@MizzouFootball Media Day - Week 12
11/16/2015 3:23:00 PM | Football
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football head coach Gary Pinkel met with reporters Monday to talk about Saturday night's game against Tennessee.
Opening Statement…
Good afternoon everybody, I appreciate you all being here. Injury report: I think we're in pretty good shape. A few bumps and bruises, except for Terry Beckner. Terry's got a strained knee, he'll get an MRI tonight and we'll know more about that. We think it's serious enough that he will not be in the depth for this game. We'll see where that goes and adjust accordingly. Tennessee is a very good football team. Dobbs is, I think, a very, very impressive quarterback. He's athletic, he can run, he can throw, he does a lot of things. I think this is the third time we've faced him, so we've had some battles with those guys, their receivers and their running backs. They are a very good running football team. Their receivers are good. They're also a very good kick return and punt return team. The potential for big plays and being able to hopefully contain those are going to be an important part of the game. We're working hard. Every year I talk to my players about the importance of November. Sometimes the importance of November is to, the last couple of years it was to win and to be in championship hunt so you can be in the championship game. Some years it's battling to go to a bowl game. That's where we're at right now. As important as it is to win those games to continue to win championships, it's no different right now. We're excited about the opportunity. It's our last game at Mizzou. We have 21 seniors. It's their last game and that is certainly a priority for our entire football team. We're playing a good team that should be one of those SEC games, as they all are, with two teams that are talented and battling to win.
On if he was surprised by his team's performance against BYU…
As a total team, you're right, it was our best game. I really was. I didn't know. I didn't know. I thought we were great, our kids were great all of last week. I think practice last week was really kind of a breath of fresh air for our guys, to get out and work out together and get going. Obviously the bomb that went off on Friday, that was the thing that I was most concerned about. Practices were fine. I went to my wife and said "I just don't know." How much can you do to a football team in a 7, 8 day period of time? I couldn't have been happier, we rose to the occasion. We battled through adversity. The penalties were disturbing. There were a few that probably the calls we didn't want, but bottom line you're going to have to overcome those when those happen. There were other penalties that I think were a huge disadvantage for us, a lack of discipline on our side. We're certainly looking at that too.
On if it will be difficult to focus on football on senior night…
No, I don't think so. Tennessee is a real good team. We know what we have to do. This is a very important game for them also. I think that playing for the seniors has always been a big deal around here in what we do, I think that's really important. I expect us to- over the years, after the introduction, and for me it's the same way, is you introduce the seniors, is you've got to emotionally get back quick. You go out there and hug your parents, everybody's crying, everything else, I'm crying and all this other stuff. But man, when game time comes you've got to get your head right. So I talk to seniors right about an hour about that there. That's really just kind of educating them and explain what we have to overcome. We've had to do it the last few years, so it's the same difference. So hopefully we can do that.
On what will be going through his mind for his final game at Memorial Stadium…
I don't know, my focus is my players so that's where I'm going to go with it, what they'll do. Obviously it's my last game, so I don't know. I don't know what to think about that. We'll find out when it happens.
On the message to players that are not seniors…
Well, Mack [Rhoades] came in and talked to our team on Sunday, which was really good. He talked about search and what we're going to do and some of the components to that. I think that was really soothing to them a little bit. Certainly, I'm going to do the same thing. I just saw a couple of guy walking down the hall, like Terry Beckner for example. I saw him walking down right before here and put my arm around him and said "You've still got my phone number. Nothing changes, okay? You need me, I'm there for you." That and also just to reassure them that we're going to do the right thing and get the right person in here and I have full confidence that Mack will do that.
On Russell Hansbrough's performance against BYU…
The last two weeks, the last two weeks he's been 100 percent. The last two games. The rest of it he was just, he was trying but it just wasn't clicking. Now he's full boar ahead. You would see him in practice, he would practice like that and he played like that. I think Ish [Witter] did some good things too. Ish is getting better. I think it's, being able to run the football is hugely important for us. Tyler Hunt did a good job too.
