Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel Addresses the Media
10/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 2006
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement:
"Our staff's preparing for Texas A&M. They're a very good football team. They are one play away from being undefeated. They are top-25 in the nation in offense and defense, have a very good kicking game and I have a lot of respect for Coach Fran [Dennis Franchione]. I've followed him over the years, and they're very well coached teams."
On the cornerbacks and Hardy Ricks:
"I think they did good. For starters, Hardy Ricks is a redshirt freshman. He's playing in an environment against that pass offense. Talk about a guy who went out and competed hard. I was very pleased with his competitiveness. With that position you have to be like that. You're out in space. You're out there where people know everything that you do and see everything that you do. And the other two players, each got six to eight plays apiece. They gave Hardy a little bit of a break, but I thought they did some good things. We're pleased, and we've just got to keep improving and getting better."
On linebacker Van Alexander returning to the depth chart:
"I think it's just him getting his confidence back. Whether it's a hamstring or it's a groin, time heals them and you're kind of afraid, naturally, to push yourself. He's working very hard, he's got a great attitude. It'd be nice to get him back and he did a lot more last week. He traveled, so hopefully we'll get him going."
On Texas A&M's 274 pound running back Jorvorskie Lane:
"He's a very impressive guy. He's a big athlete and he can run. Usually a guy that big can't run like that and have the balance that he does. He certainly presents a problem."
On defending the option:
"I think any time you play option people, you always have to find out who's got the quarterback, who's got the pitch, who's got the dive if that's the type of option. They've got the load option and all different versions. There's certainly no question about it, option football slows you down a little bit and you've got to make sure that you have everybody covered. That's also some reasons why we do it too, but we don't do it nearly to the extent that they do. I don't think slow down, but we need to be a little more cautious, it's more of assignment type football. It's much more assignment oriented football.
On safety William Moore:
"Certainly [David] Overstreet and Brandon Massey have done some good things. He plays a lot in nickel, him and Pig kind of share that nickel spot, and that's where he actually excelled mostly this past game. Our nickel scheme, he's more of a line of scrimmage type of player, and not a deep package player. He's certainly capable of doing everything. It's very difficult to play in the back end of the defense, and he's getting better all the time. One of the big things that we talk about with him all the time is being patient and doing exactly what we ask. Great athletes have the tendency to go and take off and that's not a good place to go and take off. Again, he's making a lot of progress and the future looks really bright for him."
On linebacker Brock Christopher:
"I played him as a true freshman last year and he got some experience. He had to finish a lot of the game last year when Dedrick Harrington broke his arm in the bowl game. When we evaluated him in high school, I saw him play basketball, I think it was in the state championship against Vashon, and you see this big athlete, 240 pounds and how athletic he is. He's very smart, he's got great playmaking ability. He's the young guy of the crew, he's got two seniors and he sits back quietly, and I think he'll be an exceptional leader here as he progresses through his career. We're very pleased with him and his progress."
Missouri Player Quotes
On the personal impact of playing in Texas:
"Everyone knows that going to Texas will be special for some of us. For me personally, last week, I was the most hyped up and ready to go. Talking with "Eck" (Brad Ekwerekwu) and some of the other guys, you have to be ready to play in your home state. If they didn't recruit you or if you didn't feel welcome there; it doesn't matter because you've just got to be ready to play."
On the chance to complete the Texas two-step:
"Yeah, the Texas two-step...it's all mighty, but it's going to be a tough test coming in. There will be eighty thousand plus fans screaming and hating you. I think this team likes that a little bit; at Texas Tech, the crowd was real loud. They got quiet when we jumped out 24-0, but they got right back in it. There are some real great fans down there."
On the Texas fans:
"It doesn't mater what team it is playing, they (Texans) love their home team, especially the Aggies. They have so much tradition down there; it's really unbelievable."
On returning to Texas:
"It does mean a lot to me. We get to go home and play in front of family, so that's always fun. Being from Texas, you get to go back to your home state, and that's where home is. It's always fun just to go home. It's going to be fun."
On if Texas Tech or Texas A&M recruited him:
"Not really, I don't think so. I can't really remember. I'm old now because that was a whole five years ago. I can't remember who was recruiting me, and who wasn't."
On if Missouri has a target on its back:
"I think so; any undefeated team will always have a bull's eye. We weren't always the undefeated team, but we played against undefeated teams, so we were always trying to hit that bull's eye. I think any other team would get excited."
On how sophomore linebacker Brock Christopher is so quiet:
"You'vr got to love a guy like that. He never causes any trouble; he's always listening, he's coach-able and he goes out there and plays great."
On having three talented linebackers:
"We have six real good ones. We have ourselves a couple of young guys too that people don't know about yet. Those guys are going to be real good coming u. Right now, they're getting plenty of examples of how to do it the right way by watching these guys right now."
On seeing the A&M film:
"They're a very, very physical team. They play well wherever, but they especially bring it to you at home."
On getting the younger guys to take it one game at a time:
"They look up to us, in that respect. They know that we have been here before, and they've seen our previous journeys, and maybe everything didn't work out then. Now, it's a different attitude, and I think they embrace that."
