Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold talks to the media after his team finishes a dominant win over the UCF Knights.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 We're going to need to establish the right game.
00:03 We did, so we prevented big plays,
00:07 and I thought we did that as well.
00:09 Again, you can see glimpses of how dangerous they are.
00:13 And of course, we're going to make something happen in special teams.
00:19 And the Attorney will listen to the Attorney in that too in the first half.
00:23 So, we're all pleased.
00:25 Obviously, there's times where the second half is guilty of property,
00:29 and judges also snap shots at times when they rotate a little bit more.
00:35 But, again, this is a really good bounce back for us, for this program.
00:42 I have my concerns, to be quite honest.
00:45 I didn't know how we could handle that because of last week,
00:48 being pretty disappointed in so many different ways.
00:51 To see us do that today, I'm really proud.
00:55 Something you've talked a lot about is being able to control the clock with your offense.
00:59 How pleased are you with the job you guys did there?
01:01 Just generally, what impressed you most about the run you did?
01:04 Yeah, I was looking at the time of possession.
01:08 I mean, we were in the 60s in plays.
01:12 I thought at halftime we had 36 plays, but a dozen away from last week's total.
01:17 So, it was kind of a flip there, and to see us do that.
01:21 But the high-speed offense and all the things that they were doing,
01:28 we wanted to eat some clock, even in between plays, but stay in a good rhythm.
01:33 I thought we did that.
01:35 Those are the things that Jason Dean has curled into and done a really nice job of.
01:39 We'll never show up in one of these.
01:42 That's why we did what we asked them to do.
01:45 We challenged our offense.
01:48 We told the receivers it was probably going to be an all-round assist game,
01:52 and they needed to accept that today.
01:54 They did their job under the perimeter, and I thought they did.
01:58 I think 99 yards is pretty special,
02:01 but to do it with Tony back and getting the ring of honor,
02:04 Tony Sands back, to do that with him and his teammates,
02:06 I mean, is it any more special?
02:08 Well, I asked them.
02:09 Tony was in the locker room, and one of the first things I asked,
02:11 I asked Tony if that was what he thought of our rushing performance today.
02:15 Tony gave us a thumbs up.
02:18 It might take a three to do what maybe he did back in his day,
02:23 but it was a good performance, a great job up front,
02:28 and of course I doubt the three backs did a good job.
02:33 Lance, I was going to ask you specifically about the O-line.
02:36 There were several times where the running backs weren't even touched going through.
02:39 What did you see from that?
02:40 From my angle, it's kind of tough to see some of those,
02:43 but I hear Andy on the headset sometimes,
02:45 and you can see how they're fitting things in as the play was developing.
02:50 He says, "It's going to hit again," and things like that.
02:53 So, they did an excellent job up front.
02:57 Mike Davichky was limited most of the week,
03:00 and Bryce Cable did mispractice on Tuesday, ill.
03:05 The two guards have been banged up.
03:07 So, again, you kind of keep working, and there they are,
03:11 that type of performance.
03:13 I mentioned the receivers, but our tight ends
03:15 and the three guys that are rotating there in the job,
03:18 it's really a collective effort there.
03:20 I'm really proud of them.
03:22 You made a couple comments throughout the season.
03:25 You want to clean up penalties, only two today, the lowest on the season.
03:28 Just talk about that.
03:29 Yeah, and the one late was kind of like trying to push by.
03:35 Too big a right start probably,
03:37 and they were probably going to pull off the breaks.
03:39 And then the other one I still have to look at as far as the alignment.
03:44 But, yeah, we did clean it up, and that's great to see.
03:48 Again, when you keep yourself in good downwind distance
03:50 and you're not doing that.
03:53 On the flip side, I think they had a few,
03:55 and I think they made it a little more difficult on drives,
03:57 and it was tough to sustain so much of our advantage.
04:01 Coach, down on the field, do you already know that Trevor's not returned
04:05 as a part of the program since 2015?
