Mizzou/Kansas Post-Game Quotes
11/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 25, 2007
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Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement:
“First of all I want to congratulate Kansas on the good football team they are. I think it says so much for them that they played a pretty good game at the end. They're a great football team. I'm very proud of my team and my players. After that lost to Oklahoma we've had to win six-straight games, five straight to get to this game and have a chance. My staff and my players did a great job of preparing and trying to play our best game everyday. I certainly am very proud of them. Now we're playing Oklahoma, I think we've played them three times since I've been at Missouri and we haven't won one yet. We're excited about the opportunity of going down there (to San Antonio) to play for the Big 12 Championship.”
On Missouri's Penalties:
“I think we had more penalties today than we had the entire season. We had the least penalized team in the nation, I believe, coming into this. We'll have to look at that and evaluate it. There's a process to do that. We overcame a lot of penalties also. I thought we did. We were playing a big game in a big environment. I don't know if we weren't focused enough or if we were overfocused. We can learn from this and take it into the Championship game next week. This is the most penalties we've had in a long, long time.”
On the Possibility of Playing for a National Title:
“I think its' great. That's what happens when you play in the Big 12 and you're 11-1 and possibly have a shot for a national championship. I'm excited about that. We had to win five-straight games to get a chance to play in this one, in the division Championship. I'm so proud of everybody.”
On the Stadium Environment:
“Our fans out there were absolutely awesome. We had a really good environment. We're very appreciative to the Chiefs for working this out with us. We were mature enough to focus and get all of the stuff out.”
On Playing Kansas' Offense:
“I thought we did play great red-zone defense. We held them to a couple of field goals and forced a couple of missed field goals. The turnovers were huge. He (Todd Reesing) hadn't turned the ball over in a long time. He's a great player in the third quarter and fourth quarter it's the best he's played yet. What was real critical for us is that we did really good against the running game. And they're good at that. We forced them to throw.”
On William Moore:
“Willie Moore made some great plays. He's become a high-level Big 12 player. Pig Brown as I mentioned before, is a great playmaker and has all of this ability. I think he (Pig) is a great influence on him (Moore) and the great thing to about it is that he played good all year but he's played his best games since Pig went down.”
On the Safety:
“That was great. There was no question about that. Obviously, you just want to get this thing over with. You've seen all of the things that can happen in college football, an onside kick, they return it for a touchdown, everything in the world is going on in my mind. But Zo (Lorenzo Williams) getting that safety obviously was huge.”
On Tony Temple:
“Tony did some great things. He ran 98 yards and ran really hard and played really well. He really helped our offense.”
On Chase Daniel:
“You saw it, America saw it. They saw this guy in adverse conditions in the fourth quarter who had to make plays. We got a 15-yard penalty and somehow we get a way to convert it. He's be the first one to tell you it was the offensive line, the wide receivers or tight ends, but I'm going to be the first one to tell you, this guy is special. I've said this for a year-and-a-half, and America got to see it today how special he is. What a remarkable competitor. What a great player also when you need to make a play. How often does he make plays? I just have to say, he's a great player, 40-of-49 (passing) that's unbelievable.”
On The Team:
“I'm so proud of those guys. It's amazing how much better you coach when you've got good players. It's amazing how that works out.”
Missouri Player Quotes
Junior QB Chase Daniel:
On Missouri's offensive ability to answer after the defense allows points:
“We have been good at that lately. When other teams score, all I need to say to the offense is 'Hey, let's answer.' And we answered. We did it on almost every single drive.”
On beating Kansas:
“The best thing about tonight is the win. The bottom line is, we got the win. I don't care what happens; I hope we are No. 1, but all of that stuff doesn't matter. It is good for show, good for Columbia and the state of Missouri, but we have a tough game in San Antonio against a great Oklahoma team.”
On Tiger RB Tony Temple's Performance:
“It was unbelievable, I saw that look in his eyes and now, if I don't see that look before games I am going to smack him upside his head. He needs to make sure he gets it, because when he is on there is not a better running back in the country.”
On Tiger WR Danaraio Alexander:
“Danario played unbelievable. He was open all night long and he made some big plays down the field. He made an unbelievable play in that first touchdown. He scrambled out and got it. He was wide open and ran it in.”
On the cold conditions:
“Conditions were definitely cold. We have played in cold games before and we have been in tough games like this before. So the cold didn't play into the game at all.”
Freshman WR Jeremy Maclin:
On the game-clinching safety:
“The whole sideline erupted. I thought we were going to get a sideline penalty. It felt good. It is something that Mizzou has never done. It feels good to be the first team here to win the Big 12 North.”
On the Tiger Defense:
“You can't win a game without the other side of the ball. The defense stepped up huge, a team that is as explosive as Kansas, to hold them to 28 points is pretty good, I think. The offense did our job and we helped get the job done.”
On possibly being No. 1 and showcasing the team to the nation:
“Yeah, we still have a game next week. We can't worry about anything like that. That's what we wanted to do, that was our plan. We went out there and took care of business.”
On RB Tony Temple opening up the passing game:
“It's big, when you have the running game going, it opens up play action and drop-back passes. That's everything clicking together. When you have a guy that can run the ball like that it opens up so many more things for your offense.”
Junior DB Castine Bridges:
On Kansas entering the game ranked second in the nation:
“We really don't worry about how good another team is. We just look at them as another team that we are playing.”
On the win and possibly being ranked No. 1:
“We are not worried about it because we won't be No. 1 if we lose the next game.”
On why upcoming game against Oklahoma will be different than the previous meeting:
“Ever since we lost, we came into the locker room and said that we need to see them again. Now it is happening, we get to play them again, we get to compete with them and show them a better game.”
Senior DT Lorenzo Williams:
On stopping Kansas's multi-dimensional attack:
“It's pretty much limiting the running game. We feel like that if we can do that, we can force them to throw the ball, and then we can go get them.”
On what it will take to beat Oklahoma:
“It will take a perfect game. We had a lot of penalties when we went down there the first time, turnovers, we feel like that if we hold onto the ball, we can force more turnovers than we give up. That will give us a chance to win.”
Sophomore WR Danario Alexander:
“I got more opportunities to get the ball tonight. Chase got the ball to me more and I was able to get open for the passes. It was great.”
On TD reception from Chase Daniel in second quarter:
“It was a scramble, I saw Chase coming out of the shotgun and I realized that I needed to get open. There was on open spot and I saw it, and he got me the ball.”
