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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 15, 2016

David Beaty

Lawrence, Kansas

DAVID BEATY: Appreciate you coming today. First, a huge thank you to all our fans that were there last weekend. They were there, and they were impactful, they were awesome. Kind of illustrates what it means to be a Jayhawk. Want to say thanks to all the folks that were there, and we felt us. We appreciate that. We're going to need you down this road here.

Listen, lot of things going on around KU right now for this week. Lot of really request cool things going on. I want to congratulate Mark Francis and his group, the women's soccer team, advancing to the second round. They're playing at North Carolina Friday afternoon. So I'm looking forward to that for them. Great win over Mizzou. So congratulations there. And I know our volleyball team has done remarkable things. I think they're leading the Big 12 by themselves now, which is outstanding. Good luck to Ray and his group. Our men are playing tonight in New York, so good luck to Bill and the boys, and let's get a victory out there.

Just a couple notes. I want to express our support for a couple great Jayhawks. Cole Hayden, Scooter Ward, both going through a tough fight. So we're here for you and we love you guys.

We've got a big game this weekend, as you all know. Texas is coming in here. It's a big game for a lot of reasons for both groups. For us, it's getting that first Big 12 victory. Our guys are excited and ready to take this challenge on. It's going to be a great day. We're playing at 2:30, prime spot. So we're excited about that. Going to be pretty good weather out there, so we're excited.

For them, it's a challenge to be bowl eligible. So a lot at stake for both groups. They're a talented team. We know it's going to be a great challenge, but we're excited about it. We're going to be right back at home, and we play pretty good at home. We're excited about that, so we need to close the deal. So let's take some questions.

Q. Do you have any update on Ben Johnson and any other guys?
DAVID BEATY: I tell you what, let's start with Marcquis. I don't think we're going to wind up getting Marcquis back at all. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's going to physically get back. So probably done with him for the year, unfortunately. It's sad to see a kid end his senior year like that. We had another injury the other day that was sad to see another one of our seniors end his career. Olobia tore his Achilles in that game, so he's having surgery today. But sad to see that happen. I don't know that we're going to get Ben back this week or not. We're holding out hope that maybe the last week.

It's just that time of year. Everybody's banged up all over the place. You look at Texas and one of their really good linebackers is in concussion protocol. Man, it's that time of year. All of us are going through it. Sometimes it's about who stays the most healthy, you know? And, man, it's important for everybody.

Q. What about Ke'aun? He was talking about (indiscernible)?
DAVID BEATY: Yeah, he got hit pretty good on that one run. Guy caught him on the rib. But he looked good in practice yesterday. So I feel good about him. I think he's going to be okay. We really need him to be okay. He ran really well the other night.

Q. He's had a couple pretty big weeks now. In other weeks, what's kept him from being quite as productive?
DAVID BEATY: I think the first thing is our offensive line has done a nice job of improving over the last four to five weeks, watching those guys gel. One of the things that sticks out to me up front is Mesa Ribordy has taken over that center spot for us. Since he's been there, our production has gone way up. It's been really good. He's been a leader of that group up there and really done some good things. I think Banks just played his best football in these last few games, a senior that you want him to start playing like that. Up front, they've played a lot better, a lot more consistently, which has helped us. We've kind of kept the same crew together, which has not been normal. I think that's been good. Plus for him, I think him kind of getting a good feel for what we're doing with that group, but up in front of him is starting to get a little bit more, I guess you can call it, chemistry with him.

Q. Two days later, what is something you noticed on film with Carter?
DAVID BEATY: He played a solid game. There's a couple plays that I know that he would want back and we'd want back. We had one trick play with Zuni going down the scene. We had him in a hidden formation. Man, that would have been a big play right there because that would have extended the lead quite a bit, and we left it short. I know he would want that one back. But there were so many things that he did that put us into position to score that were things that we really had not seen on a consistent basis.

I thought our guys really responded to him, which was something that I really enjoyed seeing. He played pretty sound football. He had a couple of things that taking that sack on that third down was not something that I know he wanted to have happen. As you look at it, it would have been something that we could have gotten out of. But as far as understanding his reads and his eyes being in the right place, he really did not put the ball in jeopardy with the exception of the last play when Steven got ridden out of bounds. I think he was just trying to make a play at that point. I think he thought Steven was going to come back into play.

Q. It looked like he settled for a lot of short passes and the tradeoff is he's not (Inaudible)?
DAVID BEATY: Not really. We are not unlike a lot of the team that's I'm watching on tape right now. There is a lot of run-pass combo stuff going on around the country right now. It's difficult to run the football against these guys in this country right now. So you have got to have that weapon of run-pass combination, which means you have a run, and if they are sticking their nose in it with that extra defender on the overhang area, then you've got to be able to knock the ball outside.