04:07 No, I don't get any of that stuff usually.
04:11 I got it from Andy over here, though, as we walked off the field, I think it was.
04:15 But, yeah, most of those things never get to us, and that's okay.
04:18 That's the way I like it.
04:20 But it is good to see that.
04:23 Yeah, I don't even know.
04:24 I'd have to think in my 17 years as a head coach,
04:28 if I've had a puppet turn down, that's a pretty big play.
04:32 I was kind of from my angle, I was like, "He's not very catchy."
04:36 But he made a lot happen.
04:38 I thought we almost had one with Kenny Logan.
04:41 It's really good because Cole Petras is blocking him,
04:44 and he's trying to get up and get back into play and help,
04:47 and then Kenny's trying to hurl him and stumble there.
04:50 But, again, a big day, especially.
04:57 Lance, just wanted to know, good to see you.
05:00 Good to see you.
05:01 It was great to see Glenn Mason and Mark Mangino today.
05:03 I just wanted to get your thoughts on having them here,
05:06 and I heard they addressed the team.
05:08 Yeah, by their arrival time yesterday, we did our meetings here yesterday,
05:12 and Coach Mason addressed the group before our meeting started
05:16 and Mark Mangino did after.
05:18 So Travis, you know, as we talked about things,
05:21 and not just bringing them back to be part of their players,
05:26 but also I thought it was a great opportunity.
05:29 I've had some interaction with them, as most people know,
05:31 kind of through the interview process and even through my time here.
05:36 So, again, I appreciate all they've done for this program.
05:41 I appreciate their support and also their insight on some things.
05:46 And I think it's always good for players,
05:49 whether or not they always know it at the moment,
05:51 but to have some reflection about things that have come before them.
05:55 And it was great to have them.
05:58 It's interesting because I said this to the team,
06:04 very, very rarely do I tell somebody what emphasis or something.
06:10 I let them speak the way they want to speak.
06:14 It was amazing the similar things that they've said,
06:18 but also ties into a lot of the daily things we say in our program.
06:24 And sometimes, you know, can you hear enough from enough different people,
06:29 maybe there's a better chance I'll miss the same thing.
06:31 So it was great.
06:33 I hope they had a great day today.
06:34 I didn't have a chance to see them.
06:36 UCF is an offense that has put up yards and points against a lot of teams this year.
06:41 Embers, 400 yards for the first time.
06:43 What was kind of the key for your defense to do that?
06:48 You know, I thought we tackled pretty well today, first of all.
06:52 You know, first of all, I credit our defense for flying around and tackling well.
06:57 I thought our coaches put a good scheme together.
07:00 And then the next thing I would have to say is I look at what we went through last week,
07:06 and I don't know how they practice or what they do, but, you know,
07:10 their starters have been injured, they bring them back,
07:12 they think he's going to play, so they probably give him reps.
07:15 And then all of a sudden in the first quarter, you know, he shut down again.
07:19 And that's very similar to what we went through last week.
07:22 And all of a sudden, you know, whatever can that be?
07:25 Sometimes it works out really well, other times it doesn't.
07:30 I didn't -- you know, again, those deep vertical shots and all that,
07:34 we didn't see as many of those,
07:36 but you can still see the time for them, really dangerous with speed and quickness.
07:40 And I thought we did a good job of corralling them in
07:44 and holding some of that together.
07:47 You didn't see Jay on the sidelines, if I remember correctly, last season.
07:50 He was on the sidelines at times when he wasn't playing.
07:52 Yeah, today we just thought under the circumstances that he watched the game from inside.
08:00 It was just, you know, last year his injury was different.
08:05 This one is if something happens on the sideline and there's quick movements and things,
08:10 we just -- so we made that decision.
08:13 But he was at the team hotel, part of everything, was at everything that we were doing.
08:20 And then we brought him and Jamil Croft was also not dressed today.
08:26 We brought them in early so they didn't have to walk down the hill.
08:34 You talked about the run emphasis game, and no coincidence probably that Daniel had 19 carries.
