Mizzou/Kansas Post-Game Quotes
11/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 27, 2010
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Mizzou Players | Kansas Coach Turner Gill | Kansas Players
Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement:
"Certainly proud of our football team. First of all we beat Kansas which is a great rivalry that the schools had. It's certainly right up there on top. There's a lot of numbers you can throw out. But a 10-win season and co-champions of the North, with 40 wins that our seniors have right now and obviously this has not been an easy year. You all remember back in August and July we had some disciplinary issues, we went through a lot of injuries, a lot of things happened. If you don't have a lot of great people around you, great coaches and players and great seniors, you're not going to overcome that stuff. So that makes this real special and I can't tell you how proud I am of my football team and coaches for all their hard work. So it's great to win 10 games. It's great to beat KU. So I'm excited about seeing where we go from here. We'll see what happens."
On bowl perspective:
"I'm not sure how that all goes down. I stay so focused day to day around here just doing our job and the big picture I don't look at that sometimes. I do know that a 10- win season will put us, in the last four years, our football program as a top 10 winningest program. It is what it is. Certainly with the great league that we play in and with our schedule, hopefully we'll go to a great bowl, and we'll see where it goes. I think that my staff and players need credit for how hard they've worked.
On defense:
"The way our defense is going changes how we call plays too. You get in the fourth quarter and it's different than what it was. Not that we'll ever not go back to the way it was before but when you know your defense is playing that well you run the ball a little bit more, you use the clock a little bit more. The decisions I make as far as fourth down and those type of things, that changes everything. So that's pretty cool to have that. I thought we ran the ball real well today on offense. I thought at a real critical point in the game, when we got that turnover and they went down and scored I think in two gains against our defense, our offense went back out there and got the kickoff and went down and scored and I thought that really was a great statement. But I certainly think, defensively we are playing great team defense. Our defense can run, at the very end just watching these guys and their speed and explosiveness and their hitting so it's a great team and you have to have a special group of kids in your program to win 10 games.
On performance of offensive line:
"I think they really did play well. You get those kind of yards and certainly the running backs were good, and I think everybody had their share, and when executing that's what happens. It's going to start up front always; those guys determine if we have the chance to run the ball."
Coach Pinkel | Kansas Coach Turner Gill | Kansas Players
MU Player Quotes
LB Andrew Gachkar
On when he knew they had the game…
"Probably with about five minutes left in the fourth. They came back against Colorado so we knew it was going to come down to the end. I mean obviously there was a big point difference but they were fighting all the way about to six minutes left and that's when we knew we had it."
On sacks in the first quarter…
"I mean we came out there and immediately after the first play we could just tell by their demeanor they, I don't want to say anything about them, but I felt like we wanted it more today. And you saw that after the first three plays."
On who had more to lose…
"We said every game we have more to lose. We feel like we're fighting for more and we're playing for more so I mean we show it on the field. That's basically how we are."
On beating the rival…
"Oh I was telling the guys last night, I've been waiting for this for four years. To be the honorable captain today too was something special. I loved it, every bit of it."
On 10-win season
"We can't look back. Obviously, we had a couple losses but I wanted to get 11 wins so we're going to go to the bowl game and try to get that 11."
DE Aldon Smith
On Coach Pinkel…
"He does a good job relating to his players. He is a good player coach. I think a lot of coaches are good coaches but they don't have good relationships with their players. I think keeping this relationship will help with next season."
On motivation for KU…
"Just being more prepared and just attacking it and getting a quick start. Unlike we were able to last year, we were able to come in here and get a quick start today and that helped out."
On what it means to get to 10 wins…
"I think it means a lot. After losing some of the players that we lost and having some of the distractions that we had I think a lot of people had us as, `maybe they're not going to do the things that they were set up to do'. To go out there and end the season like this is a big eye opener and definitely a confidence booster for us just letting everybody know that we're a fist and we're all together."
On using adversity as motivation for the season…
"You know the coaches kept pushing that we are a fist and if something bad happens you just have to flush it and move on. I think we did a good job of doing that.
On defense…
"There is always room for improvement. But I think we played pretty well today. Last game we were able to pitch a shutout and today we were able to hold them to seven points. So if we keep improving we can hopefully stay on track."
QB Blaine Gabbert
On his play today…
"I mean we got the W. Of course there are things we can work on. I'd like to have two throws back but other than that we got the victory and that's all that matters."
On beating Kansas…
"It's awesome. They were giving us some different looks. They were dropping eight guys back into coverage, but they had no linebackers in the box , so we had to take advantage of our opportunities. I have to give all the credit in the world to our offensive line. They dominated today all four quarters."
On defense…
"They stepped it up. They step up in big games. I think we are Co- Big 12 North Champions now so they did an awesome job. Aldon had an awesome game and Kenji was making some big plays back there. I think he gave that interception to Jarrell. Carl, and all those guys were making plays when it counts."
