Everything Lance Leipold said after the Missouri game

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold met with the media after the Jayhawks 42-31 loss to Missouri. He gave this thoughts on several aspects of the game, Bangally Kamara getting healthy to play, plans for the bye week and much more.

Opening comments:

Assignment gap wise, you know, they exposed us in some ways and again we didn’t tackle as clean, especially in the first half. I thought that needed to, to win a game like this today. But again, I don’t fault the effort of our guys and what the potential this team is moving down the road.

What did you learn about your team:

You know, we have work to do. You know that’s the biggest thing when you play against good teams like this and they have a fine football team with a lot of weapons, just like we talked about all week and you saw them all get utilized today. Whether it be the tight end, the backs, the, you know, everybody. The quarterback makes plays with his legs.

So, everything we thought they were, you could see again an excellent front seven. That was physical. We struggled to get a running game going today and that was all the things that I think you remember we talked about a Monday in the press conference and it played out.

Obviously it was a concern and at the same time were able to get the lead and do some things. Again, I told our guys I’m proud of our effort but they have to understand that we have to show up on Monday and get ready to get back to work because we have some work to do to get ready for Big 12 play.

Late in the game did you think about going instead of punting:

At that time we kind of thought was if we would have gotten one first down then we probably would have been more in the area to go for it. But it was like in the high, was it three minutes or just under two? Was it if it was going to be a three and out that we would.

Between the two minute timeout and our three was that if we can get a stop, which again you’re probably going to say, well shoot, they’ve run 80 some plays, you haven’t stopped them yet. Which is probably fair criticism. But at the same time, at that time, with that much time in the game, we thought if we could get a stop with that we’d have a chance then to go win the football game.

Before half how aggressive did you want to be:

It was still at a point, you know, where it was that were going to try to run it. We didn’t do a good enough job coaching Daniel Hishaw about making sure we stay in bounds. I thought he was in bounds. It sure looked like he was. But that we’re going to run the ball, run the clock out. So that was one. Again, a fair question about what we’re thinking, but a little bit about momentum. We hadn’t really been doing much, and again, to give them that opportunity by burning timeouts and giving them the ball back with much time left was not where we wanted to be at that time.

Did this game live up to the billing:

Yeah, you know, I’ll say that. Coach Drinkwitz and I talked about that. You know, things that we talked about was, there’s a lot around it, but at the same time, it’s about the two teams playing and that we both agreed that we wanted a good, clean football game that was going to be highly competitive and we keep our young men healthy, and I think we got it.

I thought it was intense. It was intense. Obviously, there’s a lot of enthusiasm and emotions on both sides. I thought it was. It was a great atmosphere here, and we’re just disappointed where it ended up on our side.

Big difference in rushing between the teams:

Yeah, like I said, we struggled up front, matching up there. Then we found a little bit more rhythm throwing the ball. I don’t want to say we totally abandoned it, but there were some things that, you know, the drive that we did score on that. I think it was almost all passes, if I’m right. So, again, there are things that we can do. Obviously, like I said, the things we got to work on, we got to be able to go against fronts like that and be able to be successful.

What was the confidence like when you up 21-6:

Then Austin picks up the fumble. We get that plus Deshawn’s touchdown in there. You know I didn’t sense panic from our guys. I didn’t sense panic even when they took the lead there when we had another shot. All those things are I’m impressed with of our group and leadership. I think our guys have confidence yet.

But again, I don’t think they know that we have to get better in some areas in order to be the team we’d like to be.

How did Bangally get ready to play:

Well, like I told you on Monday he was, you know he was listed as out. He met with the doctors later that day and they talked about some things that could happen and he was out on the. He did not do anything on Tuesday, he practiced some on Wednesday and we told him you know he wanted to play from the start and I really admired that about him. You know a lot of times in today’s era guys say, you know I’ll sit out this non-conference game. We are open next week. I get a couple weeks rest and then I’ll be closer to 100%. And he was like coach, I’m playing. And he did some on Wednesday. We told him that he needed to do something to show that he could go out there.

He practiced some on Wednesday, did a little bit more on Thursday and you know we made the decision that obviously Jon Jon would still start but then we would see how he felt after warm ups. And so that’s the story.

Despite the loss how did you like your team’s resiliency:

Much like our conference, the closeness of games are going to be there week in and week out. And for us disappointed that we gave up the long one to end the game and things like that. But for us to keep battling and seeing that and seeing this group even disappointed there wasn’t frustration at one another or what was happening around them other than just frustration with the outcome of what transpired.

So, that gives me great hope about this group. I really like this team. I’ve told them that for a long time, and I’m confident, just looking in their eyes afterwards, that they’re going to come to work on Monday ready to get after it and get coached and find a way to take another step.

Pound for pound how do you feel you stacked up:

I think you know the answer. It’s why you asked the question. I could get into a lot of different factors. But I think you know where it’s at. We got a little work to do there, and there’s multiple reasons, and we’ll address those as we go along.

How do you approach the bye week:

You know, our bye week right now is still going to be like a lot of our other ones, where we’ll just watch the film and do some lift. They’ll do a lift Monday. We’ll practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then they’ll lift and run on Friday and off on Saturday. We’ll practice the next Sunday.

As we continue to prepare for West Virginia, coaches will be out recruiting some. There’s no off weeks in this thing, so we know that. And again, we’ll have to keep working at it. As I told them, there’s not punishment practices. That’s a thing of the past. Got to get back to what you got to work on.

We’ve got to find ways to correct what we’re doing, whether it be fundamentally or assignment or whatever the case may be across the board. And tomorrow morning we meet with the staff, we’ll talk about what those particulars are and we’ll keep working at it. And like you said, this early in the season, we have a lot of football to play, and I’m confident this group will continue to work hard and be a good football team.