Oct. 26, 2010
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Injury Report:
"Dominique Hamilton had surgery Sunday morning and he will be out for the remainder of the season. Luke Lambert will still be out also. He has a knee strain and so that's kind of a week by week type situation."
On Nebraska:
"They're obviously a great football team. Defensively, they're one of the best in the nation. In several defensive categories, they're in the top 20 in the nation as they were a year ago. Just a very good defensive football team. Offensively, they're one of the best rushing offenses in the country and certainly we've got a great challenge ahead of us."
On Nebraska freshman quarterback, Taylor Martinez:
"He's really a remarkable player. I'm very impressed with, as a freshman, his ability just to see things, his ability to run and break tackles. A lot of the things that they do we've seen before but obviously him doing it makes it a little bit different."
On focusing after the big win against Oklahoma:
"I wanted our players to enjoy it, it's no different than after the A&M game or any game. You enjoy it Sunday, you wake up Monday and you get back to work and you get focused. If we don't focus and do the things necessary this week to play our best then we won't have a chance Saturday afternoon."
On replacing Dominique Hamilton:
"You know, that happens. You have to move players over and move them up. Go from there and that's what we're going to have to do. Will it affect our football team? I hope it doesn't, but what's important is guys around him have got to play better. Losing a guy like Dominique is definitely a loss, no question, but we've got to fill the gap and play better."
On the play of the offensive line:
"With this offensive line, I had a high expectation level and I thought we played really, really well against Oklahoma. The challenges still exist there, but the protection Blaine had was outstanding. Our run blocking was really good against a really good defensive football team. So I was really pleased, that's what I think we're capable of. I think from a consistency standpoint our offensive line really played well last week. And that's what we hope we can repeat every week as we finish the season."
On the big kickoff return TD by Gahn McGaffie:
"Gahn's a good athlete. When he came here, he was a quarterback in high school. No he's a receiver that gets some receiver work but he's got a remarkable attitude. I mean, he's always got a great attitude, he's always out there working to get better and improving. He's a good athlete and it was really great to see him do that. We had some real good blocking on that, and obviously you have to have a guy with skill and ability to be able to break that last tackle. But that was a huge play and it's very rewarding to see a player like that make a play. He had a moment, and he'll have more here, being a young player. But it was a certainly a big play in a big-time environment and it was certainly the way you want to start of a game."
On the offensive line against Oklahoma:
"They did an awesome job and that's just a credit to how hard they prepared all week long. They knew what they had to do, they knew they were facing high-level guys on Oklahoma but they executed extremely well and won the battle in the trenches. They worked extremely hard all work long on perfecting their craft."
On the upcoming game against Nebraska:
"We just have to turn the page. Nebraska is another great team so we just have to come to work everyday and get better every practice."
On the emphasis on turnovers:
"I think we are more of a mature football team. We know how to handle the pressure and we know how to take care of the football. Like Coach Pinkel said, when you win the turnover margin, you win the football game. I believe we won the turnover margin over Oklahoma and that was our 229th victory in a row when we won the turnover margin. So anytime we can take care of the football and our defense is forcing turnovers we are going to win the football game."
On things slowing down as he has gained experience:
"Anytime you can start a full season as a sophomore you get that experience level, and you know how to prepare week in and week out. You know what to expect from opposing defenses and really it slows down after a while."
On the assistant coaches:
"Every day in practice, every play in practice, we expect perfection. That's what we strive for. Our assistant coaches do an extremely good job trying to get that out of us and make us the best football players possible."
CB Carl Gettis
On his initial impressions of Nebraska's offense:
"We know we are going to have to stop the quarterback because Martinez is a big part of the offense. He is probably going to be one of the main focuses we want to shut down because he has the ability to break off that big play. With the pass or with the run he is going to be one of our big keys."
On Nebraska's Taylor Martinez
"We've played some pretty athletic guys at quarterback but Martinez is a little bit more special. He has a lot of speed and is really athletic so he brings a challenge. I think he has that playmaking ability in him. When he sees a hole he is able to hit that hole fast and get past the secondary and get out in the open."
On stopping the run:
"We have to keep doing the same things we've been doing. Coach Steckel has been focusing on stopping the run so we just have to have each one of our guys in the right gap just doing their assignment and it will take care of itself."
On learning from the Navy game about option quarterbacks:
"You can always learn something from every game. With that Navy game we learned something more mentally about being ready to play and being focused. Because if you don't bring you're a-game, then anybody can beat you no matter what it says on paper. So it was more so of us having to be ready to play."
On being second on the depth chart behind T.J. Moe:
"I get a few reps every now and then but I'm still just trying to work hard and get better."
On seeing himself as a return man or receiver:
"I just see myself as a competitor and a threat at any spot I am on the field so I'm just working hard."
On his experience as a returner
"When I first got here I was punt returner and a kick returner. I was doing that for a while and then I switched to receiver and they just took me off. But I was still doing it for a while."
DE Aldon Smith
On feelings on Saturday night:
"I felt really good about Saturday night. It was good to be back out there with everybody again and it was good to get back in the rhythm of things on the field."
On Taylor Martinez:
"Martinez is a great quarterback. He's good with his feet and hopefully we'll be able to stop it."
On the team having `arrived':
"There is still definitely a lot of football to go. I think we're halfway in the season and it's time to step it up a little bit more. A lot of teams get over confident when they get ranked and once they beat a couple of teams but we're still hungry and we know we still have a long way to go to reach our goals."
On when the celebration ended: "My celebration ended Saturday night. I woke up the next morning really sore and wasn't in the celebration mood anymore. I was in the get treatment mood. So my celebration was over. I hadn't played football in five weeks so you get sore after that."
WR T.J. Moe
On the keys to beating Nebraska:
"I'd say we better be playing some really good defense and we better be having a good run game, and we've done that. I think our defense played exceptionally well. On top of that, our running backs, our four core guys are rolling in there at different times and they're all doing a good job. However we're winning, I don't care."
On his thoughts on the season:
"It's a long season to go. We have a lot of things to prove. We're undefeated up to now and we still have a lot of tests in front of us. It's a 12-game season and we are only seven games through. Once you get past that you might get two more games but for now we're worried about Nebraska. As far as that goes, they have a good program. They stumbled a little bit against Texas but they are sure playing their best ball coming back against Oklahoma State. So we are certainly going to have to be ready."
On the target on Mizzou's back after being ranked top-10 in polls
"We don't pay that much attention to the polls. I don't know how much the other teams do. Nebraska has been ranked in front of us up until the last two weeks, so I think there is the same target on their back as it is on ours. Maybe they stumbled a little bit against Texas but the same thing goes for them. They've been picked in front of us in the north all season long and we've been playing with a chip on our shoulder."