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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 19, 2016

David Beaty

Lawrence, Kansas

Texas - 21, Kansas - 24

DAVID BEATY: I feel better being in here right now than a few of the other showings.

First of all, wanted to say thank you to our fans. What a great fan base we have.

Want to congratulate Ray Bechard on a Big-12 championship today. What a great deal by him. I saw him after the game and it was a great to see him.

But then I want to just take my hat off to our kids. What resilient dudes those guys are. They have continued to work through some really, really difficult situations. And I've said it before, I feel like we got the right type of kids in our program. They kept fighting, they got us a chance to win the game, and they were able to steal it there at the end.

So many great things in that game that stick out to me as you come out as a winner.

Matthew Wyman being able to come back from that TCU game and without him, we don't win this game. And I think that speaks to the locker room in there and how they handled him after that game.

Huge win for us, obviously, in the Big-12. Getting our first one since we have been here. Our staff did a tremendous job. Clint Bowen, I mean wow, what a great job he did. I went in there all week, and he was grinding like the mad scientist in there trying to figure out how to stop this running back and how to slow these guys down. So, he did a really, really nice job and you know what? They settled down after the first play. After the first play.

And our guys, they kept playing and they understood that there was a lot of game left to play. So, it was good to see.

Carter, I thought, was really good in the end of that game. I thought he did a lot of really nice things for us. Made a couple of really big plays. There was a couple of fumbles there, or excuse me, penalties that really changed the game there at the end. Put us in position to kick that field goal.

The turnovers late. Our guys kept playing on defense, they kept getting him down. There was one guy left, and he got him down and he's a big dude now. I mean, that dude is huge. Mike Lee's trying to tackle him and he got him down. That's the whole deal is make them snap it again and let's see what happens. And I just can't say enough about our defense and how they gave us a chance to win.

And then we really didn't do a whole lot offensively until we needed to there late. We would like to get started a lot earlier than that, but we didn't. And Carter, he's got a feel for the dramatic, I guess, and he did a tremendous job there late. Steven Sims, our running backs, Ke'aun Kinner, Khalil Herbert, Taylor.

And then our offensive line, they played really, really well all day and they continued to get better. Our tight ends played a really good game. You don't see him very much, but he did a lot of great things for us.

And in the kicking game, I thought we did some really great things, and they're really good in the kicking game. They're really good. So there was some things that helped us win that game. We were a little bit more complete which is how I think we had a chance to win it.

Q. Take us through Sims's two-point conversion, what were his options?
DAVID BEATY: We have been working that play since we got here. Believe it or not, I stole it from Southlake Carroll High School when they played Tulsa Union in overtime. I was on the sideline, and I was down there recruiting Kenny Hill, believe it or not. And they ran it in the third overtime against Tulsa Union, and I was, like man, I'm stealing that. And we stole that play. It's a reverse with the pass option. We snap it directly to the running back. And I thought he did a terrific job, because the pass option went away, Carter got covered and he made the Haines kid miss, and he got to the end zone. That was a huge play for us, allowed us to only have to kick the field goal to tie it.

Q. How critical was Sims that pass breakup in the end zone?
DAVID BEATY: Well, difference in the win and the loss. What a great, great effort by him because he knew he had to do it. We talked about it before we went out there that we're not, we can't leave it short, Carter, and we left it a little short. And we wanted to make sure we took a chance at the end zone.

They were smart. They showed single high and they rolled to double high, there was two dudes over there, and Carter launched it and Sims did exactly what we told him to do. You have to become a defender, if things get hairy over there. Even if we get a penalty, you have to become a defender and get the ball out. And he kept fighting, the guy didn't drop it until the very end, but he kept fighting. And that's why you got to continue to play through every play and he did that and it made a big difference in the game.

Q. The last pass when you were watching it, could you tell that Mike Lee was making the break for it? Could you tell he was going to make that catch?
DAVID BEATY: I could tell only because I was lined up just directly behind it and I saw it fell on him and I saw Mike's eyes get, they were about that big (Indicating) and he looked like a guy that had seen his first pass that had been thrown right to him and he caught it. And we had just talked about all of our overtime stuff that we go, we go through our protocol and we had just talked about how we're starting on defense first, if you get it you need to score. And, man, I thought he did a really nice job of trying to get out. He got really close to getting out. And then I thought our offense did a really good job from that point going in and driving the ball down the middle of the field and getting in position to give Wyman a decent angle to kick the ball.

Q. Six turnovers in the game, how does it feel to be on the other end of that?
DAVID BEATY: It feels great. It feels really good to cause them, because when that happens, typically it's being caused. And our guys caused a bunch of them because I thought they hit Buechele a bunch tonight. That was the plan. If we could kind of stop the bleeding a little bit with Foreman, then we had to hit Buechele. We had to hit him. He's a young guy, so we had to get some pressure on him and get him uncomfortable early. And if we did, we felt like maybe we could get him to make a mistake or two. But he hasn't done that really in previous games. Defensively, I think Clint does a terrific job. And we got some good players over there. We really do. We got some really good players and I thought they played -- we challenged our D-line. Coming off that game last week, that last couple of drives, they ran it right down our throat. And we talked Monday about this game was going to be about what those guys did. Daniel Wise, Isi, Deelsaac Davis, those guys playing in the A gaps, we challenged them. And they give up yards, they gave up a lot, they bent, but they didn't break. He didn't get beat for a long one, they had to keep snapping it. And that was what we continue to talk about. Make them snap it again and let's see what happens. Make them snap it again. It's hard to score on an error in college football, believe it or not, so just make them snap it again. And I thought the kids did great job of that.