08:40 I mean, that's the physical back that he is.
08:44 Yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't even kind of admit who had the most.
08:49 No coincidence there?
08:50 Well, I mean, it's -- yeah, it's probably like, yeah, let's get Daniel going.
08:55 But, again, Devin and both, you know, it's a good -- they really complement each other well.
09:02 And sometimes, you know, it's tough when you have guys that make plays in different spots
09:08 because you're trying to distribute touches.
09:10 But I do think -- not that I didn't ever before,
09:14 but I think these two really understand how they complement each other
09:21 and that they're good with each other.
09:22 And then it was -- what was really neat at the end, it was, you know,
09:26 it was getting to up there where Dylan had a run, I think he got piled up,
09:30 and I lost a few yards or something.
09:32 And -- or maybe it was one right before we scored.
09:37 And it was like he looked like this kind of like this hobble just for a second or something,
09:42 we're going to make this a switch.
09:44 And then Daniel was like, no, let him score.
09:47 So they're pulling for each other, and that's neat.
09:50 And so, again, Dylan McDuffie's in his last year, you know, he's with us at Buffalo.
09:55 He knew the circumstances when he came here.
09:58 He's handled it extremely well.
10:00 You can see that he can be productive as well.
10:02 And we've got to continue to find ways to get as many guys out in the field as we can
10:06 in different ways to make it tough on teams.
10:08 Real quick on Daniel, too, I don't know if your angle from the sideline is always as good as it can be
10:13 to see that, but he seeks out contact.
10:16 I mean, one time today he could have ran toward the sideline
10:19 and turned into a guy just to hit somebody.
10:21 I mean, that's got to be something you like to see.
10:23 He's a very physical runner.
10:24 He's a very physical runner.
10:26 And, you know, sometimes, especially when you get into second, third levels,
10:31 you know, how people's happy when you do things.
10:34 So, I mean, what he does, he doesn't always go down on the sideline either.
10:38 He's got great balance.
10:40 You know, he's extremely physical and has very good speed.
10:45 That's a pretty good combination, you know.
10:47 But, you know, then there's, you know, of course, there's Devin.
10:51 You know, we're just trying to get something.
10:53 We thought we had a good chance in the first play, second half.
10:56 I mean, that's the thing I was really proud of.
10:59 You know, you kind of make a big play because we talk about being up at half
11:04 and keeping the pedal down and making things happen, and I thought we did.
11:10 Thanks.
11:11 You know, last week was kind of all of a sudden with the whole jail situation.
11:14 This week you had a couple extra days to prepare.
11:16 Do you feel like that helped Jason and the offense as a whole
11:18 to have a couple extra days to prepare?
11:19 No doubt.
11:20 No doubt.
11:21 I mean, that kind of takes the wig out of your sails, you know,
11:23 when it's right, you know, as you get to the stadium,
11:26 that there's a question there.
11:28 And now, you know, Jason handled everything.
11:31 He wasn't happy the way he played last week.
11:34 He had a five-week of preparation.
11:36 I think there were some things modified in the play, in the game plan.
11:41 And, again, he handled it well.
11:45 I think we could have thrown more if we needed to.
11:48 You know, it's not that he wasn't – you see him making the throws
11:52 and making things happen.
11:54 I thought even when he ran the ball today,
11:56 he ran different and better than he did last week.
12:01 We'll stop one more and back.
12:02 Big stat today, nine kickoffs, nine touchbacks.
12:05 How important was field possession and not giving them a short field?
12:08 I appreciate you asking that.
12:10 Not many people ask about the kickoff.
12:12 Guy Tabor, Alan, does a great job for us, you know.
12:15 And, again, we've talked about how dynamic and, you know,
12:19 between speed and quickness that they have in UCF.
12:25 So, to have all those touchbacks is – was big.
12:30 It was great.
12:32 All right. Thanks, everyone.
12:33 Thank you.
12:34 Thank you.