October 14, 2002
Audio and selected quotes from Head Coach R.C. Slocum at Monday's weekly media luncheon at Cain Hall:
ON USING MULTIPLE OFFENSIVE FORMATIONS...
"Using different offensive schemes keeps a defensive coordinator from being able to settle in. You are making the defensive guys think and make adjustments and you are keeping them from settling in to the same routine every play. It makes it a little harder on the defense."
TEAM APPRAISAL AT SEASON'S HALFWAY MARK...
"We are making progress as a team. We had a setback with the defense giving up the yards and the points that they did (against Texas Tech). I think that the offense has made steady progress over the last couple of weeks. Offensively we are moving in the direction that I want to be. I thought we would have a pretty good offense this year. Looking at last year, Terrence Murphy was a true freshman, Jamaar Taylor was playing for the first time. Terrence Thomas was a true freshman. We moved Thomas Carriger over from defense to play tight end, and Derek Farmer was a true freshman also, so I expected us to be a little better this year. We are just finishing the half way mark and you can see the numbers of guys that are making plays for us. We are starting to see the development there. Dustin Long is young in his development. As he gets better, so will his supporting cast."
TALK ABOUT YOUR HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS AGAINST BAYLOR...
"At halftime I talked to the whole team and told them that we were fine. It looked to me like we were tense. 'We have plays there to make so lets just make the plays. Defense, you are playing well.' Offensively we had some plays to make in the first half. I felt like what we were doing was good. We moved the ball but we just hadn't really scored much. Let's just go out and play and have some fun. I was really pleased with the way we started in the second half. We came out and took control of the game and had some fun. It was a fun game."
BASED ON THE PROBLEMS KANSAS HAS HAD STOPPING THE RUN THIS SEASON, DO YOU ANTICIPATE RUNNING THE BALL A LOT ON SATURDAY?
"I think you look at the schemes of the team and what they've done, but, going in to the game, you go in with a balanced plan. We are going to have a way to run the ball against them with runs that match up well against them. When you get in the game the numbers of runs and passes we run will be dictated on the success we are having."
WHAT IS THE SITUATION WITH THE SECONDARY...
"We don't have a lot of options (in the secondary) right now. We started working Anthony Wright over there a little bit last week, which is a pretty dramatic move. We want to see if we can try and get him ready to play in a couple of weeks. What really hurts you (with injuries to you secondary players) in the special teams is that the guys who play the most are your linebackers and secondary. They cover punts, the cover kicks, they return kicks, when you start losing guys at these positions it affects your across the board. There is not a lot we can do right now. We just have to hang on until we get some guys back. It does affect how we play. We just don't have the numbers right now. Keelan Jackson is hurt now. We've lost Eric Crutchfield for the season with a shoulder problem. We lost Adam Black with a back (injury); Dawon Gentry with a back (injury); Richard Whitaker with a knee; Kevin Mangum has had hand surgery and could be back in a week or two."
TALK ABOUT YOUR SECONDARY'S SUCCESS IN PRODUCING INTERCEPTIONS ...
"I think they're doing good. They're breaking on the ball. We've seen a lot of passes this year for one thing. People ask about the interceptions, we've seen a lot of balls thrown at us. But a lot of interceptions come from deflected balls and guys breaking on the ball. Maybe not even the guy who's covering, but someone that's breaking over to a tipped ball. We've had that happen a number of times, which is a good indication of your secondary. The theory of zone defense is that at least by the time the quarterback's hand comes off the ball, you should have guys breaking full speed toward where he's looking. If you can get guys doing that you end up getting some of those diving interceptions on tipped balls. That's something you work on and I think the numbers that we are getting is an indication that we're getting some of those stray balls."