cvsooner
11/30/2007, 08:08 PM
Gary Pinkel took questions from the media first. He was loose like he’s been all season and discussed the same topics he has with the local media the last few weeks. He sat a few feet away from the Big 12 championship trophy and talked about how the team has a small photo of the trophy in the locker room. He also recalled how, back in July during Big 12 media day, he and Martin Rucker, Lorenzo Williams and Chase Coffman visited the Alamodome before leaving town.
“I asked our driver to take us over to the Dome here,” he said. “And he did. And we walked in, the Dallas Cowboys were practicing at the time. Looked around a little bit and I remember them looking at me saying, ‘Coach, this is where we’ve gotta be.We gotta get here.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it would be awesome.’ ”
More pressing on everyone’s mind is the Coffman’s sprained right ankle. A source told me today that Coffman also has bone spurs that will require surgery after the season, but Pinkel said the junior tight end will be a game-time decision.
“He got a little work on Wednesday and Thursday and it will be a game-day decision,” Pinkel said. “Our medical staff along with Chase will make that decision. We'll find out right before the game.”
For what it’s worth, Coffman walked around on the field with the rest of his teammates, coaches and the gargantuan Missouri entourage after Pinkel’s press conference. He didn’t appear to limp or favor one foot over the other. My guess is he’ll play but his role might be reduced.
Pinkel also discussed …
Missouri’s rookie experience with playing in championship games …
“Doesn't matter now. The only way you'll get it is to be thrown in the fire. But our football team, after we lost to Oklahoma, went five straight games to make that Kansas game for the championship. One was at Kansas State, which we had hadn't won at forever and Colorado we hadn't won at forever. We handled the pressure we did that. Then we went and played a game against a real good Kansas team. So I think we've been through some experiences on these big games. And certainly I think that one thing about our football team, I think it's business-as-usual type team. It wasn't any different this week than it's been all year. In terms of being able to set all the stuff aside and just focus on trying to play our best game. And I think with the leadership that we have that hopefully we can do that.”
On avoiding distractions during the last week:
“Well, I still think it's back to what we've been doing. And I think our players understand that if you don't remove all the stuff there's no way in the world you can prepare to play your best game. I trust that our players are doing that. What you do, you watch how you practice, you watch the intensity and the speed of the practice. You watch the focus of the practice. I had my seniors that have done a great job of leadership. And I'll be very surprised if we don't play well. I mean, I certainly -- we won't know until tomorrow. But you better learn to sort it and separate it and prepare or you won't play your best game. I think our players understand that.”
On Chase Daniel making a Heisman push:
“I think Chase is—he’s really mature competitor. He loves these environments. I mean, there's no question about it. Because he's a great competitor. He knows he's playing against a great defensive football team and he recognizes that. But honestly I think he sorts all that. I don't think that he carries that on the field with him at all. I think he's handling those things well. And, you know, it's all based on performance. And any kind of an award like that should be. And I think he recognizes that. But this isn't about him winning an award; it's about us trying to win a championship.”
On his fellow Ohio natives rooting against Missouri this week:
“I know everybody in the state of Ohio wants me to lose this game. I can guarantee you that. I grew up in Akron and … I was talking about I have a lot of high school buddies there and Kent State, which is just north of Akron, about 30 minutes, and so I think I'll be very disappointed if all my Ohio friends who are Buckeyes don't root for the Missouri Tigers.”
Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops also met with reporters. Here’s what he said about the matchup:
On Missouri’s differences since the first meeting:
“Maybe a little more emphasis running the football. They run the football I think a lot better than any of you give them credit for, or maybe you do. I'm just saying that sometimes it's not talked about as much. They do a great job running the ball. Tony Temple. And they get a great number of plays off of play action and getting you to maybe get uncomfortable with the run and then they sneak some plays in behind you and they get some big plays that way. … Outside of that, we thought, really, just in the last two times we've played in the last two years, we thought they're really excellent players. Excellent and well coached. And we've got to match that by doing the same thing ourselves.”
