Monday Media Day Quotes
9/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 13, 2010
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Injury Update:
"Jasper Simmons is still out, he had meniscus surgery last Monday. He's doing well. Hopefully we'll get him back the week after this, most likely. We'll see what happens. Luke Lambert has a hamstring injury. He's a possibility this week, but we'll err on the safe side. Obviously the medical staff will make that decision. Munir Prince is getting an MRI this week. His family and myself and the medical staff will meet and discuss his future. But he's doing really, really good."
On the game with San Diego State:
"Brady Hoke is a coach who I have great respect for, I've known him over the years. You can see the footprint of his program in a couple years, building it through recruiting."
"Defensively they run a 30 front, which really presents a lot of problems. You can blitz a lot of different people a lot of different ways, so it causes us a lot of issues and game planning is critical. Obviously, the ability to be able to handle that is going to be an issue, so that is what we are going to work hard and try to do."
"Offensively, they're sixth in the nation in total offense. Their quarterback is a really good player. They have three wide receivers who are exceptional and two running backs who are good. They run a pro-style offense and do a lot of different things. Usually when you do as many things as they do you can't do them all very good, because it's just too much, well they're doing it good. This is a really good football team, which I expected it to be and it's going to be a real challenge for us."
On playing freshmen:
"We're recruiting at a higher level than when we first got here. When we first got here we were very protective of building the program and we redshirted a lot of players and took some hits for it probably. But we did because at the time we thought it was the right thing. But if a guy is mature enough and the position presents itself depth-wise, and if he's physically and mentally and emotionally in line and mature enough to do it, we try to get them involved and I think it's done well for us the last few years."
On Andrew Wilson's play at linebacker against McNeese State:
"I thought Andrew Wilson did an exceptional job. Here's a guy that goes in and gets thrown in there in his second game of his redshirt freshman year. But he's a great competitor. He's a very tough kid, very physical if you watch him play, but he's also very mentally tough too. He can make a mistake and just let it go and move on. He's pretty resilient that way, so we're really pleased. He's got a great future here."
On the team's depth at defensive end:
"Our defensive end depth, overall, is as good as it's ever been. And we have a couple young players we're redshirting too that are pretty high-level guys, so we're excited about that. It's nice to be able to play a lot of players in there. We've got five we're playing with right now that the gap is closing in on being pretty high-level players. So that allows us to play a lot of guys, and play a four-man front sometimes with defensive ends. So it's allowed us to do a few things."
RB Henry Josey
On his relationship with fellow freshman RB Marcus Murphy:
"I didn't know him at first but once we got here we bonded really well. After workouts in the summer we would go out to eat together on our own and just talk about stuff and look forward to the season. It was just getting used to being here mostly."
On why he chose to attend Mizzou:
"It came down to TCU and Mizzou. I knew I wanted to get out of Texas and just see what else was out there. I came here on my visit and they made me feel really at home. That was a really big thing recruiting wise and after that I knew there wasn't anywhere else I wanted to be."
OT Elvis Fisher
On offensive line's experience playing with one another: "It's really important. On the offensive line we all have to be on the same page. So when you have guys that have been there and been doing it a year before and then we come back and do it this year. It's very important for everybody being on the same page, knowing what everyone's doing, be able to study right and know what everyone's thinking at the same time. You really need to know what every position is doing on the offensive line to be one unit."
WR T.J. Moe
On if he can keep up his impressive play as the competition gets tougher:
"I sure hope so. I'm going to give it my best shot. These two teams we've played have both been good competitive teams, Illinois is a good Big Ten team and McNeese State was ranked number 13 in the FCS. I don't think it has as much to do with them as it does with us. If we come out and execute I think we can play with anybody.
On what he knows about San Diego State:
"I know they score a lot of points. They average 44 points a game so far and they're a good team so we got to be ready for them. They are 2-0 just like us."
On team's response to the use of sports psychology: "I think it's been a tremendous help. I myself really needed that last year. It's just focus. A lot of the time for young guys, like myself, it's hard to go from one thing to another and just back to back and refocusing every time and concentrating on what you need to concentrate on."
On San Diego State's offense being a test for the defense: "I think it will be, he (Ryan Lindley, San Diego State's quarterback) throws the ball extremely well. I think they have the number six offense in the country right now. It will be a great test for our defense to show what we're really made of and we'll show that on Saturday."
