Players talk about playing in Liberty Bowl

The players met with the media to talk about bowl practices, the Liberty Bowl, and much more. Take a look at some of the interviews with Jayhawk Slant.

Being a local player like Devin Neal has its advantages. He was able to spend Christmas Eve with his family before the team left on Christmas Day.

"Yeah, I mean, it's weird leaving on Christmas, because that's when we are leaving," Neal said. "Because Christmas is a big deal in our family. And we pushed it back on Christmas Eve, thank God that we are able to do that. So yeah, it's definitely cool that I'm able to still spend time with them and do all the Christmas festivities."

Neal talked about the Arkansas defense.

"They're physical, tough, and fast," Neal said. "They're downhill and it's definitely a good challenge for us, and a lot of people out there count us out because we're a Big 12 team going against SEC team. But I'm really confident in our ability to execute and hopefully it goes the way it should."

The first couple weeks of practice was used to get players reps who did not play as much. That is one benefit of going to a bowl game.

"It's important for everybody," Puni said. "The developmental group, it's like another spring game. They just get to go against each other all day. We still practice, but it's just lighter for us because they want to just get more reps. But now that we're in game prep, now we're back to it. But it's huge for them, it's huge for the program. Recruits get to come here and watch them play, practice. So it's big."

Earl Bostick is one of the oldest players on the roster and has been through a lot of changes. He signed under David Beaty and played for several different offensive line coaches.

Playing against Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl is the perfect way to end his career at KU.

"This is what I dreamed about since I came in here for college," he said. "Just the basics of just going to a bowl game and actually the experience and stuff right now is amazing. I'm grateful to be a part of it."