Preview | Coach Odom Talks About His Team Heading into Vanderbilt
11/8/2018 3:42:00 PM | Football
Mizzou Football head coach Barry Odom expressed how proud he was of the team's effort on Saturday, Nov. 3, in the 38-17 win over Florida. Odom also added he was proud of the execution he saw from the team start to finish.
Mizzou had a number of individual performers who stepped up during Saturday's matchup according to Odom.
"You never know how it's going to play out exactly from the beginning of the week," Odom said. "Individually, guys stepped up either because of injury or because their number was called. They played really well and I think it maybe helped us learn, and continue to learn, about the process of what it takes on all of your habits leading up to game day to go execute and do it at a high level. You continue to pour into the process. The more that you do that, eventually you're going to get a return and you can't get tired of it. That's the way and that's the recipe for this team."
Senior WR Emanuel Hall returned to the field for Mizzou Saturday since being taken out of the Georgia game earlier this season. Hall led the team with 77 yards receiving and also grabbed four receptions and a touchdown.
"Personally, I was excited for him just because of the struggles he's had and continues to have," Odom said. "He's show maturity on battling through those struggles not only on the field, but off the field too. That was a moment that you're happy for a young man that's really poured a lot into it. He's continued to stay in there and battled ever yday and he's handled some of the field things very admirably."
Odom continued on about how Hall helps the team on offense.
"He does a few things either vertically downfield or some things we can do with him route wise that he's different than anybody we've got. He helps our offense, which in turn helps your team."
Senior OL Sam Bailey and former defensive end turned tight end freshman Daniel Parker have filled in at the tight end position for Mizzou this season due to injuries to Mizzou's top two players at the position.
"Just the way they vertically stretch the field, I mean have you seen those guys run," Odom joked in regards to how Bailey and Parker have been effective at tight end.
Odom had high praise for Parker, who switched from DE to TE during training camp, putting the team's needs ahead of his own.
"Parker has grown up a lot and was a guy that came in and was a guy that was recruited fairly heavily, but he's grown up in understanding what his role is and where he is. From that moment, he's just jumped in with both feet and done an unbelievable job in his role. He never questions it and he never asks. He'll do whatever he can to help his team. He's going to keep earning himself a lot more action, which is awesome."
Senior DL Walter Palmore and sophomore DL Akial Byers also received praise from Odom on their play during the Florida game Saturday. He mentioned
"I thought Akial played his best game and I think he's got more. He's got a great future. He's got a good first step and his hand placement is getting to be in the right spot. He was disruptive Saturday. Walter was more assignment sound than he's ever been. He was able to stay fairly fresh and made a lot of plays. We're going to need them here in the next few weeks."
Mizzou welcomes the Vanderbilt Commodores Saturday, Nov. 10. Mizzou will look to build off Saturday's win over Florida, while Vanderbilt is coming off a bye week.
"The last time they were on the field, they played their best ball. They scored a ton of points at Arkansas and really ran away with the game. Then they had a bye week and I know that we'll get their best shot."
Odom said he was impressed by Vanderbilt's performance in their last game at Arkansas. He also joked that he and Vanderbilt's senior QB Kyle Shurmur could have played against each other because he "feels like their QB has been around forever."
Odom added, "[Shurmur] is playing really well. He is making smart plays throws and he's very effective. [Looking at the Arkansas game,] they had opportunities and they played really well. You go back even to the Notre Dame game and they had a chance to win that one at Notre Dame. They're playing really well as a team together."
Odom said he didn't want his team to get too high coming off the win over a ranked Florida team. He added that their focus shifted very quickly to Vanderbilt Saturday night.
"I always want to be able to correct them after a win. We're focused on the right here and right now. If you spend too much time looking behind you or too much time looking ahead then you miss out on an opportunity. So, we'll need to continue to prepare the right way this week to put us in position to play our best on Saturday."
Kickoff for Mizzou's matchup with Vanderbilt at Memorial Stadium is set for 11 a.m. and will broadcasted on SEC Network.