Almost everybody is playing some form of containment defense nowadays. So it's very difficult to get the ball on the edge unless you whip it out there. And you whip it out there, and those become your old-school sweep plays is what they wind up turning into.

The thing about those, is if you'll continue to work at it and stays at it, a three to four-yard gain can turn into a 15- to 20-yard gain pretty quickly if you block it correctly out there.

So we had some mid-range, intermediate stuff that I thought he did well with. There were a couple I thought he could have done a little better with. But for the most part, he actually executed exactly like we wanted him to. We would like to have hit a little more on those deeper balls, but it's not necessarily a tradeoff. We're going to try to play the whole system.

Q. Have you noticed anything different about him since he's taken over as the number one QB?
DAVID BEATY: Me, not really. I'm around him every day. You can tell the team has really drawn to him over the last couple weeks, which is good. They've been really good about whoever is in there. So that's not a surprise to me. They support each other, because they know how hard each other works.

But, you know, I think the thing that really has stuck out to me is that is that he has continued to have that workmanlike approach, and you like to see that. He's really focused. When I text him nowadays, his answers are really serious. I'm like, Quit being serious. Can you be funny like you always are? But I know he's excited about the opportunity. He wants to make the most of it.

Q. Kind of recovering, I know it was a tough loss and you guys have moved past it pretty quickly?
DAVID BEATY: Yeah, Saturday stunk. I don't know any other way to say it. It hurt, and it was frustrating on a lot of levels for all of us. It wasn't -- I know I wasn't the most pleasant to be around here on Saturday after the game. My apologies. But, man, I wouldn't want a coach up here happy after he gets his butt kicked and he could have won the football game. So we were not happy about that.

I think the good thing to draw from that is that not one of those kids in that locker room nor anybody that was affiliated with our program thought we were going to lose that game at any point. We went into the game believing we were going to win it, and that's how we do every week. We believe that when we're going into games. This is a great opponent we've got coming in here this week. But we're fixing to go out there and try to win this game against them. We believe we have enough to do it if we play smarter than them. So it's a great challenge for them. I know they've got bowl eligibility in front of them for us. It's our first Big 12 win, so we've got the same type of motivation that they do.

Q. What stands out for you about Texas?
DAVID BEATY: Running back, very talented, but, man, I tell you what, the offensive line is stinking good now. They're strong, they are big. They come off the football. They're one of the more aggressive off the football teams that I've seen this year. They've got some good players. That Kent Perkins kid is a real player. I remember him out of Lake Highlands. He's really good. I think their center's playing well. I think the whole group up front is really talented. The running back averages I think 190-plus yards a game, which is ridiculous. This guy's got 16-, 1700 yards rushing on the year. His numbers are just gross. It's unbelievable what he's done.

You know, it's not just him. Those guys up front are really good now. They put bodies on bodies. There's a lot of plays where they're handing it off to him and he's getting two, three, four, five yards, and then all of a sudden he busts one for 50 or 60. They are just consistent. They stays with it. Really big run-pass combo team. Really big. So you've got to be really careful because Shane does a good job getting the ball out and about. I think they're as talented athletically as anybody we've played this year. They've got some talent now. They really do. They're talented on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, Edwin Freeman played for Kenny Perry here. He's come in and played Mike backer, and he's done a good job. He's stood out. They have an edge player, outside linebacker, I think his last name is Hager, and he is a disrupting dude. He is strong. I mean, he is a hard dude to deal with because he disrupts so much.

They're really good up front defensively. They are strong, they're fast. They have Charles out of Rowlett, Texas. I'm not even going to attempt to say his last name, but he's long. He's 254 pounds. When I recruited him, he was 215, and now he's 254. He's a good player. He's got a lot of starts under his belt now, which is good for him.

You look at their secondary, and everybody except for the nickels has the number six in front of their height. Every one of them are six-foot plus. So they have nice, rangy guys back there that can cover.

Man, they're talented. The thing that sticks out to me is they're talented. Their offensive line, who you saw play as young guys, they have started gelling together. I think that's really kind of -- if I was looking at them, I'd say they're pretty good up front, man. They're good up front. You're going to have to try to stop the run. There's no doubt about it.

Q. You're a sensitive guy. What kind of emotions are involved with you (inaudible) out on the field?
DAVID BEATY: Well, for me, honestly, it's no different than any other game. We have a lot of kids from Texas on our roster right now, and no different than any other place that we play at, whether it's Oklahoma or wherever. We have kids from all over. When you're playing those schools that maybe they went to camp at or maybe got recruited or didn't get recruited by, there is probably some emotion. Plus the affiliation with that state that they're from.

But from my standpoint, it's never really been like that. I'm just a fan of football, period. So we always were growing up. It really isn't any different for me. It's just a matter of who it is that's in those uniforms. I got to figure out who their best guys are so we can match-up appropriately.

