Everything Lance Leipold said arriving at the bowl game
Shortly after the Jayhawks landed Lance Leipold talked about his team and getting ready to play in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Leipold opening statement: Thank you, everyone, and good afternoon. And thank you to all the people from the Guaranteed Rate Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl committees. It's great to see all of these great Yellow Jackets, and really the hospitality that has been shown from the second we walked off the plane, definitely appreciated and felt throughout our entire athletic department. Our team is extremely excited to be here. I think it's going to be a great experience. Got a great opponent in UNLV that has had an outstanding season and really excited to take this on.
Q. What do you think the team has most to gain from this bowl experience here?
LEIPOLD: I think everybody -- in today's world, when you get a chance to play, in our case, a 13th game -- UNLV has a chance to play in their 14th game -- any time you have a chance to play on a national stage in a national bowl game, it's always a great chance for opportunity. I think as we look at some upperclassmen who have a chance to have one more time, it's always a great opportunity. But I still think -- as we talk to our team all the time, embrace the opportunity of competition, play on a national stage -- and, again, that will be the only game played in that time slot across the nation, so a lot of college football fans will have their eyes on Kansas Jayhawks and the UNLV Rebels and, of course, this great bowl game.
Q. If you had to pick just one player, who stands out?
LEIPOLD: I don't know. Any time I pick any of our players -- I'm proud of all of them, so I'm always trying to stay out of that.
But when I look at our seniors, I look at a guy like Jason Bean being at quarterback who has played extremely well. There's a lot of guys up front that don't get their names called a lot, too. I think a lot of our guys don't get some recognition who have big service in a big game.
Q. Lance, just looking at UNLV's offense, do you feel like there's a lot of scoring in the way the quarterback plays?
LEIPOLD: I think what happened -- yes, I do. I think, first of all, when somebody has the option schemes in their game, all of a sudden, there's a natural attraction to that, that they're similar. But I think this is bearing multiples and movements. We need formations. That really puts a stress on the defense. They have been very opportunistic in the play category, and that's going to be very important for us in this game, to shut that down.
Q. You talked about the opportunities the bowl game has to extend the year. You have had the opportunity for the rest of the college football world to see what Kansas has to offer. What does this mean for you and the team, as you take this next step as a program?
LEIPOLD: I think it's about the consistency that it wasn't a one-time flash in the pan. We want to build a program that's going to be steady for many years. Again, recruiting and other things, we're very fortunate recruiting from right here in the Phoenix area. So for us to continue to build our football program, this is definitely a program on the rise. We are serious about football. These young men, again, we have a lot of guys returning for next year. And, again, we want to continue to build out and end this season in an appropriate way.
Q. I was wondering about last year's bowl. I know it's a distant memory. But that triple overtime, does it make it any more motivational to win a bowl game?
LEIPOLD: I think it does. I think, again, ending the season in a winning fashion is important and is really appropriate and something we want to strive for. I do think we came up just a little short. We were down big -- three-plus scores during that game -- three in the fourth quarter. The resolve and resiliency that we showed is something I am extremely proud of. We left that field and the locker room with an emptiness that we didn't quite get it done. I know for the guys who were part of that game last year, it's going to be really important to play well and finish it out this year.
Q: Coach, can you expound upon your connection even more so now in Arizona after Signing Day. Can you expand upon that?
LEIPOLD: We have been able to sign four players from the Phoenix area on Wednesday. We were very excited about that. I think the two state schools here in the state of Arizona joining the Big 12 Conference, I think that also the University of Kansas football program will be more familiar to coaches and high school student-athletes as we continue to move forward. So we'll be coming out here and playing games during the regular season as well, and then with such a populated area and great brand of football, we feel it's something we can expound upon. And again, these next few days, it will hopefully help us along that road.
Q: Can you also talk about Dominick Puni and Austin Booker, who were All-Big 12 players this year and just the impact that they have.
LEIPOLD: Yeah. Again, both players [Dominick Puni and Austin Booker] have been extremely great players for us. Dominick played guard last year and played tackle this year. He's a Division II transfer. To see him excel on this stage at a qualified level is great to see. Austin Booker is a transfer from Minnesota, pass-rush specialist. Had a big-time year for us at the defensive line position.