Head coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement…
“Good afternoon everybody, I appreciate you being here. The injury report really hasn't changed from a week ago, so it's exactly the same. We've stayed mostly pretty healthy and hopefully we continue to do so. We've been working on our preparation this week, got in Sunday and took care of all of our business from the previous game and move on to the next. We've got a really good football team in Central Florida. Coach O'Leary has done a great job with that program. You've certainly got to give him a lot of credit. They're a very good football team. A year ago, as you all know, they went 12-1 and beat Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl, so he's really done a great job down there with that program, working at a very high level. They're a very talented team. They played a very, very close game against Penn State. So it'll be a challenge to play our best football game, and we're preparing to do that.”
On Mizzou's downfield passing…
“We throw the ball downfield a lot. I think that's kind of the philosophy, we're a little bit different now. From a production standpoint and what we're going to do philosophy wise, we'll at least attack more a little bit downfield. Obviously, we could've made more plays there, and a lot of big plays can be made. I think it stretches the defense, it stretches the field a little bit and opens up the shorter throws at times. Maty's one of those guys who loves to make those throws. You have to have a talented guy to make those throws, to throw the ball 30-40 yards downfield. He's done pretty well. Maty has a tendency, he likes to look downfield a little bit. There's a time when he'll come off a little bit and throw short to a player, and that's a slow process. But he'll get better and better, look at the down and distance and all those things, get confident in throwing and take those throws and get those kinds of completions. There's a lot of things that go into being a good quarterback. He gets better every week, and he'll continue to improve. He's at six starts now, so he'll continue to get better. That process will go on for the rest of the season and the remainder of his career.”
On goals for Sean Culkin and production from the tight end position…
“Every year it changes, depending on injuries and growth and you hope our guys can continue to improve. He went and made some excellent catches in the game. So that's excellent. When we add that to our offense it allows us to do some different things. So we certainly want to get him involved.”
On Marcus Murphy's skill and impact on games…
“He's got the 'it' factor. He just gets out in space and he's a great space runner. I used that as an example at our team meeting yesterday afternoon, where he gets the ball on the 25 yard line and the offense gets the ball on the 46. You come out and get one first down and you're in field goal range. That's the thing — do you kick to him? What are you going to do? I think the other players know they just need to get a few blocks here or there, and he's just good in space. He feels people. He senses the right things to do. You don't coach that. I'm sure Coach Ford would say that it has a lot to do with him, but really all kidding aside, he's just a great talent. He makes a huge, huge difference in the game.”
On Marcus Golden and Shane Ray…
“The question of Shane Ray and Marcus Golden as dominant players — they were dominant players a year ago. I've said it before, but I had some NFL scouts come up to me and say 'Those two guys (Kony Ealy and Michael Sam) are pretty good, but the two behind them might be even better.' Don't tell Kony and Michael I said that, I would never say that. I'll probably get some texts later on tonight. But they're explosive guys. They come off the corner and they create a lot of problems for the quarterback. All quarterbacks, when they have great protection are very good. But if you get some pressure on them, you change the whole position. Hopefully we continue to play good defense behind them, it's not just the two of them. We've got to cover the wide receivers, the more screens they get just shows the respect for those two. But they're impact players, they have great motors and they play hard. It's fortunate that the two we lost a year ago, all of a sudden we have two guys that can get after it. And that's how good our depth was a year ago.”
On preparing for UCF…
“My thinking is, on Sundays I talk to the team about our opponent, just briefly about them. You hear me say this, and it's true, it's all about how you play. Respect who we're playing and I think our players have a great respect and if you're a great competitor then you respect everybody. Then what you do is you focus on playing your best game. That's really our challenge right now, we have some younger players and as a unit it's all about playing your best all the time… it doesn't mean you're perfect. As I've mentioned before, [UCF] knows how to win, they've won at a high level and they've done a great job there. This is a really good football team and this is going to be a great challenge for us.”
On Markus Golden's high-energy style of play…
“His pursuit says a lot about him, doesn't it? He's got a never give up attitude and that's a captain, that's leadership, that's competitiveness. That has huge influence on the rest of your team when you see a player play like that. We certainly pointed that out to them. “
On splitting carries between the tailbacks…
“[Tailbacks] Coach [Brian] Jones has been doing it for a while. He's a great coach who's done a great job here with the running backs. He kind of gets a feel for if a guy has got it going. He might lean on one if one might be running a little bit better. But we're thinking about getting those guys an equal number of reps for the most part. We're aware of how many reps they're getting during the game, we're aware of it the whole time. For example, you've got to keep them fresh too, and we're fresh. One reason I think we've been a reasonably good running football team over the past few years is because we try to keep those guys fresh. Some backs have great quickness and speed and explosiveness and we try to make sure they're fresh when they're in there so we get that top speed the whole time.
On the defensive ends facing 1-on-1 pass protection……….
“I noticed last week, [Toledo] they tried to help with the [offensive] tackles and they would chip on one of our guys. You see it in the NFL all the time and we do it occasionally for some really great players. I think people try to do different things and it's very difficult to double-team both sides when you've got two impact players playing well upfront. We have a pass rush group of guys that we send in there that we need in there. Harold Brantley and one of the other tackles earn their reps so I think for the most part we try to get a chance to free those guys up the best we can. The better they all play, the more difficult it is to defend. ”
On new Mizzou Tigers in the NFL…
“I saw Justin [Britt] a little bit Thursday night and that was good. It was great to see him out there. We're really proud of him and E.J. [Gaines] too, so we're really excited about both of those guys. They're great kids and we'd love to see them have success.”
SENIOR DE Markus Golden
On his pursuit...
“It's football. Any time a guy is running with the ball, you have to go get them. That's a rule. I expect it from anybody on my team, even from when I was a kid until now. Anybody with the ball, you have to run and go tackle them.”
On preventing long runs….
“Missed tackles and staying in our gaps. Doing what Coach [Dave] Steckel wants us to do. Every time someone has had a big play on us, it's because of something we did, not because they ran some amazing play. It's because we didn't get in the gap or because we missed tackles. Coach Steckel calls a lot of good plays. We trust Coach Steckel and we've just got to get it right. We've got to go out there and do the right thing.”
SENIOR WR Bud Sasser
On his forced fumble...
“My first thought was just to get the ball back. I just remembered that it's something that our defense does to us all through practice; we've got to make sure to hold on to the ball. I told them to put me on defense for a couple plays next game. I think I deserve it after that strip. But I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be over there.
On what to expect from the receiving corps….
“I still think it's just a little preview of what we can do. Most of that stuff was done either just in the first half or just in the second half from all of us [receivers]. I think that we have a lot more in our tanks and I can't wait for the day where we can just put it all out there.”