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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 5, 2019

Les Miles

Lawrence, Kansas

Oklahoma - 45, Kansas - 20

Q. Possessions and time of possessions?
LES MILES: Time of possessions. So we probably had the ball ten minutes longer than we had last week, and considering the ability that the opponent had to score, I think that was wise, and I think that's a nice view, something positive. Red zone, we were one for one. And we get down to third down or fourth down play and had a drop. If we had two fourth downs, which is what you do, you say if you had, we'd be in a much different, you know, feeling about today's performance.

Third downs, 6 for 14. I think we were really good early, but not good late. And, again, 0 for 2 in fourth downs. Our football team, I talked to them coming off the field, and there's not any low hanging heads at all. They want to do what we set out to do. And it's going to be -- they're going to get there. They're going to take the strides that they need to have the success that they're going to want to have.

I thought that Stephon Robinson's two touchdowns and the way he played the entire day was just spectacular. Carter Stanley, 18 for 28, 230 yards, three touchdowns. I mean I like his performance. I think there's a great potential there to finish the season strong. So didn't see exactly what we want, but some improvement and a team that wants to be a damn good team. They want to improve. So with that, questions?

Q. You guys are 0 of 7 now on the season on fourth down. Is there any common thread that you can identify to approach to change that?
LES MILES: I can think of a couple drops. I think that this is a team that will learn how to catch fourth downs. It's fourth down. It's a little bit more pressure situation, but I think our guys will handle that. Yeah. I think they will.

Q. You mentioned that there were a lot of things you kind of liked offensively, but ultimately 20 for 7. Probably not enough in the Big 12. What's the next step you guys need to take offensively?
LES MILES: We were pretty balanced in our quarterback and the ability to throw it down the field. We hit three passes. But there were some throws they needed to come caught. So I think where we're at is run the football and the throw the football to some talented receivers and a quarterback that can do it. If we'd have had a cleaner start, it would be a completely different ballgame.

Q. Speak of that, I mean how big of a momentum swing was that fourth down drop by Sosinski and then Mike Lee has a potential to pick six, but he's playing with a cast on his hand?
LES MILES: Well, you can't -- Sosinski is going to surely learn how to do that. That's not going to be an issue. And Mike Lee's cast, that's the Jayhawks that are playing. But you'll end up finding out that those guys will get a lot better and improve.

Q. Was that the big moment in the game, though? I think it's tied at 7 when you have that sequence?
LES MILES: Tied at 7 with an opportunity to hit a first down, and if you go down there and put a little bit more pressure on your opponents, certainly that's an advantage for you. I'm not going to take anything away from the Sooners. They threw the ball extremely well and got completions in big chunks.

Q. Coach, how remarkable was the penetration that your defense achieved in the second quarter and have you ever seen third and goal midfield?
LES MILES: No. I have to be honest with you, I even thought about that at the time. I never quite got that third and goal. Yeah. So you try to pick up that one, that's a long -- you better -- you better throw something flat and get a lot of blockers out there in front of you.

Q. Coach, you gave them more trouble at the line of scrimmage with your defensive front, your ability to disguise your blitzes. Nobody has been in Jalen Hurts' face like that that I've seen on tape all year. Can you talk about the job your coaches and your players did?
LES MILES: We do a pretty thorough job on the defensive side of really understanding how play action comes at us. And they'll come up with a stunt, a blitz. They will enable pressure, and they did that today. They got after Jalen, and then he got his legs going and made us pay for it.

Q. You guys had a nice moment there at the end.
LES MILES: Yeah. He came over and said hi. Of course, he was a quarterback at Alabama when we played them. Yeah. He's a good competitor, quality person, great family kind of guy.

Q. On Oklahoma's punt at the end of the first half that ended up at the KU 2, you guys didn't have anybody back for that. Was that the plan and what was the thinking behind that?
LES MILES: Yeah. Not one handle was the key piece to it. Okay. And we'll leave it there and then bring it out may well have been the call of the day as opposed to a lateral run. So there are some things that we have to fix.

Q. Yeah. And then I'm just wondering if you can comment on Khalil Herbert on Thursday said that he intended to stay here as a redshirt freshman but he had unforeseen complications in his decision. Do you have a response to that?
LES MILES: I don't. We're going to concern ourselves with the team and making this team better and talk about the guys that are going to sit down in this room on Monday and work hard to be a better football team. I think Khalil is a good man. I think that's evident with the people that enjoy him. So...

Q. After that punt there at the end of the second quarter, you guys go throw and out. I think there was a penalty.
LES MILES: Penalties didn't help us in any way today. And we talked about that before I came up here. That's not us. That's not the culture that we want to identify as us. And you can't be selfish. And they'll continue to get that. I didn't like that at all. If there was one thing I didn't like, that was too many penalties that were not necessary.

Q. I mean was that just a pretty difficult circumstance there at the end of the second quarter, with the punt and then they got it up to 21-7 real quick?
LES MILES: Yeah. That certainly didn't need to happen.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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