Oct. 31, 2005
Missouri Football Media Day
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
10/31/05
Opening Statement...
"Good afternoon, we are preparing for a very good Colorado football team. I think that they're playing very, very well on both sides of the football. They have an outstanding kicking game. Their kicker and punter are two of the tops in the country, and the punter is a huge field position advantage. It's excellent what they do, and the kicker is obviously a big play kicker. From a passing standpoint, (Joel) Klatt is very, very good and we've seen him the last few years, and I'm tired of seeing him by the way. He's a very good player and has a lot of experience around him. The tight ends are playing well. Defensively, their linebacker core is exceptional, the d-line is good, the secondary is good, and so they're a very, very good football team. They're 6-2, and I think their only two losses were to Miami and to Texas, and I think that says quite a bit about them. There's a lot out there in this football game and we know that. There are a lot of opportunities and we're looking forward to the challenge."
On the consistent tight race in the Big 12 North and the opportunities to win it...
"Well, we just don't know what's going to happen and we're not sure what's going to happen. Obviously, when you have two losses it's not wise to get a third one. We will not place a lot of emphasis on that. We will just place emphasis on preparing and playing well, and obviously the players will know about it, and it's obvious that this is a big football game. For many reasons it is, and that's just one of them."
On spreading the ball out to all ball carriers and receivers...
"Well, I think last week there was not a real concern about it because we had 500 and something yards and we scored a lot of points, but what we do with everybody is we want to get a lot of balance in our offense. Will Franklin, I believe, caught nine balls two weeks ago and he hadn't caught many prior to that. Prior to that, the tight ends were making a lot of catches. We play a lot of different players. I think from a tailback standpoint, without question, we know they're good football players so we want to get them the ball more, and we will do that."
On the effects that take place regarding play calling...
"Well, things happen in games as far as what goes on in a game. When you have five penalties that we did not get out of drives; when you have first and twenty, second and twenty, so on and so forth. Your play calling changes dramatically. As a general rule, if you want to run it on first down when it's first and twenty, you want to try and get eight, nine yards out of the play. You get your numbers down until you get to a third and yard situation that's manageable, and we did that with ourselves there. We had some sacks that got us in some long yardage situations. We had the snap that went over his head situation. So, it was not normal; that was the most penalties I had ever had and I'm responsible for it. There are factors in there that mean we're just not running with them and we're not running the ball with our backs. There's no question about getting the ball to them."
On putting the KU loss behind...
"Well, I haven't seen them since yesterday and that's what finished talking to our team about. It really was no different from the Nebraska game last week. After the Nebraska game on Sunday, we have our team meeting and I said to the players that Nebraska is over and we move on, and it's no different here. Kansas is over and we move onto Colorado. That's what you like to do certainly, but it will effect some of the players. Obviously, you know a loss like that is very difficult. Any wasted thought on what could have been done or could have happened really isn't going to help us prepare for the next game."
Player Quotes
10/31/05
On the effects of mental mistakes...
"We had thirteen drives and five of them where penalties stopped the momentum of our drive. Going on second and fifteen, second and twelve, second and thirty-one, I mean you can't get drives, and there aren't places or situations for plays like that."
On the importance of more touches for all of the backs and receivers...
"It's very huge, like I say every week; it all starts upfront with the offensive line. I mean, you definitely got to establish the offense upfront, opening holes for the tailback so we can get into our passing game. And from that passing game, we can go back to that running game. Just keep on switching it up."
On whether this loss creates more hunger for a win versus Colorado...
"I think so; I think we can take a little more motivation from that. The offense didn't play real well, and that's just makes us more anxious to come out this weekend and do more than we did last weekend.
On what to expect from Colorado...
"They play a lot of cover four, a lot of base defense and they just play it. They bring a few blitzes and everything. I think we need to find ways to attack something like that. You know, Coach is going to do a great job and we just got to pick ourselves up, execute, and follow and the game plan.
On what the KU game did to Mizzou...
"Obviously, it's a very disappointing loss, sets us back in the (Big 12) North. We were on a three game winning streak, could have been a four game winning streak. But, you know if we go into next week's game and this week practice well and prepare wise, and if we start thinking about how we lost to Kansas then we're going to go out and get beat by Colorado. Then, if we think about a loss to Colorado, then we're going to get beat by Baylor. You have no choice, but to flush losses like that. Colorado is a big game obviously; all of our goals are still out there for the North title and everything. We have a lot to look for and play for.
On if it is surprising that the Tigers are still one win away from being in first place...
"No, a lot of teams aren't playing that well. Missouri and Colorado are playing alright. It's just going to be a good match up and a good challenge. Again, we can't be thinking about the North title going into this game. We can't think about anything besides playing Colorado and trying to get a "W.""