Quotes
12/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 2, 2007
MIZZOU HEAD COACH Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement:
"On behalf of my players and my staff, we are excited about playing in the Cotton Bowl, playing [such] a great team as Arkansas. It has been a long road, since seven years ago when we got here, this is our fourth bowl in the last five years, that is the consistency of winning that is hugely important. We're playing our first January 1 bowl, a very prestigious bowl, in Dallas, Texas, which is one of our out-of-state recruiting areas, one of our most important areas. And certainly we have a great alumni base there. It is exciting; it is an opportunity for us, certainly, to finish the season on a positive note. I have a bunch of players that came here today, they have frowns on [their faces], which, they are great competitors; you can understand that, you can appreciate that, but I love those guys. And certainly, as I said before, one of the great things about my players is what they have done for Missouri football. Not only for now, but in the future. So, the Cotton Bowl, is where [we're playing]. We are excited and we are looking forward to preparing and going down there, and playing Arkansas."
On playing a January 1 Bowl:
"It means a lot to me. What you always want to do is advance your program. And we were very fortunate to play in the Independence Bowl a couple of years, then the Sun Bowl, and I think these are the kind of steps that you want to take. And the Cotton Bowl, what a traditional bowl. I have talked to a lot of different people who have played in the Cotton Bowl before, about how gracious they are, hospitality there is as good as anywhere in the country, a great city to be in. It is very gratifying, we are excited about it."
On missing out on the BCS:
"I don't really think it's the time for this. We had a great year. You never take away a [division] championship, and playing in a championship game. Those things will sort themselves out, and this is where we are supposed to be. We are excited about it."
On Arkansas running back Darren McFadden:
"When I saw that we were playing Arkansas, that was the first name that came up in my head, He is a great player, obviously one of the great players in the country. It will certainly be a great challenge for us, but you know, you play in a high level bowl game, you are going to play against great players, and we're excited about playing."
MIZZOU JUNIOR Chase Daniel
On making the Cotton Bowl:
"Going back home to Dallas is unbelievable. I am going to have a lot of fans out there, a lot of support out there. The Cotton Bowl is one of the most prestigious bowls in history, including some of the BCS bowls. You have the National Championship, the four BCS bowls, and then in my mind, out of every other [game] it has to be the Cotton Bowl."
On Illinois and Kansas making BCS Bowls
"I think you look at that, and that is good for them. We beat them, but we lost at the wrong time. We cannot hold our heads down. We gave it our all, and like Coach [Pinkel] said, we are supposed to be here."
On how hard it is to watch the BCS selection show:
"It is pretty hard. But we also have a task at hand, and playing in the first January 1 bowl since 1970, in the Orange Bowl, is something that is very exciting for us, and it is something we are going to prepare as hard as we have [all season]."
MIZZOU SENIOR Martin Rucker
On playing in the Cotton Bowl:
"It feels good to get a New Year's Day bowl. One of my goals when I got to school was to start a football season in one year and finish it in another, so in that sense, it is a very good thing."
On the season so far:
"It has been a pretty successful year, 11-2, and you would like think that would get you in the games that you want to be in, but, at the same time, the Cotton Bowl is a great bowl and we are honored to be there."
MIZZOU SENIOR Lorenzo Williams
On facing Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl:
"It was a tough game when we played them in the Independence Bowl and I'm pretty sure it is going to be the same way when we play them this year, it is going to be a great game."
On the season:
"You think about how much work we put into this at the beginning of the season, and everything...we did not know we would make it this far. I told you that we were going to be good, but I did not know we were going to be as good as we were. But then we get there and then you start getting greedy. You start seeing what is out there and what you could have and what you could do and you start getting greedy, and when it does not happen you get kind of disappointed. But when you sit back and look at it, we have done a lot of things here, that no other senior class can say they did, while we have been here. So you have to be excited about getting the chance to play on a national stage against a great team like Arkansas in the Cotton bowl. I heard it is one of the best bowls to go to, so I'm excited."
