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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 10, 2015

David Beaty

Lawrence, Kansas

Baylor - 66
Kansas - 7

Q. Coach, to start things off, it had to be encouraging. You gave up a score really quick, but your team came out and answered with a drive right away?
COACH BEATY: Yeah, they did. That was good to see early on. It's something when you play a good team you've got to get off to a good start to give yourself a chance in a game where you're playing against a team that's really proven over time that they've done it pretty well. So it was good to see that in the very beginning.

Q. Got a couple drives and short fields seemed to be a problem. Maybe somewhat self of inflicted in that regard?
COACH BEATY: Yeah, you've got to win the battle of field position, that's an offense, defense and special-teams thing. That's not just one third. We've got to continue to develop at special teams and continue with our punt game and try to switch the field.

When you've got a guy like that, it makes it a lot easier on you, because you can get decent drive starts for your opponent. We've got to get better in that area.

Q. Ryan Willis looks like he's got some escapability and looks pretty poised if he's flushed. How would you assess his game today?
COACH BEATY: Well, it's hard to tell until we watch the tape. I know this, he's a young guy, and he made some mistakes today. But we knew that was going to be part of the growing pains with a young guy. But you know what? I loved his approach. I loved the way he attacked each series. He was never discouraged at all. The guy was excited about going out there and playing. I love that he loves to play football. I do think he'll continue to get better because he loves the game. He has a couple throws I think he'd like back today, but he also made some good throws in there today.

So all in all, we'll have to look at the tape. But I was pleased with his demeanor and his approach with regard to leading our team.

Q. I was going to say, he looks like he doesn't get rattled. Is that a quality that he has?
COACH BEATY: So far he's been pretty good in that area, which is good, and that's obviously a trait that you look for in a quarterback.

Q. Obviously we knew this was going to be a high-powered offense. Had you your defense put in some situations throughout this entire game. What do you tell that D?
COACH BEATY: Well, first of all, you've got to take your hat off to Baylor. Those guys are phenomenal at what they do. They're really good. So we've got to do a good job of not putting our defense in bad positions, obviously, but then we've got to do a good job of when we get them to third down, we've got to really capitalize and get off the field there. We got them into third down quite a bit early, and they extended those drives.

I think they finished with 34 first downs in the game, and we've got to do better than that. There are a lot of things that we've got to do in all the other areas as well. It's not just the defense.

Q. Saw a couple new players today. I know we asked earlier in the week about Taylor Cox. I'm not sure we thought we were going to see as much of him as we did. But to see a new receiver in Jeremiah Booker who looked like the on the of trying to get the ball down the field, he got the speed down the field?
COACH BEATY: Yeah, it was good to get both those guys back. I'm really happy with Taylor. He's a senior, and he's lost so much time with his injury. With the exception of the fumble, the kid played his tail off today. One of his biggest strengths is his leadership. He did a really nice job for us on that sideline in that huddle. And really tough situation for a guy coming back in his first game. I was proud of him there. But we've got to take care of the football and we can't put it on the ground.

Jeremiah Booker coming back, that gave us some depth there, and he was able to make a couple plays in the game which only helped him move forward.

Just a couple of things to get started with. First of all, I take my hat off to art and his team. They're a good football team. We knew that coming in. We knew to be able to get after these guys, they were going to have to have a fast start on both sides of the ball in the kicking game, and I thought we did that offensively, which was good to see. It was one of those deals where those guys kind of got going.

When you play a team like that you kind of get to the point where they're coming on their first road game out here to come see us up in orange, and you're hoping they're not on their game, but they were on their game. Their quarterback played well. Seth played really well. I thought his receivers made plays, and then their running game is pretty good, man. Their offensive line is really good. They do a good job of moving you around. They created some holes and got that offense rolling early.

I thought we got them to third downs several times early in the game, and I think when you get to those situations, you've got to capitalize on it and get them off the field a couple times. We stopped them a couple times and got on the kick field goals, but some of those happened a little bit late in the game. But you've got to stop those guys when you get a chance. I think they had 34 first downs in the game, and we've got to do better than that. They're a good football team, but I think we made some things easier on them at times and that's something we control. We lost the game of field position today. That's an offense, defense, and special teams thing. We've got to do a better job in our punt game and we've got to switch the field a lot better than we have here lately. That will continue to be a thorn in our side unless we get that fixed.

