Nov. 19, 2007
Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Injury Update:
"We're actually in very good shape. Obviously, Pig Brown is out for the season. Will Franklin had a bruise on his back, and played kind of sparingly in the second half [on Saturday]. We expect [Will] to be one hundred percent. Overall, we have been very fortunate staying in good health, and hopefully we can continue that. This also allows us to prepare and to keep the players at the same depth, and gives us an opportunity to get better."
Opening Statement:
"As far as the Kansas game, I don't care if you have all the other things that are with it out there now, the rivalry itself has always been great. I inherited it as a great rivalry. You play this game for a lot of people, and there's a lot of passion in this rivalry and it didn't take me long to figure that out when I got here. Kansas is an outstanding football team. They are a team that is as consistent a team that I've ever seen play. Each and every week they play at a very high level. They're a great defensive team; one of the best in the country. Offensively, they're producing at a very high level running at 200 yards a game and throwing for about 270 per game. Todd Reesing is just an outstanding quarterback playing very well. They have great perimeter people on offense, and I thought we had some pretty good people. Certainly, they have some outstanding receivers, a tight end, the running backs are good, and that's why their statistics are the way they are. You have got to be playing at a remarkably high level to be undefeated, and they're the only undefeated BCS team in the nation. Mark [Mangino] has done a great job, and it will take a great effort on our part to play our best game."
On the changes in KU's football program:
"Well, I don't think that it has changed a whole lot. I think [Mark Mangino] stuck with a good program and sticks with what he believes in. Obviously, the quarterback [Todd Reesing] is a huge difference, and we all know that. It's very difficult to play at a high level without a very successful quarterback, and Todd has been really impressive to watch. They're playing exceptional defense, and they're playing at a very consistent level. The one thing that's probably helped them this year is that they're No. 1 in the nation at turnover margin, and if you look at their Big 12 games, I think they are something like plus 17. A remarkable number for seven games, and we all know how that parallels winning and losing."
On the changes in Missouri's goal:
"Well, I think what happens when you come into a new program like this, the first you want to do is consistently win. This will be our fourth bowl in five years, so that's something that the seniors came with to me last February and talked to me about wanting to win at a higher level. Obviously, goal wise, it is important to go to a bowl every year, but they wanted to be different. They wanted to take that next move, and so that's when it really started. Winning in November, playing well in the fourth quarter, and doing those kind of things in order to have a chance to get this done, and I think you can look at them and see that's where it first started in their thinking in terms of what their expectations would be."
On the goal of the program:
"I think you always, goal wise, aim high because that's the direction of the program. The first meeting I had going into my first year, and I think it was in August during two-a-days, we introduced the pyramid. At the top of the pyramid, was the national championship. The two blocks right below it were playing in a bowl game and winning the Big 12 Championship. You always want to go to a bowl game and always want to compete for the Big 12. Our pyramid has a lot more, and has what you need to do to get there, but it was interesting to look at the body language in 2001. Every year this is the first thing I talk about with the players. You can have a great team, and not win any national championships, or a conference championship, but I always felt that it was very important that you put the ultimate goal of the program in front of the players."
On the rivalry with KU:
"You can have a great rivalry, and it's so important to win the game for both schools, but I think that it's real important that there is a degree of class and integrity that you have. You go to some of the great rivalries of this country, and you know that it's bitter and difficult, but when the game is over, you have to go your own way and wait for the next year. I just hope that the Missouri fans are first class, they are respectful, they do the right things, and don't get into the bitterness part of it because I think you have a great rivalry without all those other things."
Missouri Player Quotes
Sean Weatherspoon
On the big week ahead:
"It is a big week, but it's a game just like any other. You have to go into it and prepare the same way you have been doing it. Make sure that you don't let that whole big game thing just psyche you out."
On knowing about the rivalry when coming to Missouri:
"When I came on my visit, some guys actually talked about it for a little while. They told me about all about the MU-KU rivalry and how its one of the oldest rivalries in college football today. It's great to be a part of it."
On KU's strength of schedule:
"They beat Nebraska pretty bad, they beat Colorado at Colorado, they beat K-State at Manhattan, so I definitely think that they are a great football team. In order to beat them, you have to bring your `A' game"
On the Missouri program becoming what he had hoped:
"Yeah, and it might not be there just yet, but it's definitely headed in the right direction. We have some good recruits coming in here next year, and hopefully that will do it. That's exactly what we came here for to restore Mizzou to a national powerhouse."
On the KU defensive backs:
"They have been doing a great job. They play good sound defense. They have the one really good cornerback [Aqib Talib] and I know the rest of the secondary is pretty good as well, so we'll be put to the test this week."
On this being the biggest game in Missouri Athletics history:
"In MU Athletics history? I don't know if I know because I haven't been here that long. I think that it will be the biggest rivalry game we have had with KU."
On seeing the program progress:
"When I first got here, I realized that this is something that I want to do. Whatever it was then was a dream, and now it's reality, so we definitely have turned this program around, and hopefully it will keep on going when we leave."
On the use of the `pyramid' and Coach Pinkel's original reaction:
"When I first got here, it was a hope just to get to a bowl game. At the top of the pyramid is the national championship. Then there's the divisional championship and the Big 12 championship. Those are the top three blocks of the pyramid, so I'm pretty sure guys are looking around hoping to make it to a bowl and hoping to get six wins."
On the buildup towards this game since the Oklahoma loss:
"We have to win one game at a time, so if you look back on our expectations that we started at the beginning of the year, we're exactly where we thought we would be. In our minds, we haven't done anything special yet. Winning this game will hopefully be something special."
On how KU approached Missouri defensively last year:
"They blitzed us a lot. They stayed back in cover, but they started to blitz us a lot. We got some big plays off them blitzing us. They're doing some of the same things, but playing a lot more cover two this year. They're flying around the ball, and the most important thing, they are playing with confidence."
On how KU uses Aqib Talib:
"They move him all over the place. You see him covering guys. It would be wise to anticipate him on Jeremy Maclin a lot when they're in man coverages, so I've got to be aware of that and just be aware of where he is at all times."