Sept. 7, 2002

Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
On the play of quarterback Brad Smith:
"Brad makes one big play, then everything ignites, which is not unlike a lot of offenses. The attitude changes, everything changes."

"Things weren't going real well the first half. All of a sudden, he's not a magic man-everything he throws, everything he does is perfect, everything works. In the previous game, all of that stuff was just positive. Everything he touched was gold. The reality of the football was in the first half, and it was very interesting to see how he responded."

On Missouri's receiving corps:
"We had a zillion drops out there. We had enough that you can call them 'drive-stoppers.'"

Missouri senior wide receiver Justin Gage
On Brad Smith's touchdown run:
"We were struggling in the first half, making lots of mistakes. Brad made that big run, and it was a big boost. He made a read to run on the play, and he got outside and made some good moves, got some good blocks. He really got us moving as a team."

Missouri sophomore wide receiver Thomson Omboga
On leading the team in receiving yards:
"It's really just execution. Our coaches are calling the right plays at the right times. Other teams can double-team Justin Gage. They can cover him, but he's not going away. He'll be back, trust me. We're going to prove we have lots of good receivers on this team."

Missouri sophomore linebacker James Kinney
On Missouri's second-half turnaround:
"As a team, everybody realized we can play better. We weren't playing our 'A' game, and we knew it. It was on everybody to come out and play better. We were on defense first, and I told them we needed to get a three-and-out and get momentum going back our way, and we were able to go out and stop them."