So we've got to do a better job there. With this team being as good as they are, you can't turn the football over in their own end and you can't give them something that creates points other than what they do offensively, and we did that. Ryan dropped the snap, and instead of having some poise there and being able to live to play another down, he tried to make something happen, and it came out, and they scooped it up and scored there.

So those are things that we can't do to our defense, because that just kind of compounded and made things a little bit more difficult as we move forward. So those are things that we really, we control those things and we should be able to control those controllables, and I didn't think that we did that for the majority of the time today.

Ryan is a young guy. He made some plays today, and I thought he handled himself pretty good in there. For the most part he wasn't rattled when he made mistakes which was good. There's a couple other guys, Taylor Cox, I think you heard me talk about him just a second ago. With the exception of him putting the ball on the ground, I thought he played really hard. It will be hard for me to tell until I watch the tape.

But he was pressed into a lot more action because of Kinner's injury. But it was good to have him back out there. It really was. If there's a positive in here, it was good to have him and Jeremiah Booker back out there. Both those guys I think helped us moving forward for sure.

But Bart and them got a good football team on both sides of the ball. They did a good job. So we'll take some questions.

Q. (No microphone) what was his demeanor and his leadership before this?
COACH BEATY: Great. Exactly what you thought. He picked up like he'd never been gone. The demeanor was great; he was a leader just like he'd always been. He never let those guys get down. He literally refused to let anybody look negative in that huddle which man I'm so proud of that, and we need that. From a senior, the guy's been around a long time, and that was good to see.

Q. That first down on second drive, was that the sort of thing, we had talked earlier in the week about maybe taking some chances and you said last week they had some things in there. Did you think about going for it and trying to be aggressive there early and try to keep up with them?
COACH BEATY: Not there. We were trying to give our defense some good field position again, and we were able to do it a little bit better this week than we did last week in that regard on that particular situation. We were a little bit better. We weren't great, but we were a little bit better. Trying to pin them down in there and help our guys at least have their -- have a long way to go.

So that was the thought process. And a lot of it has to do with who you're playing and where you think you're going to have your opportunities to make it on those downs. They did a dad gum good job against us on fourth down today. We had fourth and short sticks and we didn't get to first. That's very disappointing, very disappointing. But take my hat off to them, they stopped us, but we've got to be better than that.

Q. I know you want to watch the film, obviously. But does Ryan -- did he show you things that he can be going forward and trying to evaluate and see where he gets, but you talked a lot about having your best players out on the field (No microphone). Did you get any feeling for whether he could handle it the rest of the year?
COACH BEATY: I think we began to get a feel. I think it's lard to make those type of assumptions on one game, as you know. I think it's going to be a body of work as we move forward. They were fairly simple in what they did defensively today, so we got a pretty good look, and that's what Phil does. He's known for doing that. We knew that coming into the game, but I thought Ryan handled it pretty well. I like the kid.

I said it before, I really like him. I like his demeanor; I like the fact that he loves to play football. I mean, you'd be surprised how many people in this world sometimes play the game and they don't love it. I mean, he loves it, and it's refreshing to be around a guy like that.

Q. (No microphone)?
COACH BEATY: I think he did. Man, I'm going to have to watch the tape, because I can't see some of those mistakes that are being made. But he did do at times, he did some things that you were proud of him for, you know? The thing is, he doesn't get rattled. I don't even know that he's always completely aware of the situation, which is what a veteran does. I think that's something that helps him a little bit, because he just continues to play. But I'm not sure he played older than he is, but he certainly played decent for a guy that is a true freshman.

It was good for us that we were able to kind of get him to this point because he needed that. A lot of guys to be able to see more offensively in the collegiate level.

Q. Watching the tape, it looked like you guys got stuck on (No microphone). Did you see that and have you watched film on that?
COACH BEATY: Yeah, he's a young guy. You watch those young guys and sometimes it takes them a while to start looking and understanding structure and how those pieces are moving around. And by the way it's Division 1 football in the Big 12. So those guys on the other side of the field, they get paid a lot of money because they're really good at what they do, and they're not just going to show you what they're in.

So you're going to have to do a good job of film study and knowing when the safeties are literally half a yard off level, that that tells you something. When you're young, you can't see all that. When you get to play a lot of ball, you get a lot of snaps because it's something -- you can have all the money in the world, but you can't buy experience. He's got to go get that. So we can't give it to him. He's got to go get it, and I thought today was a great start for him.