On the running back rotation…
Well, it's kind of interesting. We always look at the number of carries that we want, we always look at those. We decide on Thursday kind of what we want to do going into the game. So that's kind of a game plan thing that we do, we make final decisions on Thursday. In what situations, field position, in what situations, sometimes on third downs. Those kinds of things. We kind of plan all that stuff out. Each week can be a little bit different. Getting back to Russell [Hansbrough], it's just really nice to have him back 100 percent. It's really disappointing we didn't have him like that from game one because he's an impact player.
On why the team played well against BYU…
I don't know. I think maybe a combination of little things. I think we changed a lot. We got outside with the football. We made throws outside, that slows people down. We hit on some screens, some screens for 25 yards and all the sudden you're coaching the d line. All of the sudden you better, you see a running back out there you better slow down your rush [MISSED QUOTE]. I think we were executing some things that kind of made everything work together. We were running the ball, we were getting the ball outside. We had the at the end of the game we had a couple of those bootlegs. We came out and the tight end is open, and so we executed. We blocked. When you're able to run the ball, I think that helps you, especially if you're not as experienced in the passing game with the personnel. But we had guys dviving and making catches too. There's not magic out there. You've got to make plays. I think it was a combination of all of those things.
On how the team was able to make things easier for Drew Lock…
Yeah, a lot of times when you sprint out or the play action pass, you're just kind of here, here, here. You say "Okay, if the safeties roll I'm going to go here and then move back my eyes over there." Situation is less complex. He's a very smart guy, we did some of that too. I think we had some other things that were easier for him to see. I think it's a combination of both. He threw 68% completion. It'd probably, if we caught all the balls, be 72, 73. That's what he's capable of doing, but he got a lot of help. We had guys that made great catches. That's what happens. I always talk to Chase Daniel about Chase Coffman. I always tease, I say Coffman the other day. Chase Daniel, I was telling him "You saved about 50 of his throws by catching with one hand." We forget that. Those guys used to catch everything. I can go through a bunch of receivers. You've got to make plays. There's not magic out there.
On Evan Boehm…
I think it says a lot for him too. A lot of guys would have said "Heck, my foot is bothering me, my ankle, what have you. I can't, I'm not going to do this. I'm going to take a couple of games off. He just wanted to battle through it. That's just the way he is. Came in as a freshman, a rough season that year. He's been in 2 championships, he's gotten a lot better. He was a player that, he came in, he was frustrating to coach a little bit for coach [A.J.} Ricker because he was so used to just pushing people around. When you play big people, big on big, technique is hugely important for the offensive line because it leverages you. It gets a position where you have a chance to be successful with your strength. It took him a while to come around there. Last year he came around really quite a bit. Quite frankly, he played really well the other night too. For all of the Kansas City guys, for all of the players, I talked to some players that were from Atlanta, players from Florida, and they all just talked about how cool it was to play where the Chiefs play in Arrowhead stadium. So, I'm going on a little bit, it is kind of neat to see that.
On if Evan Boehm's leadership has been uncommon…
A little bit. Those guys that walk in here that dads are coaches, they lived in the world. They come in here and, not that they think they are coaches, but they lived in the environment their whole lives so those are guys, generally they know about football, about leadership. When they were twelve years old and running around, dad's coaching high school. They were watching these older kids that they admired. So they just lived in a different world and most of those guys come in leading in a pretty high way, in a high factor.
On how Terry Beckner is dealing with his injury…
I think he's doing okay. There's other guys. Depending on where this goes, Jermey Maclin could be a good phone call for him. You know, "Hey, listen. I've been there before, and guess what? My knee was 100 percent," and that kind of thing. I think we always try to help our players go through that. We'll see where it comes out because I have no idea how that MRI is going to come out. He had a great year. I mean, show me a better defensive tackle in the country as a freshmen. He isn't even Mizzou made yet. I mean, when Pat Ivey gets ahold of him, from January all the way through until August of next year, who knows what he's going to be like. As long as he does the right things and works his tail off, he's got upside as good as any player we've ever recruited.
On the importance of going to a bowl game…
Well, that's part of our pyramid. I've talked to you before about this. The top of the pyramid is a national championship. One side of the pyramid is the SEC East, that's the way you can get up to there. Every year you want to get in a bowl game. Some years things don't work out as well, but you can still win a bowl and accomplish your goals. We have them different because different years, different things happen for everybody. You can get out of the national championship race the fifth week of the season but still have a great year. That's all designed so it's all-inclusive.
