Oct. 27, 1999

Opening remarks on Kansas and upcoming Texas Tech

?We basically got our butts kicked. (Kansas) out-played us in every fashion. I think that you come off something like that, you have just got to go back. You?ve got two choices: you can quit or you can fight back. We?re going to fight back. We have worked hard and we are just going to work harder. Is their any one reason for it? I think that whenever you have a complete breakdown when you get beaten really badly like we were there, I feel that you go back and look at it on tape and it always comes back to one thing ? fundamentals. We built this program on blocking and tackling, blocking on offense and tackling on defense. It wasn?t the only thing but it?s somewhere that we can start with. Offensively, to move the ball effectively you have to block the run and you have to block the pass. I think defensively we ran and played very hard, but you have got to be able to tackle. We had missed tackles. We had a lot of missed tackles and we gave up a bomb. This week what it comes down to is working in practice on offense and blocking. The only way you can teach blocking is with all of your pads on going full go. So as a result there is a lot of drill work being done this week on blocking and tackling to try and get better. Just like in tackling, we had one player who was used to starting. But he had six missed tackles and that is not like him. Offensive blocking percentages were below 70 percent. To win you have to be up around 75 to 80 percent. Again, those are things that we are working on. Other than that we are going to move on. We are going to get ourselves ready to play a great football game and beat Texas Tech.?

?Texas Tech brings to town an excellent football team with an excellent defense. I would rank their defense right under Nebraska because they line up an eight-man front and come at you all different ways. They play a man coverage and make it very difficult for you to get outside and play action pass and that type of thing. Offensively, they are a very balanced team, averaging 180 yards a game rushing and 180 yards a game passing. (Rob) Peters, their quarterback, is really a tough kid. He takes a lot of hits. We really got after him last year and he kept coming back. They also have an excellent kicking game. They have a great return game. They blocked a couple of punts. They have really got a complete team and they have been playing very good football. We have got to go out on offense, defense, and kicking, put it all together and play as a team and make it happen. Injury-wise, I think we came out of the game with our biggest injuries to our egos and our pride.

On Missouri?s last three losses

?If I am excited, you say excited. If I?m hot and angry its because we gave (the Kansas game) away, which we did in the Colorado game. The Iowa State game, I didn?t react that way because quite frankly, I thought our players played very, very hard. We lost a heck of a football player and it took the wind out of our sails. This last one, it wasn?t that we quit, that is the first thing that I look for. We just got our butts kicked. We have got a lot of young players on the field and to get angry and go after them and try and tear their throats out after every loss is not the way to do it. I think that they have got to be taught. So maybe I?ve bit a little more patient and understanding because I look at my seniors on tape and my seniors are playing some great football. Jeff Marriott had his best game of the season, maybe the best game he has ever played in. He has just played fantastic. So did Barry Odom and some other guys on the defense. I know those guys will give us everything they have. I am not blaming the younger guys. I?m just saying that we are going through some trying times because we have inconsistencies with younger players. And I understand that because I?ve had it before. You just have to fight through it. The only way we can fight through it is together. Getting angry only serves a purpose so long. It was different four or five years ago. We had a good week of practice last week. I don?t fault anyone. We were executing the game plan well on offense. You have to use some intelligence sometimes rather than emotion.

On not using backup quarterback Justin Gage

?You don?t know what?s going to happen to a kid that has only been out of high school four to six months. To ask (Justin Gage) to go in and win the game or to bring us back ? I didn?t like that scenario. I also thought, ?If we could get one shot and our offense could get one in there, we are back in the game. We are only two touchdowns behind with less than five minutes to go. We did it before, we can do it again. So let?s take one more shot at winning this football game.? I wanted our players to feel like we?re trying to win. Not that by putting Gage in that we would concede or anything like that. That?s the best way I can answer it.?

On factors contributing to Missouri?s three losses

?Inexperience (has been the key thing). When we started the season, all of us got a false sense of security or improvement of progress. I think we did make some progress and I thought that we had three wins against three teams that are in completely different leagues that what we were in. We are looking for success and our offense gave us some success. I don?t think our defense played their best football in those three games. So we were pointing to our offense to move things along. The two-quarterback system was working. We were starting to get some balance including some big plays in the pass game. I think that we hit some Big 12 defenses and that changed somewhat. The Colorado game, we went for about 500 yards of total offense and didn?t win the game. We made some mistakes that hurt us and gave up pure points. Against Iowa State, again we came up with some pretty good balance. There was no sign of a real weakness there. This week everything went south. What is the cause? It?s a fact, younger players play peaks and valleys, so it takes a while to hit that smooth curve. With the three and four-year players, things are pretty steady. (The younger players) are learning the hard way and we are learning the hard way.

On what Smith expected at the beginning of the season from his young team

?I would have hoped to have a winning record. The thing that has hurt us most is real simple. We had three games that we can count as wins. They were three teams that we expected to beat but didn?t. That?s what has hurt us. In college football today, you have to find ways to win games with teams that you are right in there with. But we didn?t. We lost all three and that?s what?s put us in the hole that we are in.

On the effect that the losses are having on the seniors

?These kids have given a lot and I would like to send them off on a positive note. They are all part of what we are doing. This tears their hearts out more than anybody else. You can see it in the locker room after the games. They are taking the losses harder. But they also know they have to bounce back. Those are the first guys in my office Sunday afternoon about what we can do. From a leadership standpoint, we are getting a lot out of them. But you don?t? always get to write the script.