Q. For these seniors, there were tough times, there were dark days. Talk about the character that they have shown believing in this program and being rewarded today on their last home game.
DAVID BEATY: I don't know if I can say it any better than the way you just said it. I am just so happy for those guys. And you know who else I'm happy for is our senior class from last year. I look up in the stands and right behind our bench it's been great. Those guys knew that they were looking straight into the fire last year. And I told them, if you'll just, if you'll help us, if you'll continue to be the great kids that you are, I'll never let you be forgotten. And we're talking about them in that locker room down there. Those that laid a great foundation and these seniors that haven't experienced a whole lot of success, man, I'm so happy for those guys and, really, I take my hat off to the rest of the team, because they dedicated the whole week to them. They really did a great job of focusing on those seniors. And I could tell they had a different look in their eye today. I could tell. They believed. And not that they don't always believe, they just had a very confident look to them. And I know our team is very happy for themselves, but they're really happy for the fans.

Q. The offense really hasn't done a lot. You guys were down 21-10, I think Ke'aun had like a 20-yard run and you saw something open up and made something happen, did that really get the offense going there?
DAVID BEATY: Absolutely it sparked us. The thing about it is, when we can get him going in tempo, it helps. But you got to string first downs together to do that. I want to say there were, I know of at least four drives that started inside our own 10-yard line and we're trying to get that thing out, wanting to just get one or two and let's see if we can get favorable position to punt the ball and changed field position with our defense playing like that. And our defense kept stopping them, but we kept getting the ball on the 5 or 10 and, man, good teams, they get it out. And we weren't able to get it out down there. But he kept playing and he found a spark there and we were back in our own end and he's had that knack to do that over the last couple of weeks. Man, I'm so proud of that kid. He just continues working and he comes from a great family and you know why he's the type of kid he is. I'm fired up for him.

Q. You had to recruit 0-12 teams before and you understand the difficulties. Do you have a grasp of what this win can do for the whole program moving forward?
DAVID BEATY: Well, for us it's our first Big-12 victory and it's only one win that we have had in this season in that Big-12 schedule. So, we're going to keep it in perspective. But from a recruiting perspective, I think you hit it on the head. That's a good football team over there and they have a bunch of really, really talented guys. And being able to go toe-to-toe with those guys and come away with a victory, I think it says a lot about the direction that our program is headed. The coaches that we have around here, these coaches are terrific. Our administration, all the support we get from these people, even when you don't think they are, man, our administration, they support us like you would not believe. Our kids, they are treated like gold. If you're a recruit, and you don't want to come here, you're crazy. Because, man, we take care of our guys like nobody, nobody else. Because it's a terrific place. They love their kids. When you get here, you become a Jayhawk and that's the coolest thing about you. When you become a Jayhawk, it changes everything about you.

Q. Can you describe the emotion of being at mid field and having all the students rush the field celebrating with you and your players and your program and just taking it all in. What did that feel like?
DAVID BEATY: Man, it was awesome. It was so cool to see them smiling and to see them having fun and enjoying themselves. They kept coming. They kept coming. Every week there was a ton of students up in that student section. And as a coach you keep thinking, you know, man, are these kids going to continue to do that? And they did. They did. They kept coming. This is not just for our guys, it's for them. Our guys truly want to win to make their fans, the students here, their fan base, their stakeholders, they want them to be happy. They have gone through a lot. To see those fans down there, I saw so many great supporters of our university that were out there that, I mean, it felt good to give them a hug and thank them with a win.

Q. Would you agree that the drive in the fourth quarter, I believe it was around eight or nine minutes, was one of the best drives of the season?
DAVID BEATY: I definitely think it would be. We had three drives last week of 10 plays or more that took off quite a few minutes off the clock. We're starting to get a little bit better. And that helps us. We're starting to finish drives a little bit better. That's a good defense now. They got some dudes. I know, because I recruited every single one of them. They are -- those dudes are big men. We had to alter some of the things we were doing because their bodies are so long the passing windows aren't the same. It's crazy how big those dudes are. But that drive I think really helped us.

Q. So many of your kids from Texas have been in big games, you know, Sims, on and on you could go. Does it mean a little something extra for those Texas kids when they see it's the Longhorns out there?
DAVID BEATY: I would probably think it does, but in that moment out there, you almost don't really know who you played. It was just about other people that hung with you. I truly think that's how they feel. I had to remind them in there, you need to enjoy this. You need to be excited as well. You need to understand, we got to learn how to win. And we got to understand that's part of the process. That it's hard to win a football game in college football. So you have to enjoy it. And then we'll go back to work for K State tomorrow.

Q. This isn't the exclamation point, but what type of shot in the arm does this give this team going forward to the season finale next week?
DAVID BEATY: Well, I think it certainly, it's kind of, it sparks us heading into this next week. What a great game, a great history that these two teams have together. This great state. Certainly you know what I think about Coach Snyder and what he's done. I have so much respect for him and I truly believe they're one of the best teams in the Big-12. They really, they could easily be a 10, 11 win team right now. They are very talented. We got a huge, huge mountain we got to climb to get ready to play these guys. But it's going to be a lot easier and a lot funner preparing tomorrow with the result that we got today. Thanks a lot, I appreciate you guys hanging with us, covering all the stories that you had to cover over the last couple, three years. And I know it can be a lot funner for you on these type of situations at times if you let it. So thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

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