Hawk Talk Recap

Here's a recap from this week's Hawk Talk radio show with Kansas coach Charlie Weis and host Bob Davis.

Weis on the loss to Texas Tech …

We deserved the bad things to happen. I got in early on Sunday. As bad as you feel I never make judgments until I watch everything on tape. On Sunday morning I get in and watch everything before anyone else gets there so I can watch everything that happened so when the coaches get in I can ask questions. Sometimes you don't have to ask because it is blatantly obvious.

I had already had a strategy on how to approach the coaches when they got in early Sunday and the players later. It was basically separating how things went in the first quarter to how things went in the second and third quarter. You watch the first tape of the first quarter and it wasn't error free but a lot of good things happened. Then you watch the next two quarters and it was nothing but errors. You ask a rhetorical question to the coaches and players and ask how does that happen? We are digging in and trying to dig out of a hole and see if we can't fix as many of those problems in as short of a time as we can.

Weis on the team's successful start against Tech …

In a game like that if you got whopped from the beginning of the game to the end of the game, it's just that you got whooped. If you watched until the end of the first quarter and was an objective person who didn't know the players or the teams you would think that the team in blue is going to win this game. We are plus one in turnover ratio at the end of the first quarter, you turn it over four times the rest of the game and they don't turn it over. You have twelve penalties and your field position is no good the whole game. You put yourself in a bind the whole game and that's why it turned out the way that it did.

Weis on the passing KU recruit Andre Maloney …

It was really bad and I got involved in this thing Thursday night. When I went to bed Thursday night I thought everything was going to be okay. I thought there were still some problems. Now it's really early Friday morning, and I am talking to coach Callaghan who got a call saying you better get down here as quick as possible. He doesn't know what he is going to walk into. When you get that call it usually isn't very good. We were on the inside of how things were going and from the beginning of Friday morning it was heading south in a hurry.

Weis on losing Andre when he was having a great year on the field …

To be honest with you it is irrelevant. Football is irrelevant. You have an 18-year-old kid who just passed away. You think about the family and how tragic it is. We were affected because in recruiting we get emotionally invested with the guys who jump on board. Even though they are not here yet, when they are verbally committed to come to your program then you have accepted them into your family and you treat them like your own. That had quite an impact on all the coaches and the players here.

As good as Andre was as a player he was a better person. He will be missed as a player but it really doesn't make a difference. He will be missed more just by being Andre. It's a shame.

Weis on recruiting strategy this year …

The first thing we want to do after taking such a large junior college class, we want to zero in on a bunch of high school players who play similar positions where we took junior college players last year. So far all the players on board are high school guys. This year we are not going to take anywhere near the number of junior college guys but we will take guys where we need to play right away. We will take a handful because there are still some areas that we need help on. Now remember, a number of guys we are counting on aren't playing this year. Harwell isn't playing this year, Short isn't playing this year, Jenkins Moore isn't playing this year, Andrew Bolton isn't playing this year. Some of the top line guys you are talking about. You would love to have them right now but you know you will have them next year. It is really important that you don't live off that large volume of juco kids and you use the juco kids to fill in holes where you need help right now.

Weis on the status of running back Taylor Cox …

He has a chronic nagging hamstring and because he only played in the first three games he would be eligible for a medical redshirt. You don't just get them you have to apply for them. He fits the criteria. You can't redshirt somebody that you play unless they play the first quarter of the season and legitimately were injured. You can't sandbag them and tell him to fake an injury so he can sit a year.

Weis on how he will handle the center position …

You'll find out tomorrow. [Team releases depth chart on Tuesdays]

Weis on Saturday's uniform combination …

To be honest with you I don't pick the uniforms. We have a little group who discusses them and I stay out of it. I have never been known for being Mr. GQ and there are certain things we try to do and there are a lot of combinations that we haven't even gotten to yet. I did like the fierce Jayhawk. I like all the uniforms. The last thing I need to be dealing with is the uniforms.

Weis on the status of the injured Tony Pierson …

Fortunately he just has a headache which is a good thing. I didn't see everything that happened but when I watched it on tape I was a little confused because I originally thought he landed on his head but he didn't. He got whiplash when he hit the track. When I got over there he wasn't doing too well but he opened his eyes and started talking and moving everything. I don't know how long he will be out. I say day to day because when you are dealing with head injuries you are going to err on the side of caution. I don't know when he will be ready to go but when he is we will put him back in there.

Weis on grading the offensive line …

Obviously this is a work in progress. We are looking for answers too. The grade right now would be an incomplete and we just have to see how it goes. You will see multiple changes tomorrow when we hand out the depth chart.

Weis on JaCorey Shepherd returning kicks …

He is faster than some of those guys back there. To be honest with you we aren't real deep at corner. Now when you put those guys back there when he is clearly one of the top two corners on our team, when Kevin was ruled he couldn't play, we had it set up that whoever didn't get the starting cb job between the two, the loser was going to be the kick returner. Now that Kevin is out you are putting yourself at risk when you do that, but that's what we need to do.

Weis on defending Texas Tech's offense …

I don't think their tempo affected us as much as the biggest deterrent was the short field they were on. They had drives from the six yard line, the four yard line. Granted you still have an opportunity to hold them to three but still they were playing on the short end of the stick.

Weis on the failed fake punt from last week …

There is a couple of things. You are backed up in your own end. It was a call that was supposed to last throughout the game. It wasn't, "Call it on that kick." It was when you get a specific thing that happened, then you will be able to walk up the left sideline. The look wasn't really clear, and the two things we needed to do, we didn't do. I think even when you are backed up in that situation and the look wasn't identical, if the two things that weren't done were done, it would have been an easy productive play.

Weis on one of the most important factors on playing TCU …

The one thing we have to do against TCU is get them to play on a long field. If we can do that with the way our defense is playing that would give us our best chance.

Weis on Andrew Turzilli getting more playing time …

It is indicative of what's been happening with him. He had plummeted down the depth chart based on his performance. He's been digging his way out of it the last two or three weeks. He has been moving up and that's why he got reps in the game. He is playing himself right back into contention.