Pierson does surprises me. He’s an exceptional athlete and has an amazing God-given ability. He doesn’t rest on that either. He is a guy who is always working to get better. He’s got a great football IQ and that just shows how much heart he puts into everything he does.”
Kansas senior offensive lineman Duane Zlatnik:
On Senior Night:
“It was a very emotional night. I’ve been here with guys my entire time here now and we have built relationships that are going to last forever. The way it turned out obviously didn’t go in our favor, but it was still an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.”
On the alternate jerseys:
“We actually talked before the game about wearing our throwbacks. We walked in after our pregame meal and were all kind of disappointed that we didn’t have anything. Then we went out, warmed up, and did our Senior Day thing. When we walked back into the locker room I was one of the first ones in there and we were all pumped. It was a great feeling for everybody.”
Kansas senior defensive end Toben Opurum
On the Iowa State change of quarterback:
“To be honest with you I have never even heard of (Iowa States Sam Richardson). He did some really good things. But really that doesn’t change what we do. We have to focus on our assignments of what we need to do to stop the play. They were running the same offense they had with the other quarterback. (Richardson) made more completions than the starting quarterback they had, but they ran the same offense.”
On the defenses performances:
“The fact that we weren’t doing a good job stopping the run, we had to put in a couple of new things that didn’t work out the way we planned. We had to go back to some basics and it kind of exposed us with the new things that we put in.”
On the fans before the game:
“The fans were excited. We really wanted an opportunity to win this game and put us in a position for a better outcome. We just wanted to get out on the field.”
Kansas senior linebacker Anthony McDonald
On the defensive overall performance:
“We came in with a good game plan and we didn’t execute. That’s about it. We had guys gap releasing, missed tackles, and not hustling. Just the whole aspect of the game could have been better. It’s crappy that it was senior night and we had to go out like that.”
On playing his last home game:
“I wish we would have won but it was nice to be out there playing. I just want to thank Coach (Charlie) Weis for all the opportunities he has given me and everyone here who has welcomed me with open arms. I’ve told the whole team that they could have easily shut me and Dayne (Crist) out transferring in here but they didn’t. I appreciate everyone here welcoming me with open arms and what this whole organization has done for me.”
On the change of Iowa State’s quarterback:
“If we stuck to our game plane it would not change anything at all. We just didn’t execute like we should have. It’s as simple as that.”
Kansas senior safety Bradley McDougald
Are you surprised with the outcome of this game:
“Most definitely. Especially a lot of the blame should go to the defense. We had a terrible time stopping them, especially for the senior defensive guys we had. It just hurts to see them go out like that in our last game at Memorial Stadium.”
Iowa State Head Coach Paul Rhoads
On Saturday’s game:
“Excellent victory for our football program. Great to get victory number six and be bowl eligible for the third time in four seasons. After a slow start defensively I thought the offense really helped the spirit of our football team and got us unleashed. There was a period of time there where collectively, all three phases we played the best football we have all season.”
On the run game:
“I think the last few games we have really started to click in the run game. The first goal I set for the offense this week was to continue the run game success that we started to build and I think we did that.”
On being bowl eligible:
“Lots of hard work goes into a football season. It starts on January 1 and to be here on November 17 and to have achieved bowl eligibility which is the first goal you get to hit as far as the season goes. Now we have other things we need to go get.”
On Sam Richardson’s performance:
“It’s right up there on the best debuts I have seen. To be here two full years and really only get a mop-up role, he probably felt like he was not part of true competition. But his performance was not a surprise coming from the young man. Not surprising from a kid of that quality and the he fits in with the quality of kids in the program.”
Iowa State sophomore center Tom Farniok
On becoming bowl eligible:
“Earlier in the week, there wasn’t a ton of pressure, but it’s just nice to know that we got that and now we can improve for where we’re going.”
On Richardson’s poise during the game:
“He’s not too high and he’s not too low. Especially in this game, it’s hard to get low, so that made it a little easier. He’s a very composed kid and he handled it very well.”
On his team’s mentality in the week leading up to the Kansas game:
“Obviously, we were very anxious to play the game, but in the Big 12, every week is very good competition. There’s pressure every single week to perform, and if we didn’t perform, the score (against Kansas) would be flipped easily. Despite them being 1-10, that’s a pretty good football team, and they’re going to be very good in the future. They’re a much better team than their record shows, so you have to give them credit.”
Iowa State junior kicker Edwin Arceo
On his current confidence in comparison to early in the season:
“Going into every week, I try to focus on just doing my job the best I can. Toward the middle of the season, I guess I was trying to think too much. For a while there, I was thinking a lot about my mechanics, and really, I just have to let it happen. That’s what I’ve been working on mainly.”
Iowa State red-shirt freshman quarterback Sam Richardson
On whether or not he knew that he would play Saturday:
“I had no idea. (Senior quarterback) Steele (Jantz) was the guy this week. We think he’s been playing pretty well lately. I just had to stay ready for anything–if he would lose a helmet or get hurt. No matter what the situation was, I just had to be ready.”
On the circumstances surrounding his play:
“I was just waiting for my opportunity like I had been all year. It was a great feeling knowing I could go in and make plays for the offense to get us going. It’s something where it was just a team effort if we were getting to six wins, so it was a great game for us.”
On his leadership during the game:
“I felt that I led us as much as I needed to. It’s obviously the quarterback’s job to lead an offense, but maybe not for a red-shirt freshman playing in his first game.”
