Mizzou/Iowa State Post-Game Quotes
10/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 15, 2011
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Mizzou Players | ISU Coach Paul Rhoads
Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement:
"It feels good to win. It's been a couple of tough weeks and when we were focused we were a pretty good football team most of the day. So, it's lessons learned here we'll learn from this and we have a big one coming in next week."
On the team's focus:
"You just have to handle things internally. There were some things we had to do, you talk to the seniors, you talk to the leadership, get the captains. We have a plan to win here, we know how to win here. But everybody in the organization has to do the stuff to the detail and when you do that, you have a chance to be real successful. And when you don't do all the details, then things fall off and I didn't feel like we were doing all the little things right. This is one football game. We have to be humble here and understand that we have some big ones coming up."
On the penalties:
"We got a little bit better there, a little more disciplined. That's been embarrassing for me, but you understand too it's not like we weren't concerned about the penalties, like we were lax in those areas. It was just we weren't focused from a players standpoint, we're not focused. And from a coaches standpoint, I put it on the coaches, too. We were poorly coached with all these penalties. So we showed improvement there and we have to keep getting better. "
On Henry Josey:
"He's got some quicks. He touches the football, he's a difference guy and he's a young player. Boy you just have to give him a little seam and with his acceleration he's really a very impressive guy."
On Michael Egnew:
"It's nice to see Michael back in the game here. We had a chance to get a lot of people out and catch a lot of footballs. Michael is experienced and that one play where he caught that bubble screen, he's 245 pounds, 6'6", and I think with the help of his teammates, he got another 15 yards after they touched him. So that's pretty good."
On third down conversions:
"We were better until the fourth quarter, we were pretty good. I think there was some improvement there. We were a better third quarter football team. We only scored 16 points in the third quarter the entire season, and that was positive. And I think overall, except for that last touchdown, our defense really played pretty darn good, and I was pretty pleased with that. That one touchdown we gave up with an interception, and it was certainly a lot of good things about our defense from this game.."
On turnovers:
"Those were very poor decisions by James, and the great thing about that is he came back. His numbers are really good that he had in the third quarter, I think he had six completions. So you're going to make those in a game, it's disappointing, it's frustrating. (The interceptions) were almost back to back, we lost field position. And can you come out of that and continue to focus, regain your focus and go out and execute? So there's a great lesson there if you learn it and you apply it and I think he did. So I think he came out of that and made some nice throws."
On Oklahoma State:
"First of all we get them here, so we appreciate our fans. We had over 71,000 here today and what great fans we have. They wear their gold, and a lot of things can happen in here. There have been a lot of big games that have been won in this place, and the fans have been a big part of it. So we're going to work real hard this week and come out and try to play our best, play our A-game, and we're going to go out and compete so we're excited about it."
Coach Pinkel | ISU Coach Paul Rhoads
MU Player Quotes
On RB Henry Josey and his outlook for next week: TB Henry Josey On QB James Franklin: LB Luke Lambert On his mindset during his senior year: TE Michael Egnew On dragging several Iowa State defenders along during a catch-and-run near the ISU goal line: On the importance of today's win and the fan support the team received: DL Michael Sam On the Tigers' defense today and next week's game against Oklahoma State: ISU Head Coach Paul Rhoads
QB James Franklin
On the Tigers' play today:
"We did a great job this past week working cutting down on our mistakes. We did have three turnovers, and I threw two interceptions, but our coaches encouraged us to stay positive and keep a good mindset. Iowa State's a great team, and they're going to make plays too, so I think we did a good job putting our mistakes behind us."
"I can't wait until he gets hamstring fully recovered. He did a great job running with the ball today. We all focused well today in front of our home crowd. Oklahoma State's a great team to face next week, and we'll have to be at the top of our game."
On his performance today:
"I had a great game today, and my offensive line did a great job. We came out with a lot of confidence. Our O-line gave me some great holes to run through. Coach Yost did a good job of calling plays that allowed me to get into the open field."
"We had to regroup as a tandem after last week's loss at Kansas State. We have a great connection in the backfield."
On his performance today, including two fumble recoveries:
"Coach Steck stressed the importance of working hard to get to the ball, and I think our defense did a great job of that today."
"I'm trying to make the most of all my opportunities. I'm blessed to have another year here, and it's important that I've been able to stay healthy. My teammates and I are trying to pay close attention to detail, and that's something we need to improve on. Coach Pinkel wanted us to focus in practice, and it carried over to the game today because we didn't have any penalties."
On his performance today (6 catches for 105 yards):
"James always knows where to put the football, and it worked well today. I love it when any of my teammates catch the ball. If it's me, that's great, but the main thing is we got a win."
"Sometimes you just get lucky. Iowa State's a great team, and they're better than the scoreboard shows. That makes me proud of what our team was able to do today. We train hard in practice so we can get those extra yards against tough defenders."
"Any time we get a win is extremely important to us, but to get a win like this after a couple of losses gets our mood back up. All of us are competitors, and we want to win. We appreciate the fan support, but another part of our job is to tune out the hype so we can focus on getting a win."
On the significance of today's win:
"This was like a must-win for us, and we came out and got the job done after last week's loss at K-State. It was a tough loss last week, and we got back on track with this win."
"We needed to create takeaways, and those helped us to win the game. Next week's going to be another tough assignment."
On Missouri's offense:
"One of my biggest fears was that (Missouri) was going to gel as an offense. I knew they were a dangerous football team waiting to explode on offense and they did that, capitalizing on two turnovers. They did it twice with long fields, twice with short fields and made mincemeat out of our defensive football team."
On things his team could learn from the game:
"Yes you can always learn something from everything whether it's a win, lose, or draw. We're sitting 3-3 in the midpoint of our season, there are six football games left and we can still accomplish the expectations of this football program but we've got a lot of work to do to ensure that happens."
On why Iowa State ran the defense it did:
"Because a year ago Missouri had one of the most prolific offenses in the country and we held them to 14 points, which I think was a season low ,and we held them at a season low in yardage. It was a sound defense versus with what they do with their empty sets in offense and the sweep game. I cautioned our defensive staff that they would have answers to that and we had answers of our own when they showed what those things were. That was a four man front, among some other things. Give credit to Missouri's offensive staff and their plans, and their kids and their execution."
On why Rhoads put in his second-string quarterback:
"Because we were a good bit behind and we still had another touchdown drive left, so I thought I'd make the decision myself and put Jared Barnett out there. He moved us down field and got us in the endzone. From what I could largely see it was still Missouri's starting defense out on the field, at least most of their regular players in their first unit. It's generally the case and it's easy to happen with the back up in and give the football team a spark. I'm going to examine the play of our quarterbacks and then make a move from there. You'll see at kickoff who goes out. I'm not saying it's a competition, I'm not saying who will start."
On how the team feels about playing Texas A&M next week:
"A&M, from what I understand, beat Baylor 55-28, and (Baylor) beat us quite soundly a week ago. Most of the season before (Texas A&M) lost they were a really, really good football team, they were a top 10 team in the country, so we'll have to consider them."
