Jalon Daniels spoke after the Jayhawks 35-31 loss to Arizona State on the road. Here is everything he had to say:
Opening comment:
As much as we've been emphasizing being able to finish the game. We haven't quite been able to put it together yet. And that stings, that hurts when you feel like you're trying to do everything that you can making all of the little changes, as many little changes as possible to be able to try to correct it. And, you know, you still fall up short, it hurts. But, we've never been a team to put our heads down. We've always been kept our heads high to the finish. And that's exactly how our locker room is right now.
What did you think of the heat…
It was definitely hot out there from the beginning. Being a California kid, I've gotten the chance to be able to play in Arizona and Las Vegas before. I had to tell the guys that it's definitely going to be hot. But once the sun goes away it won't feel as hot as it says it is. And I don't think that it changed anything about how went about everything today. I feel like we still went about our offense and our defense. We still went out there and able to play some football.
Can you just talk about how Quentin Skinner played…
Watching him throughout the whole entire season, you know, it's kind of been hard. Because as a receiver, I know how it is for a receiver to not be able to make as many plays as they want to be able to make. And, you know, as a quarterback when you try your best to be able to put your receivers in the best position. And you feel like you're falling short of doing that. It was exciting to be able to see me and Q-Skinn, finally being able to have a connection again and being able to see him put some points up on the board.
How do you feel you played today…
At the end of the day, we fell short winning the game. And like I said, last week, I feel like a quarterback your number one mission is to win the game. If you lose the game, what little things did you do to not be able to help the team win? When you go back to looking at that overthrow to Q-Skinn in the end zone right after the targeting, who knows how the game goes if we're able to score that touchdown? As a quarterback, you just look at the little things that you were, that you missed in the game, that, you know, probably wasn't as pivotal in the moment.
But when you're looking at the end of the game, those little things are something that adds up to being able to come to result of the game.
Coach Leipold was talking about how it's not just one thing, how do you keep that from frustrating you…
I've always said, since Coach Leipold got here, it's focusing on the little things realizing that you never know what the difference of the game or you never know what the difference within a game will happen to be able to become the outcome. Just trying to be able to hone in on the little things, you know, as much as possible. We're talking about how we go about everything throughout the week. We're talking about the list. We're talking about being able to check in those little things that matter. Because at the end of the day, as much as you don't want to, you look at how much it matters throughout the week. On Saturday, it shows up when those little things, when those little boxes aren't checked.
Quentin Skinner talked about his faith a little, how do you find strength in Christ…
In moments like these, at the end of the day, I've always believed that you're not put in situations for no reason. I feel like God puts you in situations. If it's a trial and tribulation that comes your way. It's put there to be able to help you stronger for a future endeavor that comes your way. And you know, no matter how low it gets or how high it gets, you can never be too high or too low on yourself. And I feel like my faith in God allows me to be able to stay on that steady, easy path and being able to stay in the Bible and being able to have those conversations with God when times get hard or when times are getting good. You have to be able to have that conversation with him.
And i feel like he keeps you humble throughout everything.
How do you feel that you're giving God glory…
I feel like I’m being able to use my platform by any chance to give God glory by any means necessary. You look at me before the game, I'm always going to pray. You look at me before every single drive starts, I’m always going to pat both of my crosses on my leg, being able to kiss it up to God. Because at the end of the day I wouldn't be nowhere near or be the man that I am today, if it wasn't for him.
Going back to Illinois how would you track your progress…
I haven't been able to help my team come out with a win yet. And when you're looking at that, looking in the mirror, you're trying to find, still falling short of being able to help my team be able to get to that finish line. So, it's going to be another week of being able to look at the film, be able to find all the mistakes that i made and be able to try to correct those.
How do you feel like the bye week helps you do that…
We had a couple guys go down on the field today. And I feel like this bye week is definitely something that will be able to help us be able to come out for the next game, be able to come out as healthy as possible. And I think this week would definitely.
What was going through your head when you had the ball at the end of the game…
Try to win the game. It’s not over until there's zero on the clock. Try to do everything that you can to be able to try to win. Talking to coach Z, talking to Coach Grimes, just being able to try to find out what plays we're going to try to run to be able to get down the field. We were able to be able to hit Trevor Wilson across the middle of the field on the last drive. I was able to hit T-Lock on a flat route. And then it was time to be able to try to go for it all. Like I said, we've come up short and we got to try our best to try to be able to try to stay out of those situations in the future games.
