Bowl Selection Quotes
12/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 6, 2009
Senior Associate Athletics Director Mark Alnutt
Bowl Announcement:
"We are very excited that we have accepted an invitation to appear in our fifth-consecutive bowl game, that's a record here at Missouri. Earlier this afternoon, Jamey Rootes, President of the Texas Bowl extended an invitation that we graciously accepted, to participate in the 2009 Texas Bowl. This game matches the Tigers with the Midshipmen of the Naval Academy. It will be on December 31 at 2:30 central time. The game is played in Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas and will be aired on ESPN."
On difference in budget between the Texas and Insight Bowl:
"We're looking at about a $500,000 difference between this bowl and the Insight Bowl. That being said we aren't sacrificing anything from our student-athletes, coaching staff and support staff. They've worked a great deal this season to get us to this level. We will evaluate other areas to see what we can do to make it fit within the budget."
Head Coach, Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement:
"We are excited about playing in the 2009 Texas Bowl against Navy. We are excited that it is on national TV on ESPN. It is in a recruiting area for us and we have over 25 players from the state of Texas. There is a huge alumni base in Houston so in many, many ways this works well for us. I'm really proud of this football team. It was a year that we really grew a lot together as a football team. We went through a lot of adversity and bounced back and went through some more adversity. We finished with three-straight victories in some tough games. Obviously we learned and we grew together, and we did a great job of finishing the season and going 8-4. We have finished first or second in the North each year since 2005. We are going to play a really good Navy team and we know that [Navy Head Coach] Ken [Niumatalolo] is doing a really good job with that program. We know that the Navy certainly travels well because its one of the Academies. It's a great opportunity for the Missouri Tigers."
On Big 12 Bowl process selection:
"I think that we're proud that we have the fourth best record in the conference and battled through it all. I certainly think the process with the big 12 has been frustrating. But, I also don't think this is the really an appropriate time for this discussion. I think that's something for a later time. I'm real excited for this game and I feel real good about it, and I want our players to have a great time, and it's a great opportunity, especially being on ESPN."
On playing against a service academy such as Navy:
"Well it's a little different. I've had that experience one time at Toledo. The Academy is representing our forces and the discipline that goes with that, the character that goes into that, it's very impressive. I think it's a great honor for us. They will play a great game, I guarantee you that. It will be a great challenge for us and I think my players will be impressed with them on film, they've had a great year. They play Army this weekend, I hope that one day when I retire, I get to go to that game, because we all know what that's all about. They run the option, they run the wishbone, and they're very good at it. We are kind of analyzing that stuff right now the best we can and it will be a great challenge for our defense."
On playing through adversity this season:
"I am very proud of our team. We all get tested through adversity, those that make it when things get tough are the ones that are going to make it. That's going to apply to everything in their life, it's just not in the football game. Those are the great lessons that sport teaches people. I'm very proud of our team for battling, those last two games were not easy. It is amazing the lessons you learn when you lose three in a row and all the stuff that you go through and that applies to your toughness and determination in the arena. Winning those games, not just for our seniors, it will apply for next year."
On keeping focused for final game:
"I really sell to our team on how we prepare for bowl games, we've won a few in a row, and I think were still going to use the same method and organization that we did in the past. I want to have a good time, that important to me, they've earned this, but I also really want to win the football game and so do they. It's a combination of preparing and coming to play your best.
On the chances Jared Perry will play in the bowl game:
"He's working to get back, but I don't the answer right now. I think it's probably going to be one of those things that we'll know over the next two weeks. I hope he gets back he has done so much for this football team. If there is anybody that could do it, it would certainly be him."
Jaron Baston, Defensive Lineman
On keeping the focus on the game:
"This game is about playing on grass against another team, and we get to do that in this bowl. Everyone keeps asking me how I feel about the selection stuff, and all I really am is a student and an athlete--that's all I know about. I don't know how they pick, but we're happy to play Navy and it's going to be a challenge for our defense."
On playing a rushing offense like Navy:
"It's going to be fun for us on the defense, but at the same time it will be a challenge. We're going to go in and watch film and learn our assignments. It's going to be a very tough Navy team. The option can hurt an offense, but at the same time it can kill a defense if they run it the right way. It's going to be exciting."
On playing in Texas:
"I've never been to Houston, so I'm excited to go. I've heard it's a big-time city, and there are a lot of fun things to do. Coach Pinkel allows us to go out a few days before the game and experience the town, so I'll be following guys like Danario [Alexander] and Spoon [Sean Weatherspoon] and Kevin Rutland. I'm excited. It's going to be fun, and it's going to be fun for the State of Missouri."
Sean Weatherspoon, Linebacker
On coming into the bowl game with three consecutive wins:
"If we go out there and take care of business, it will be the icing on the cake. When you get a few wins in a row, it definitely gets your team confident. Hopefully we can go into that game with the same confidence, knowing that we just won a big game. Navy will be a tough opponent, but we've just got to prepare the right way."
On playing in his home state:
"I'm excited. If we were playing in Arizona, it would have been a little different--I might not have had as much family in town to come. I'm definitely excited to be going back to Texas and to get an opportunity to play in front of a home crowd."
On the bowl selection:
"Obviously, you want to go out and win all of your games, and then you don't have to worry about what bowl you go to. We didn't take care of business the way we should have and I'm just happy to be going to a bowl. There were points in the season where we didn't know if we would make a bowl. The way the seniors fought and got the other guys going, we just feel pretty happy about that."
On what it says for a team to go to five consecutive bowls:
"It says that you're coming up. We've got to just make sure that we keep that going. Even when this senior class leaves, we've got to make sure that the next group knows that they've got to go out there and be a little bit better than this group. You know that there's the slight chance that if you don't go out there and win all your games, things might not go the way you planned on them going, so it gives you a sense of urgency."
Danario Alexander, Wide Receiver
On the bowl selection process:
"I can't help but react to it. That's just how things go. I'm not really sure how the bowl selection process goes, but like I've said, we've just got to take advantage of what we were given."
On getting to play in his home state:
"We get to go back to Texas. Like Coach Pinkel said, we recruit heavily in Texas. It's going to be a great game for us, and pretty much a homecoming for many of the guys on the team. Everybody will be pumped up and ready to play."
