Mizzou Head Coach Barry Odom
Opening statement:
“I’m frustrated that we didn’t win the football game. We played very poorly in a lot of aspects. I’m proud of the way the offense came out and continued to hang in there and keep us in the game. We played sloppy and turned the ball over. We had a lot of penalties and we couldn’t convert on third downs. The defense couldn’t get off the field too.”
On the performance of Middle Tennessee quarterback Brent Stockstill:
“They’ve got a good scheme, good structure and he’s a good player. They outplayed us. He was pretty efficient in every down and they ran the ball probably better than they should have.”
On Mizzou committing 13 penalties for 125 yards:
“We’ve got to look back and evaluate where they came from. Is it technique? Is it habits in practice? That will never win. Our margin for error is so low. That’s a 100 hidden yards right there. Inexcusable.”
On moving forward from this loss:
“You’re not going to get me down. I’ve never failed at anything in my life. I didn’t dream that this was going to be easy. I never thought that for one second. This is obviously a setback and we’ll bounce back. I have great faith that we’ll get this going.”
Mizzou Players
DE Charles Harris
On his feelings after the loss:
“You can’t put it into words. Credit to Middle Tennessee. They are a great team, a great fighting team. I can’t really explain what happened on our end. We have no excuses for that, just credit to them.”
On the week of practice:
“Like Coach Odom said, we had the best practice that we have had all year. Defensively, offensively, the whole team knew our jobs. We had a great week of practice. It just comes down to execution. That’s it.”
On being vocal at halftime:
“At a time like that, the team needs somebody to step up; they need someone to be vocal. I know that you can’t make someone enthusiastic. It as to come from inside of you. At halftime, I just felt a lot of emotions inside of me and I just had to let it out.”
QB Drew Lock
On the false start penalties:
“We are playing fast. Sometimes when we are waiting for everyone to get set, the line gets a little jumpy. But, that’s only because they are ready to fire out and go hit somebody.”
On the feeling in the locker room after the game:
“It was the same disappointment. It’s hard to describe how it feels. It’s dull. It’s not something that you want to repeat. I thought we did a good job during practice to get ready and make sure that this doesn’t happen. Now that it did, we just have to practice even harder and make sure that we don’t get this feeling again.”
TE Kendall Blanton
On his one-handed touchdown catch:
“Anytime Drew [Lock] throws the ball up there I try to make a play. He threw a good ball and I was able to make a good play.”
On what the offense can take out of this game:
“We have to watch film and see what we did well, as well as what we did bad. We have to see what we can take from it.”
Middle Tennessee Coach Rick Stockstill
Opening Statement:
“First of all, I’d just like to say I have a lot of respect for Coach Odom. I’ve known him for a while and you know when you play one of his teams you’re going to be in for a fight for the full 60 minutes. We got a phenomenal effort and I just want to say those guys played first class. There wasn’t a whole lot of trash talking going back and forth, and I respect him and the job he did. With that being said it was a phenomenal win for us. We talked all week long about having a competitive spirit. We were going to have to play harder and longer than they did. You’re going to have to be tougher than them, both physically and mentally because they are so big, strong and powerful. Our guys competed their tails off. They never flinched. They never relaxed. This team played their hearts out. We got punched in the gut last week with our double overtime loss and how we lost. To come back on the road against an SEC team is huge. I’m very proud of our team in that locker room.”
On offensive rhythm:
“Brent (Stockstill) was phenomenal. He made some great throws. He had that long run there pretty early on. He had another run late in the game that got us a first down. He did a good job of avoiding sacks. They (Mizzou) put pressure on him and he did a good job of getting the ball down the field. Our line did a great job. I always hate saying this, but I’m not so sure that late in the second quarter and second half Missouri’s defense didn’t get a little tired. We were able to get some consistency. We stayed ahead of the change, and we didn’t beat ourselves. We had some chances to create some separation in the scores. Overall, I’m proud of this team. Our defense got some incredible stops, so that definitely helps the offense.”
On Brent choosing to play for Middle Tennessee:
“I was very appreciative that Brent was offered to play for Memphis when Coach Odom was there. Brent originally signed to play for Cincinnati and had a change of heart that spring. I’m glad his mom talked him in to coming here because he is a heck of a player. I know I’m talking about my son now and that’s hard for me to do. But I don’t know if I’ve been around somebody that is as passionate, competes and makes the plays like he makes. He is a heck of a player and I’m glad he had a change of heart. I’m glad Coach Odom didn’t talk him in to going to play for Memphis.”
On his feeling about a SEC win:
“To win on the road here and to beat these guys is big. If you think about what they have done here. I know they went 5-7 last season, but two years ago they won the SEC East. A lot of those guys have won a lot of games, and those juniors and seniors know how to win. They are use to winning. So to come on the road and beat a team in this environment is a phenomenal win. I don’t want to say this win is better than previous SEC wins, but this win is special to us.”
Middle Tennessee Players
WR Richie James
On how they were able to pick apart the Mizzou defense and get the win
“We just did what we do every day in practice. It’s great when what we do in practice carries over to a game, and that’s what happened tonight.”
On being in a rhythm:
“It’s the same thing, I have to go to work every day and when my name’s called I’ve got to make a play.”
On it being the biggest win of his career:
“Most definitely. First of all, it’s a big college and an SEC win, so yeah I’d definitely say it’s a huge win.”
QB Brent Stockstill
On it being the biggest win of his career:
“First of all I definitely think it’s the biggest win I’ve ever been a part of. Losing a heartbreaker last week in double-overtime and then to bounce back against a heck of a team, an SEC team with a heck of a defense. We did well with no turnovers, we were able to move and protect the ball. Of course we settled for a couple field goals where we’d like to get touchdowns but overall we moved it all day and protected the ball and that’s what wins games.”
On being confident from the start:
“Yes sir. We knew it was going to be a challenge from an offensive stand point because of how talented they are. I know there’s some guys that are going to be playing on Sundays, especially on defense, because of how talented they are. We knew it was going to be a challenge, but we’ve played in environments like this before, you know, earlier this year at Vanderbilt, last year at Alabama, so we’ve done this before. We knew were going to have to play a great game, and we did that, and we were able to get a good win.”
On the offense not tiring down throughout the game:
“Balance. I think I said it earlier in the week. If you’re able to have balance like we did tonight it just helps to keep you in the game, everybody’s making plays on the outside. If you get those guys moving side to side, because they’re extremely talented on defense line, if you get those guys tired you’re able to run it a little bit and that’s what we did.”
RB I’Tavius Mathers
On his career night:
“All week Coach Franklin & Coach Stockstill had challenged us to come out and play hard every play and just one play at a time, don’t play attention to the scoreboard and they said at the end of the game we would see the results.
On whether he saw anything on film that helped the running game:
“Not really, we just paid attention to the little details, watched some film and it helps just knowing my opponents and trusting my offensive lineman to allow me to run.”