Q. Do you use it motivationally at all? You mentioned guys that maybe went to camp or didn't get recruited or did. Do you use that to get out?
DAVID BEATY: We jack around with each other -- I guess that might be the best way to say it, is we mess around with each other all the time. Saying things about Kyle Mayberry, hey, are you afraid of Oklahoma, because he's from Oklahoma. And same thing with our guys from Texas. We'll just mess around with each other.

But as far as motivation, that's not going to make the difference, to be honest with you. I mean, it's words, but that's not going to make the differences. So we just use it more as keeping the week light a little bit. But they're going to be motivated as it is because a lot of eyes are going to be on them for people that are watching maybe the Texas team of family members or people that live in that state. Maybe they think they're going to be watched by people that they know that are not normally able to watch them. So maybe that's motivation for them.

Q. With it being Senior Day, do you do anything different motivation-wise to get these guys fired up? Do you know what you're going to say to them, or do you just get up on the flight about two o'clock on Saturday?
DAVID BEATY: It's a big week for us for that. I had somebody ask me the other day, how do you keep your team going when you haven't had the production that you want? And I say it all the time, we have the right guys on our team, which helps us, number one. But really, number two, the real answer to that is that we've played this entire year for our seniors. Those guys have given so much to this university. I know that this being their last time, it comes fast. I mean, they look up, they blink their eyes, and it's always the same words, "I can't believe it's over." They're going to have their family members out there.

The remainder of our team are going to be given everything they can to make sure that they send these guys out on a winning note at home. How cool would that be for these guys to get that first Big 12 win in our era on Senior Day here? No better day than the next. So let's go.

Q. What is the latest in your opinion that this senior class (inaudible)?
DAVID BEATY: I think the big thing for these guys, and we've been talking about it from the beginning, is the foundation that we're laying here. Regardless whether we were a bowl team or a team that was still doing foundational work. Understanding that each individual day was going to be basically a step in the right direction for the future of our program.

Those kids really bought into that. They really did. We have a lot of seniors on this team and a lot of seniors that are playing. There are a lot of places that have seniors and they're not playing. All the younger guys are playing and the older dudes are not. Well, that's not the case for us. Our seniors, for the most part, are playing for us, and that's what you like to see. This is their senior year. Why should they get anything less than our best for them? And they've given us everything that we've asked them to give. In return, I know the remainder of our team, plus all of our coaches, are going to give them everything we've got to make sure they go out on a winning note.

Q. Steven Sims kind of had a breakout season and consistently given you guys production. Does he remind you of anybody from your past that you've coached or watched?
DAVID BEATY: You know, he's not the biggest guy, but, man, acceleration-wise, he's got some juice to him now. He is a quick, quick dude. You know, we had a guy at A&M named Ryan Swope that I don't think a lot of people thought, but he was as good of an accelerator as anybody I'd ever coached. From that standpoint, he ran a 4.2 at the combine. I mean, this guy was fast now. But I don't think many people realized how fast he was. But Steven reminds me a little bit of him.

Ryan finished runs a little bit more than Steven did, but I also had him when he was a senior. So I don't think he was always that way. But he does remind me a little bit of Swope. Swope was a little bigger than he was. But I like the guy's development. There is no doubt about it. He's a talented guy. He can play just about anywhere.

Q. What's going to make him even more talented?
DAVID BEATY: Well, if you look at him, he's still a baby face. He's still young now. He's not completely matured. So I think the next year holds some great improvement for him because he'll grow physically. He's matured so much as a player. I think next year he's seeing so many things now that he didn't even see at the first of the year. He's understanding coverages. He's understanding profiles at corners. I mean, understanding the profile of a corner is so important to playing in this position because it's telling you everything. Where you have space, how far you can push the route.

And he's starting to really understand those nuances, which is what happens when you play a lot of ball. So I think just experience is going to allow him. I think right now I saw in the statistics there was one category where he's third or fourth in the league in something. I think it's receptions or something. But he's touched the ball a lot. Of those guys that were in that top three or four, there were only a couple of them that were coming back. I know D.D. leads it, and he's a senior, but it will be nice for him coming back this next year as one of the top returners in the league.

Q. (Inaudible)?
DAVID BEATY: Yeah, I'd like to see him really hit those big plays we need him to hit. The play to Zuni was a big play because it would have extended that lead to a point that might have changed the game for all of us. Then there's a couple times where we took sacks that we didn't really need to take a sack. We took that one sack down there in the red zone, turned into a longer field goal and we wound up missing it. So those yards all make a difference.

As you start and play more games, that starts to become innate about you as a quarterback. That was my only fear for him going into the game. But you don't control it, because he doesn't have that experience until he gets in there and does it. For his first complete game, I thought he played solid. He certainly put us in a position to be able to win the game. He didn't do anything to lose the game for us.

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