@MizzouFootball Media Day - Week 4
9/21/2015 1:57:00 PM | Football
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football head coach Gary Pinkel met with the media on Monday to preview Saturday's game at Kentucky. Also, sound from Pinkel, associate head coach Andy Hill, offensive coordinator Josh Henson, QBs Maty Mauk and Drew Lock, C Evan Boehm, RB Russell Hansbrough, DT Terry Beckner, Jr., and S Anthony Sherrils is below.
Opening Statement…
Good afternoon, I appreciate everybody being here. Just an update: we think we're going to get Russell Hansbrough back. We don't know yet until he starts practicing this week, but we think he's probable so we listed him as a starter. DeSean Blair has a concussion from the accident that happened last Friday and he will not be back for this game. There's a sequence of tests that they go through, that are really good, medical staff uses. Hopefully he'll be back next week. Keyon Dilosa is back, he'll play so that's good, he had a really good practice a week ago. Terry Beckner played in the game. It was quite an event, last Friday. I got to it late. The car that was involved in the accident- everybody was safe, everybody's good now. That's the most important thing. So we move on. Staff and players are preparing. SEC begins now; we're excited about that. It's a gauntlet of games we have to go through, this is the first one at Kentucky. Kentucky's a very good football team. Mark's (Stoops) done a great job of building that program, they get better each and every year. They got a great win over South Carolina. They played Florida really well, really showing he had a chance to win that game. Their quarterback is back and I think he's executing well. He's experienced, he's been playing, and I think he's doing an exceptional job. I'm Impressed with their receiving core. Their running backs are excellent. Defensively they run well, they've got an excellent scheme. It will certainly be a challenge for us. We're going to work very hard and try to play our best game, and that's what we're going to do all week.
On the offensive struggles so far…
Fourth and one we go for it, we could've had points, we go for a touchdown, and we missed a field goal. So we had three scoring opportunities, a couple of scoring opportunities that we could have taken advantage of. One thing that's drastically different in defense and offense in football - first of all, we're not going to just start moving guys around, we don't do that here, okay? We do it for the right reasons. We're not going to panic here, we will never panic. We won't do that. But I think there's a huge difference between defensive football and offensive football, and I think you all understand. Defensive football, one guy can miss a tackle and three guys can be there, it's a one-yard gain. You can block everything, you can do everything right, and one player misses a block and it's a two-yard loss. Offensive execution is just more difficult to do, and that's football 101 so I know that we all know that. So we'll continue to work hard. You asked about our running game, it's easier to be a quarterback when you're running the football at a high level. You look at "this is the offensive lines' fault, this is the running back's fault," you start looking at those things, there's breakdowns on both ends. That's what we've got to work on. We need to run the ball better, view our reads and our keys better, and we also need to block more consistently. Our pass protection has been pretty good, overall I think that's been pretty good. That's kind of how we look at it.
On the receiving core's progress…
I think we're getting better. You don't just - overall I thought we had a good week of practice during the week. Overall I thought it was better. You want just to all of the sudden be good, and I told our players a lot of the time it isn't like that. You've got to persevere, you've got to battle through it, you've got to do it week after week and get better and improve. That's what we're focusing and concentrating on doing, and hopefully we can.
On Russell Hansbrough's impact when he is in the game…
Well you saw him play last year. In all fairness to Ish [Witter], he played a little bit last year. He didn't play very much, he got a few plays here and there. All of the sudden, it's all on his back. We never did that. Any of our running backs, we never did that to. Here in the program, we've never done that, it's always a committee of several players that play. I think when he gets back he can be a huge difference, like most starters at most schools. I think, number one he's got to be healthy. We'll see whether he is or not. If he's not healthy, we've got to go out and do it anyway, so that's something we're going to work real hard this week on to get better.
On a possible shortage of passes in the middle of the field…
I think it's always easy as a fan to look out there and see spots on the field and say "where should you throw the football?" We look to try to spread it out the most we can. Sometimes we get the ball where we need to, and sometimes we don't, but we're going to work real hard to do it right.