On Quarterback Jimmie Dougherty

?I don?t think that Jimmie is any different than anybody else on the offense. I?m sure their confidence is shattered. He took a lot of hits, but he?s a tough kid. He did all he could do, but none of us were flawless, including him. The young players just need to learn to pick themselves up off the floor and get ready for the next one. That?s the beauty of what we do. We have another opportunity so that?s what you work for. You can?t say that the season?s over. I?m sure not going to do that and I expect these guys not to do it. You take it one team at a time. College football is crazy! If you keep plugging and working, it will come. You can?t just say, ?Well, it?s over? because it?s not. Anything can happen. The dominance of the past is gone. There?s not much dominance anymore.

On making big game changes mid-season

?I?m not in a position to evaluate (our game) now. If we feel changes need to be made, we make them. At the end of the season, we sit down and evaluate the season. If we have major coaching changes to make, we?ll make them. Right now the only changes you can make are subtle changes. You can?t change the offense, the defense or the kicking. You are committed. You can?t do it. You don?t have enough time on the practice field to do it. What I saw in spring practice, two-a-days and camp was that our defense was ahead of our offense. I felt we would have to win early on defense, give our offense a chance to mature. Then by mid-season, we could get some good balance. So far it has worked in reverse. In the last couple weeks, our defense has picked it up and reached the level we expected. The offense is going the other way.

On making player personnel changes

?I haven?t thought about that at all. Right now I?m thinking about the season. Till the first day of spring practice, I can?t tell you how healthy Kirk Farmer is going to be. I don?t know what?s going to happen at quarterback in the next four games. Jimmie?s a tough kid but he is playing hurt. Those are decisions to made in January and February.

On using Justin Gage with Jimmie Dougherty in the two-quarterback system

?That is something that is always a possibility. It?s a situation that may occur. I can?t tell you that for sure. If it would help us win, yes we will do that. I will do anything that will help us win. Once you get in the game, it is different, particularly for the guy behind the center.

On Missouri?s inability to score in the last six quarters

?I think it was the system. Jimmie Dougherty is very, very steady. Kirk (Farmer) was a little more mobile, stronger. He had a strong arm and was a threat, but very inconsistent because he is a freshman. Jimmie would go back in and steady the situation out, then Kirk could go in and go for the jugular. So there was a system. Now, why all the questions were asked at the beginning of the season about the two-quarterback system, that?s why. Jimmie is a tough kid, does everything we ask. I wouldn?t trade him for anything in the world. But he has some limitations because this is his first year at (first-string) quarterback.

On Linebacker Michael Clay

?He?s been suspended indefinitely from the program. Has the rope run out? You?ll have to ask him.

On continuing to run the option without Kirk Farmer

?You base the majority of your attack on having some type of an option in it and on people who can run it. When that?s taken away from you, you don?t just put in a toss-sweep or something like that in two or three days. The other ways of getting outside are play actions and things like that. We beat (Texas Tech on the option) last year.

On whether or not opponents attack the Missouri offense differently without Kirk Farmer

?I think they attack us differently. They are forcing Jimmie to throw from inside the pocket, not letting him move around much. We don?t want to be a pocket team. Our young offensive line is not a pocket-protection team. I think they are disregarding the option. They know we don?t want to run him because he?s the only guy we?ve got left. They hit both ways.

On whether or not choosing not to run the option has hurt the offensive line

?We knew that our quarterback was going to be a certain person and we knew what his capabilities were, so we built it all around that. That is what we tried to build our whole offensive scheme around. That was enough that you force people to play assignment football on defense. So it hurts the offensive line because you force them into more man blocking. But what has hurt our offensive line more than anything else is that A) four of the five guys are young, B) without the option, it has reduced the gap and zone schemes that we can use, C) they are seeing every look in the book coming from opponents. Of the seven teams we?ve played, we?ve seen probably only a standard defense one time, that being Iowa State. We are forcing our young guys to think. It has hurt our aggressiveness and our ability to just go after people.

On Linebacker Barry Odom

?Barry is having a super season. He?s stayed healthy. He?s given us great leadership, playing almost every down. He?s given us everything you?d want from a kid. He?s leading on the field by his inspirational play and he?s doing the same off the field. He?s making play after play. The number one ingredient to win is experience. Right behind that is work ethic. If you can recruit talent and get it to an experience level, you?re going to win a lot of football games.

On people getting on the bandwagon, begging for change

?That?s part of athletics. When we put our name to a contract or a scholarship, that?s the way it is. I know for every one that?s out there, there are ten that are with you all the way. That?s the nature of our society. It doesn?t bother me a bit. You can?t let those things bother you or change your judgements. You have to do what your experience in these situations have taught you.

On Center Rob Riti

?Rob has had a very good season. He has done very well. On the average, he is well over 80 percent which is outstanding. The last couple of games he was over 90 percent. I think he?s having an outstanding year for himself.

On Cornerback Carlos Posey

?We felt that his confidence was gone. When a player gets in that situation, you need to (take him out of the game), sit him down and talk to him. Sometimes that happens to players. I like for no one to get beat deep. I?ve never been a defensive back but I know it is a tough position to play. I know you go against some pretty good people. That?s one of the things you contend with. But if (the deep pass) is your responsibility, you have to hold (the defensive back) accountable. That?s hurt us on our defense.?