Q. Taylor was not very good when he started there. Do you see any similarities (No microphone)?
COACH BEATY: I tell you this, he's done a great job there. I've said that over and over again. He and I both were Texas high school football coaches so I've known him for a long, long time. I'm not sure it's fair for me to put us in any category like they are right now, even in the beginning. Because they got in the bowl game pretty quick. They did a pretty good job. He's a guy that, man, I don't know that I'll put myself even or us remotely close to them until we go earn that. We've got to go earn it, and we're not there yet. There may have been similar circumstances. But in terms of where he's at, man, he's done a heck of a job. Great model for people.

Q. How hard is it to stay positive after you're down 52-7?
COACH BEATY: Well, I mean, from our standpoint, we as coaches and as players, we have to be able to shut the scoreboard off, whether you're up 21 or down 21. You've got to play the next play. That sounds clichÃ©, but it's exactly how you do it. You take everything one play at a time, and then you play the next play. It's obviously not a comfortable situation, I'm sure.

But it's things that we're learning right now within our team of how to handle adversity. It is what it is. We just talked that we left that locker room about some key things in handling situations like that. Moaning, complaining, and griping is not going to do anything to get it any better. You've got to go out there, get to work and get better day by day.

Q. Can you talk a little on the injuries?
COACH BEATY: Yeah, we're banged up a little bit there, Ke'aun Kinner, like I said, he tried to go a little bit today. He got in there for a couple plays. He tried, man. He's a tough kid. He's been hobbled all week. He's got some issues with that ham and that thigh, so he tried. He just couldn't go. So it gave opportunities to Taylor Cox to get in there, De'Andre Mann is another guy that's trying to fight through a little injury here and there. It was great to see Taylor Martin get in there. I mean, that guy wanted to get in there so bad. He was smiling and patting me on the back saying coach, give it to me. Those are the things that you leave that game going, all right, we've got the right guys here. You know?

We've got the right guys here. Plan, they really want to make these people in their state happy. They really do. But they understand it's a process. They've got to get there and they've got to earn it. I think that hurts them more than anything.

Q. (No microphone) Martin prepares before a game?
COACH BEATY: We wanted to, we wanted to. We've got a pretty good stable of backs there, but you need them in the Big 12. You really do. It's hard to last a whole season now at running back. It really is. And we want to run the football. We're trying to run the football.

If we can get to a point where we're in manageable situations where you don't have to throw it down the field a little bit, it will help your running game. I've had a lot of people ask me about that. When you start getting into situations where you have to start trading points a little bit, man, it forces you out of that run game a little bit. I think when we get into those situations where we are within striking distance, we're in a lot better position to run the football. It helps your run game.

Q. How good is it for your team, your young guys to see them up close, in person? And after that, what do you tell them from what they saw from an opponent like that?
COACH BEATY: Well, we haven't talked a whole lot about them because it's all about us, and I know that sounds clichÃ©, but it's the truth. If we operate correctly and we execute correctly, then we're going to limit the production of our opponents. But you know what? I think you make a great point. I mean, it is a great opportunity to go out there and play against some of the best in the country. And those guys have built that thing.

Baylor, I grew up in Texas, and I remember a day where they had been struggling, and now they have, for all intents and purposes, kind of led the state. It's really good for our guys. It really is. Whether we want to give them credit or not coming out of our mouths, I know those guys are looking over there going, you know what? That's where we want to get to.

Q. Some of the guys had their pads off in the second half. Have you noticed that? Have you ever seen that before? Was that kind of a weird thing for them?
COACH BEATY: Yeah, when the starters are done a lot of times, they'll take their pads off. Art is a very unique coach, and I admire him because he doesn't do things the way they've always been done just because they've always been done that way. He's very unique. You watch him run plays, and sometimes those receivers don't even take a step off the ball.

But there are some changes to that, because when they're ready to go vertical, they rushed it, and they take off and they rushed it. But there are some things you don't see very often. He's an out of the box thinker.

Q. (No microphone).
COACH BEATY: No, that's the game of football. He can't coach my team and his too. His job is to do his job, my job is to do my job. We're playing 60 minutes of football, and that's how the game is designed.

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