On Hansbrough's injury status…
I don't know, that's what I said right from the beginning. We'll find out in the next few days. It's hard to play running back when you're not 100%, so hopefully he'll be that way. We'll see. He hasn't run for over a week, since when you saw him run a couple of weeks ago.
On if the short passing game sparked the offense…
I think it did. We got I think 63 or 64 percent completion, so that was an improvement. We didn't get the ball downfield quite as much as we probably wanted to. Again, we had some scoring opportunities. We went for it on fourth down one time when we probably could have kicked the field goal, and we missed a field goal. We had some other opportunities. I think what we're just trying to do is we're just trying to execute better and be more consistent. We're going to have to, we all know that.
On Rickey Hatley being moved down on the depth chart…
That's very misleading, that's not the truth. Rickey's been doing really well, and he's battling with Josh [Augusta]. He's doing really, really well. Terry Beckner's doing really, really well. We have to look at it optimistically. That's the reason why we did that. We'll slide those guys around if two of them are playing better than the other one. We're getting great work from those guys, they're doing some really great things. That's really a positive move for all of us, there's not a negative there. That means there's a lot of battle, a lot of competition, that's really neat to see that.
On if he'll give the team a talk about driving…
No, I would suggest seatbelts. I have a meeting tomorrow at 3:30, 3:25, so I'm going to address that issue one more time.
On if the team has already addressed driving with the team…
Yes we have. I wasn't here at the time, but Pat Ivey our strength coach, we went over it with him. Of course we did. Of course we did. Obviously there's lessons to be learned, and I like to think we'll learn these lessons.
On Terry Beckner's abilities…
He's a very talented young guy, and he's playing really well for being so young. I mean, he is very strong. He's got great movement. He's very naturally strong. He's a really good competitor. He's going to get a lot better than what he is now, so we're not building a statue now. I think he also ha tremendous trust in coach Odom and coach Kuligowski. He knows what coach Kuligowski has done as far as producing and getting guys to play their very, very best. He's listening to every little thing he can do to get better. He'll get a lot better than he is right now. He has unlimited potential as a defensive tackle. He's a powerful guy, he's very, very naturally strong. It's really neat to see. He's very humble. You take humility and great ability, you get better faster that way. It's pretty neat to see.
On how hard it is to find true freshmen that can start at DT…
It's really difficult to find a guy to play right away. Even to be a backup, being a backup and contributing. We have a bunch of freshmen in there doing those things, it's very unusual and we're very fortunate. It's very difficult to play- the competition's going to crank up here. We're going to see, it's going to crank up this week, but he's a very competitive player. It's neat to see him, to see a guy that is working so hard, and he's got great ability, and he's very humble. I keep saying it over and over, but that kind of an attitude, those kind of guys get faster better and quicker.
On CB Anthony Hines making his way onto the depth chart…
He's a really good young player. We kind of just fell into that whole situation. We liked him on film, he also had an injury coming in. Dave Johnson left our program, so a scholarship was there. We examined it, he's got 4 years to play 3, but he's going to play right now. He's a really good athlete. He's very smart, he's got a good background. Sometimes you're just fortunate to hit the right guy at the right spot. We thought it was good logic playing him this year because we think he can help us this year.
On whether the coaches expected him to play so early…
I don't think you expect him with the injury, we had to see how fast he'd get through the injury. We wanted to see his maturity level as far as being a player. He's a very smart young man, so he really picked things up fast. We had him in meetings, we told our other players "we've just got to see where this guy is" when he came in. We're fortunate. We're fortunate to have a guy that can do that.
On the plan for Drew Lock's development…
Our plan is not going to change. The difference in one game, the week before he had an interception. And in this one, he drove us in field goal range, we missed the field goal. The other thing, we have to have a gut feeling. Anyone that plays, we have to have a gut feeling. I trust that, it's worked for me most of the time. But there's a plan in place. We're consistent with how we do it. He's making progress, a little ways to go but he's making progress.
