Mizzou/K-State Post-Game Quotes
11/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 14, 2009
Recap |
Final Stats |
Notes |
Staff Gallery 
|
AP Action Photos
MU Players | Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder | Kansas State Players
Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement:
"I am real proud of our football team. Last week was a tough week around Mizzou football and this game was about a lot of things. Not only getting our sixth win, but also trying to preserve what we are trying to create here: excellence. I am real proud of our team for handling it the way they did. We talked about switching turnovers and we did that. We played well and a lot of players did a lot of good things."
On wide receiver Danario Alexander:
"If you would have listened to me in July, I told everybody that guy would be one of the top receivers in the country if he had not gotten hurt. The neat thing about Danario is he is a great team player, a great kid and a great competitor. He was sitting there taking all these shots - his helmet flipped up one time, he got hit in the head twice - what a great example for your football team. There are only two guys I have ever coached that could touch a football and change a game. Certainly Jeremy Maclin was one and this guy, Danario Alexander. His big plays were huge. He is a real talented guy. He is just amazing. He is a tall guy and his acceleration, people just have trouble catching him; and they had some fast guys on their team."
On his reaction as they began to pull away:
"I did not breathe easy until the game was over. That is the tough part about putting yourself in this position. We put ourselves in this position and last week was a pressure packed week around our place. I thought we responded well. I thought Blaine Gabbert played really well. The third quarter is kind of when I told our team that is what they want to do."
On winning the turnover battle:
"We did not give them short fields with turnovers and we got a good couple fields because of turnovers. Kansas State was number one in the league in turnover margin. We did a lot of good things."
On the momentum change after Brandon Banks fumble:
"That was a huge play when that ball got knocked out. Bottom line, it was a turnover. That was huge. That was like a gift. That was probably a 14 to 10-point swing. We got a little break and took advantage of it."
On Missouri's defensive performance:
"I thought they did a really good job. The turnovers we got were huge and holding them to field goals was huge because it ended up being the story of the game. We both got chances down there; we got touchdowns and they mostly got field goals and that separated us a little bit at the end."
Coach Pinkel | Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder | Kansas State Players
MU Player Quotes
Sophomore QB Blaine Gabbert
On the play of Danario Alexander:
"He got open all day, and just made a bunch of plays. When you get him the football, he just makes tremendous plays."
On bouncing back after last week:
"We had our backs up against the wall today, so we had to come out here and show everyone what we were made of. I thought that we did that pretty well today. We knew that we could score points all along."
Sophomore LB Will Ebner
On their efforts against Daniel Thomas:
"I thought it was great. I don't even know how many yards he had but I thought that we stopped the run well. We held them to 12 points - four field goals - so it was a big stand for our defense and a big statement."
On the importance of not letting K-State score a touchdown:
"It was huge. I mean that was just a fun little ride. I think at that point in the game it was clear that we were going to win, but for a fourth down stand half an inch from the goal line is unbelievable. And it just brings guys together. You saw the whole sideline going nuts when we stopped them so it was big for our defense and it was really exciting."
Junior C Tim Barnes
On the team attitude coming into the K-State game:
"Everyone was a little unhappy about the losses and so everyone just kind of put their head down, not in a bad way, but just to focus, put their head down and it didn't matter what was going on around us. We had to focus down and it was just a big team focus. You could really tell that everyone was wanting to come out and win this game."
Senior TB Derrick Washington
On coming together as a team this week:
"We were playing for our pride, we were playing for Mizzou, our fans, for the guys lined up next to us. We just had to go out there and do it. We lost a lot of respect last week, and we had to come out and earn it back this week."
On finishing the game in the second half:
"We just came out and knew that we had to finish. We came in at halftime and knew that we had to get it going in the second half. We have struggled in the second half in the last couple of weeks, and we went three-and-out on our first series, after that though, we were firing on all cylinders."
Coach Pinkel | MU Players | Kansas State Players
Kansas State Head Coach Bill Snyder
On committing a more turnovers than usual:
"I would have to sit down and completely watch the game tape, but if I said yes, I don't think I would be too far off."