On thoughts of the season…
"We definitely had some adversity on the year. No one gave us a shot to go 10-2. We worked hard and fought the adversity and won big games. I would like to have two of those games back. But we got 10 wins, we are the fourth team in Missouri history to get 10 wins in the regular season so we're happy. All the bowl scenarios, they'll fall, they have to make their choices, what's best for them."
On focus for today's game…
"There was no doubt about it. We were ready to play all week long. If we could have played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we would have. Our team wanted this game. It was a big win for us."
On KU…
"We knew we were going to get KU's A-game. They threw everything at us. These rivalries games you really can't expect anything from them. The records really go out the window. You can be 11-0 or 0-11, you're going to get the best shot from every team."
Coach Pinkel | Mizzou Players | Kansas Players
Kansas Head Coach Turner Gill
On the effort of the team and the defense:
"I thought the effort was very good, I also thought our defense made some plays. We talk about the opportunity to make plays when you have to, whether you sack the quarterback, make the fumble, get the interception, or make the third down play. I thought we made quite a few, we didn't make enough, but I was really pleased about the way they responded and it was good to see."
On the first half of the game:
"I still felt confident going into the half with 21-0 that we could come back and win the football game. Our guys responded with an interception and our guys came back and scored, but again, offensively we weren't able to make enough plays. I need to give credit to Missouri's defense, they are a very good defensive football team. They made plays they have a good d-line with their linebackers and their whole secondary is a pretty good football team so I need to give credit to Missouri as well."
On the use of James Sims throughout the game:
"Probably not, but sometimes in the game you try to do some certain things in order to make plays. We have to continue to have longer drives. When you don't have a lot of drives to get repetition in a game, then you aren't going to be able to get the number of carries to a certain person that you would like, in this case James Sims. There were some good things, but I feel very confident in having a winning program here at Kansas. Moving forward, I have a great idea of where we are at offensively, defensively and with special teams and we will have a great evaluation with the staff about the adjustments we need to make scheme-wise and personnel-wise, but I feel very confident going into the 2011 season here at Kansas."
On the intensity of the rivalry:
"It's intense, I feel excited about it. I am excited to have the opportunity to come back next year and play in this rivalry. Our guys played hard on both sides of the ball, I don't think it's a bitter rivalry between the players but it is a physical game and I am glad to be a part of it."
Reflection of the Kansas program after his first season:
"When you have spring practice you have an idea, but once they play in a game you get an idea of where the team is at. Now they have played in twelve games, and I have been assessing everybody. We need to have a chance to sit down and evaluate everything to find out where we are scheme-wise and personnel-wise."
On the effort level of the season:
"I can't say that every game this year was played with the same intensity, but that's a challenge that you have with every football team whether you are 12-0 or whatever your record is. I thought our boys played well in every ball game. They were in-tuned and engaged with the coaching staff. I liked the way they came to work on Sundays and Tuesdays, their eyes were focused on us and they wanted information. We have a great staff, and we will get this thing turned around and be in great shape at the University of Kansas."
On the tone of the end of the season:
"We would like to end with a W, but I think that we improved. No matter what your record is you want to see your guys improve. Our guys improved every single day and every single week and we just need to go continue to move forward from that. We have a lot of plusses that we can take from this and continue to move forward in the off season, recruiting, and also next season."
Coach Pinkel | Mizzou Players | Kansas Coach Turner Gill
Kansas Players
CB Greg Brown
On the defense…
"Overall our defense played well, we played strong. We made plays but not enough."
"They shed blood first, but I feel that we made adjustments and came back strong to make some plays."
On playing his last few games…
"I am feeling a lot more comfortable, I have started for the last five games and every game I feel more comfortable with my play. It takes experience, just being in the game and seeing everything that is going on. That makes it tough to end the season, but it makes me want to go hard in the off season."
CB Chris Harris
On the game against Missouri…
"Missouri is definitely a good team; they had a great game plan. This loss hurts because it wasn't more of a close game but they were a better team today. They came out and played great."
On the season…
"It's definitely been a hard season. As a team we are very young and it has been hard to adapt to new coaches. It's something that we had to get used to, but I see a bright future for the program."
WR Kale Pick
On the game and the rivalry…
"It hurts, this is obviously one of the biggest games of the season for us. It hurts that we didn't come out on top today and the game just didn't go our way."
On the offense…
"The problem was executing the plays. We do it in practice, but sometimes we have a hard time translating it to Saturdays."
On the quarterback situation…
"It's something that we have to figure out. We need to see what the coaches think and see what happens."
On the standards set by the rivalry…
"Obviously we want to be successful in this game. I think Missouri gave us more motivation and to come back after the off season as a better team. I think we will work together, we need to execute with all eleven players."