On if Lock's playing time is evidence of his progress…
Again, it's based on what he did in the first half. Again, I've been through a bunch of quarterbacks this way, so this isn't anything new. I think it's good for us, and I think it's good for our football team.
On which meetings Coach Pinkel will be specifically attending this week…
I bet you know the answer to that. I usually do, I do a lot of things. I get in the offensive meetings a little bit, sometimes defense, and sometimes it just kind of depends on what I'm doing. I kind of pick and choose where to go. I don't spend any great length difference in there, we've got very good coaches. Certainly, if I have any ideas I pass them on. I have a great staff, and because you're struggling doesn't mean it's not a good staff. Guys are "oh, it's not a good staff," I don't get caught up in that. I've got great coaches and they do a great job. They're going to help us work our way through this. Nobody likes going through this, I've been here before. It's not a lot of fun, but you persevere and you battle, and you get your kids to work hard and stay positive. As long as you're getting great effort.
On if the offensive struggles have caught him by surprise…
We expect a little more consistency. When something goes bad, you drive down and miss the field goal, it multiples after a while. You have anxiety over what happened because of what happened the game before? Trust it, believe in it. Make a mistake, keep battling. That's something we've got to work through it. Frustrating for fans, I don't blame them. Bottom line, we've got to fix it. We're going to work hard to do it and hopefully come out of it quick.
On Anthony Sherrils making plays…
Anthony's a very good athlete. He's very explosive. His ability to get to top speed is remarkably quick. He's bright. He's got a lot going for him. He's utilizing his abilities. The difference between this year and last is his maturity. He's a different guy now. He's learned how to think right of the football field. We've seen glimpses of what he can be. Obviously it was a huge football play. I think there were more fakes in that game then I think you combine last three years in one game – hats off to them because they did everything they could to try and win that game. Fortunately, except for the one punt – I know I'm getting off subject but we were very fortunate that guys were disciplined enough. Donavin Newsom to see the vertical release and knock that ball down. They tried everything. I'm proud of our football team for handling that. Anthony's really, we've seen a little glimpse of what he can be. He's got to stay focused and he's got to stay humble. He'll get better and better.
On whether Sherrils' brain injury from a car accident every had him worried if he would never play again…
They were optimistic about that the whole time. I remember going to hospital the next day with that, that day, the next day and several days after, he was just struggling to begin with. And he had just got here; he knew me but didn't trust me, there was no bond between Anthony Sherrils and me yet. I think what you find out about here is that when you have problems, you have a lot of people who love you and will wrap their arms around you and help you. He worked with Rex and everybody else. You're right, you keep bringing these accidents up and they are starting to mount here.
On whether a trust began with Sherrils after the car accident two years ago…
I think so, I think he was real guarded when it happened, he was scared. It's never happened to him before. I just remember – you know you recruit him, talk to him and you know him. But you really don't know him. He's lying in a hospital bed. That's all part of: you have to earn it, I have to earn it and it's all of us. That's the way it is.
On whether or not the team is drawing from last season's early struggles…
I don't think so, I think we're moving on to next game. It's redundant, but it's the truth. Whether win or lose, obviously you've got to fix problems and it's frustrating when you don't get them fixed. When you are still working with them – you persevere. With a great attitude you persevere and battle through it. I didn't think it had anything to do with not being ready to play there's no question there. Our defense played exceptionally well and we made great plays in the kicking game. Our offense, I have no doubts that guys were ready to play. They didn't just go out there and say 'oh this UConn,' we knew UConn was a good team. I can tell you that's the truth, I think there was a little bit of that last there was a little hangover from the year before - finishing fourth in the nation. But that's the not the truth. The truth is we had a chance to make some plays and didn't make them, game got the way it did and fortunately we win the game.
