Bowl Announcement Quotes
12/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 4, 2011
Senior Associate Athletic Director Mark Alnutt
Opening Statement...
“First of all, I want to congratulate Coach [Gary Pinkel]. This is a record-setting announcement with a seventh straight bowl that the University of Missouri is going to be participating in. That in itself deserves a round of applause. With that being said, about ten minutes ago we received a phone call from Fred Sexton, who is the chairman of the board for the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl, officially inviting the University of Missouri to participate in this year's 2011 game in Shreveport, La. At that time, speaking for Mike Alden, our director of athletics, and Brady Deaton, the chancellor of the University of Missouri, along with Coach Pinkel, we graciously accepted that invitation and we will be playing in that game on December 26. Kickoff is at 4:00 p.m. central time. It will be aired on ESPN2. We are excited to be in this position to announce that we are participating in our seventh consecutive bowl game and eighth in nine years.”
On when the Independence Bowl became a possibility...
“It's been on the radar for about the past week as an opportunity for our team, if we didn't get to a Big 12 [bowl], to be able to go to that destination. Today was one of the more interesting days I've had in bowl selection, beginning early this morning all the way up until five minutes ago. We knew there was an opportunity that there would only be one Big 12 team in the BCS, and with that being said, with eight [Big 12] teams qualifying for bowls this year, they would be one slot short. Working with the Big 12 and various TV partners, we were able to work with the Independence Bowl to get this done.”
On the options Missouri had for bowl selection...
“There were other [opportunities], but with the games yesterday, things sorted themselves out pretty quickly. Those other options were dwindling because those bowls were contracted to particular conferences and teams that had to go there. When it came down to it, this was the most viable option for us to choose.”
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement:
“We are really excited about this opportunity. Eleven years ago, that was our goal, to prepare to win and try and go to bowl games. Finally in 2003, we went to our first bowl game and it was the Independence Bowl, and as you all know, a couple years later we were there again. The hospitality there is second to none; it's first class. I think it's great access for our fans, students and certainly our connection with Texas and Dallas and all the players we have from that area. I think that's a huge plus for us.
We are thankful to a lot of people to be in this position -- we talked about eight bowls in nine years and seven in a row -- it would not be wise to take going to bowl games for granted. This was a very difficult season and my players fought and battled to put us in this position. Now we've won three in a row and we are going to play a really good football team. It's going to be important for us to play our best football game. I'm excited about it, excited for our team and players and we are looking forward to the opportunity.”
On bowl preparation...
“We will start practicing next Friday. We've had several models organized to start practicing next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We will have to tweak it a little bit, but we'll have that done by tomorrow. That won't affect us at all and we'll get going on Friday.”
On the upcoming effort to break a two-year bowl game losing streak...
“One of our goals is to go to a bowl every year. That's very important to our program. We are in a situation where we have lost the last two bowl games. That magnifies the importance of playing better than we have in the past. Last year's game was very close, but we didn't play a very good Navy team very well a couple years before that. This is a chance to win a bowl championship. We've done our critiques and we'll change different things with practice a little bit. Bottom line is we have to play better. Hopefully that's something we will get done.”
On making it to a seventh straight bowl game...
“It's real hard to win, I tell people that all the time, consistently enough to go to bowls year in and year out. When we came here eleven years ago, that was our goal, to be able to do that. I think expectation levels are raised by fans, and that's ok, but don't ever take it for granted. It's hard to win. It's hard to go to bowls on a consistent basis. I'm proud of our team as we battled. We were 4-5 a couple of weeks ago and it could have very easily gone a different direction. Because of the players and coaches, we battled through and kept the streak alive, and now we have a chance to win eight football games and possibly be nationally ranked at the end of the year. I'm real excited about it.”
Senior WR Jerrell Jackson
On being selected to participate in the Independence Bowl...
“First off, a shout out to my guy L'Damian Washington who couldn't be here today. We are going to his hometown and I know he is going to enjoy that. It's also pretty close to a lot of Texas guys so it's going to be good traveling for our families. I'm very excited for the bowl.”
On the importance of finishing his career with a victory...
“We are still trying to tell the story of our season. It was a roller coaster type of season, but we finished it strong. If we finish with this last win, that will help us be nationally ranked and give us momentum going into next season.”
Senior S Kenji Jackson
On approaching the bowl game...
“I feel like the guys know the importance of the game. We understand this is a business trip. We are going down there with a purpose and that's to win a football game, not to go and gamble at the casinos and stuff like that. As captains, we'll continue to reiterate that to the team. I'll do my best to let the guys know that it's good we got a bowl bid, but more importantly, we need to get this eighth win.”
On preparing for a game three weeks in advance...
“Man, I feel like we can't wait now. It's time for us to get our bodies back, get lifting and running, I mean we've been in shape, but to be where we need to be. The preparation is going to have to be great. We haven't been doing a lot for a week, so it's going to be great to get back together as a group and get on the same page to go get this win.”
On the importance of finishing his career with a victory...
“It's really, really important. I heard Coach Pinkel mention earlier that if we win, it could possibly project us in the top 25 for next year. Knowing how much I love Mizzou, even though I won't be a part of the team next year, if I can do anything to help this team be successful, I'm going to do that. It's just really important to me that we win this game and I'm very happy we made it to a bowl. The season started off with ups and downs, but we finished how we are supposed to and we are very blessed to be in the position we are in.”
