Players react after the loss to Kansas State

Devin Neal, Austin Booker and Cole Ballard met with the media following the Kansas State game.

Watch what the players had to say after the loss and some of their reaction to a game that went down to the final drive.

Lance Leipold said Jason Bean was available to play, but Cole Ballard got the start and went the distance.

He got a lot of the reps during the week and said the team went into the game believing they could wein.

"Everybody this week had the expectation of we're going to go in and win," Ballard said. "So us being in that game, it's not a surprise to anybody."

Ballard said they have to forget about this loss and get ready for the last regular season game.

"Can't worry about the past it's going to affect your week," he said. "So, we've got to move on to Cincinnati. Come in, have a good lift tomorrow and watch the film. Own what's on tape and go to work on Monday."

Devin Neal turned in another big game rushing for 143 yards and three touchdowns. There were a lot of players up front playing through bumps and bruises and Neal said it was a good effort.

"All week that we need to do better with overwhelming those guys," Neal said. "And like I said, were really banged up front and we put out the guys who were the most healthy and they went out and they put on a show, put on a performance. So super proud of those guys. I mean, they're tough as nails, man, and they were able to create a lot of push and were able to just do our job as running backs and just keep running the ball efficiently."

The defense held Kansas State to 331 yards on the night, but could not get off the field on the final drive.

Losing a close game was tough to take in the locker room. Booker said they have to move past it and get ready for Cincinnati.

"There were a lot of emotions in that locker room, but like coach said, we just got to brush things off and work hard next week for the next game," Booker said. "Because we've got another one coming. We can't be worried about what's in the past. We got to worry about the future."