On the team's red zone struggles today:
"I think they left their focus in the locker room today. I'm not sure exactly how many times we were in the red zone today, but the last attempt was an embarrassment to this team."
On the impact of Brandon Banks' fumble inside the five-yard line:
"I would never take one play and segregate it from everything else and say this is why you win and this is why you lose. But that play did have a major impact on the shift in momentum and on the overall outcome of the game."
On the overall play of the secondary:
"Well, we gave up three awfully big plays and they are the last line of defense. It wasn't nearly as good as we would like it to be."
On the overall attitude of the team after today's loss
"I really don't know. It is going to be very interesting. I told our players at the beginning of this week that it will be interesting to see how we react to the degree of success that we have at up to this point in the season. I thought that they overcame the adversity early in the season fairly well, and I think that is a necessity to the development of this program. The other part of the equation is how you handle the successes that you have, and obviously we failed that test today. We didn't handle it very well. We didn't practice well this week. I don't think that means that the players don't care. I just think that they might not understand that it is a work in progress. It's going to take time and we are going to have some dips in the road and the loss today was just another dip."
On the play of Missouri receiver Danario Alexander
"I think that when you fail to tackle him, it helps him out quite a bit. I thought (KU receiver) Dezmon Briscoe was the best receiver in the Big 12 until I saw Alexander play today. I think his range and the fact that he is six-foot-five helps him immensely. I've seen him make more plays on film than I saw him make today, as far as catches are concerned. The comparative speed in today put us at a disadvantage."
On the play of kicker Josh Cherry
"I think Josh did well. I was pleased with his effort, especially coming off an injury. I thought that he hit the ball very well, not just on field goals but also on kickoffs."
On K-State still controlling its own destiny
"I told our team that they are the luckiest bunch of guys in the Big 12, to go out and get it handed to you like we did today and still have the opportunity to win a north division title and possibly play in a bowl game. Most teams can't play and coach the way we did today and still control their own destiny."
On the inability to run the ball
"I'm not sure that we put the ball where it needed to go. Missouri did a nice job of defending us with having to bring extra guys into the box. They defended quite well with their linebackers and their down lineman. They create a lot of movement and they used that to their advantage."
Coach Pinkel | MU Players | Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder
Kansas State Player Quotes
Senior LB Joe Pawelek
Senior WR Brandon Banks
On the team's play today:
"We got off to a slow start including myself with the fumble on the opening drive. We just got off to a rough start."
On what happened when he fumbled:
"I was just trying to make a play trying to reach the ball over the goal line and the defender just made a good hit on me. I dropped the ball and it's my fault."
On how they control their destiny:
"It's good because we have another opportunity, to reach our goal. We are still down about this loss though. Hopefully, we can bounce back, for another opportunity next week."
Junior PK Josh Cherry
On making a career high in field goals:
"It was definitely fun but the fact that we lost really takes away from it. I hate losing and I'm pretty sure everyone else on this team does to. No one wants to be at home during the off season this game had a lot riding on it. Making four field goals is great but I would rather have those field goals be PAT's."
On calming himself down for next week:
"I hope not I mean I'm sure I'm going to have a couple more butterflies in my stomach. But it's the same field right here and up there, the field goal posts are just as wide and the kicks are just as long. Just got to keep our mind and don't change anything and keep working on what you are working on all week."
Senior QB Grant Gregory
On the trends of each drive:
"I can't really tell right now. I have to take a look at them. We made a few mistakes and didn't get the job done."
On what went wrong in the rushing game:
"They're a good rushing defense. That's one of the strengths of their team. They did a good job. We still ran the ball decent. They did a good job. I mean, they're good up front and have a good team. They haven't played to what they're capable of up to this point, but they played a good game today and beat us."
Junior WR Lamark Brown
On still controlling your own destiny:
"There's a little bit of luck there but at the same time with everything being in our hands we should of played better then what we did today."
On Missouri's defense:
"I don't know what really happened to us to tell you the truth. We weren't in sync, we weren't making plays we were suppose to make. We had opportunities we didn't take advantage of."