On the quarterback matchup:
“Yes, Chase is just an exceptional competitor. You watch everything that he does. He runs the ball well. He scrambles well. But before that when he sees a receiver open, he's got a quick release, gets the ball there. He's accurate. So they use his talents all the right ways by getting the ball out quick, using him to run. He scrambles to make plays when really you've got him played well and then all of a sudden he's got something back there and you have to hold it another three seconds. So he does all those things. So it's important that we can get to him and contain him and make our plays. But Sam Bradford has been — there’s no other word. All the praise I believe has been due to Chase. I've said it as well. Then you look at Sam and think he's only one touchdown behind him and two interceptions less than him and our offense is averaging 44 points a game, theirs is averaging 42. So our guys have done pretty well. For a first time being out there as a redshirt freshman, obviously we couldn't have asked for much more. The guy is exceptional and has an incredible future in front of him. He's doing everything we need him to do and more. Has he surprised us to some degree? It's probably fair to say that none of us saw this coming, to throw for what 32 touchdowns and seven interceptions is pretty exceptional for a first-year guy. And to average 44 points a game while doing it. So we just choose to run the ball a little bit more in some ways that -- but it's been productive for us is the right way to say it.”
On injured defensive end Auston English:
“Well, right now I would say it's a possibility that he plays. And I'm not being coy here. He was better yesterday than he has been in a couple of weeks. How effective that's going to be, we'll have to see how explosive he is and what he's doing when he warms up tomorrow. But he's going to give it — he’s going to try to. But we've been playing without him now the last couple three weeks. The guys have played for him have really done well. We have Allen Davis back who has played a lot for us the last couple of years. Jeremy Beal had a real good game last week against Oklahoma State. Alonzo Dotson has been playing for us for four years.”
On Missouri giving the last game away:
“No, again, it's just whatever perspective you want to take. I mean, you can look at it different ways. The first interception we got the blitz on, pressure them. The ball goes right down the middle. Our guy makes a great cut right in front of the guy, intercepts the ball. Is that good defense or did they just give it to us? I don't know. Their running back Maclin, receiver, fabulous player, they run a quick sweep and they're going to throw the ball. Most people suck up. Makes for a great highlight if we're out of position and get fooled. But we stay in position, we're over the top of them, underneath the receiver and intercept the ball, is that good defense, good reaction or is that them giving it to us. Depends on how you want to write your article. So in the end it doesn't really matter. We had two turnovers too. They take the lead in the fourth quarter when we drop a kickoff return. We fumble the ball and give them the ball in the short field. So we made our share of mistakes as well. It's just how you want to tell your story. That's up to you to do.”
On Pinkel:
“Gary has done a great job. I've said that in the last week in my conference I think Missouri and their administration, just like I said about Coach Mangino at KU withstood their course and developed their programs and look at what's happening now and the way they're playing. And it just sometimes takes a bit of time that they stay the course. And Gary's done a great job. So it's exciting to be in this position. And we just happen to be from Ohio. I even had a coaching stint for nine months at Kent, his alma mater.”
“I asked our driver to take us over to the Dome here,” he said. “And he did. And we walked in, the Dallas Cowboys were practicing at the time. Looked around a little bit and I remember them looking at me saying, ‘Coach, this is where we’ve gotta be.We gotta get here.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it would be awesome.’ ”
More pressing on everyone’s mind is the Coffman’s sprained right ankle. A source told me today that Coffman also has bone spurs that will require surgery after the season, but Pinkel said the junior tight end will be a game-time decision.
“He got a little work on Wednesday and Thursday and it will be a game-day decision,” Pinkel said. “Our medical staff along with Chase will make that decision. We'll find out right before the game.”
For what it’s worth, Coffman walked around on the field with the rest of his teammates, coaches and the gargantuan Missouri entourage after Pinkel’s press conference. He didn’t appear to limp or favor one foot over the other. My guess is he’ll play but his role might be reduced.
Pinkel also discussed …
Missouri’s rookie experience with playing in championship games …
“Doesn't matter now. The only way you'll get it is to be thrown in the fire. But our football team, after we lost to Oklahoma, went five straight games to make that Kansas game for the championship. One was at Kansas State, which we had hadn't won at forever and Colorado we hadn't won at forever. We handled the pressure we did that. Then we went and played a game against a real good Kansas team. So I think we've been through some experiences on these big games. And certainly I think that one thing about our football team, I think it's business-as-usual type team. It wasn't any different this week than it's been all year. In terms of being able to set all the stuff aside and just focus on trying to play our best game. And I think with the leadership that we have that hopefully we can do that.”
On avoiding distractions during the last week:
“Well, I still think it's back to what we've been doing. And I think our players understand that if you don't remove all the stuff there's no way in the world you can prepare to play your best game. I trust that our players are doing that. What you do, you watch how you practice, you watch the intensity and the speed of the practice. You watch the focus of the practice. I had my seniors that have done a great job of leadership. And I'll be very surprised if we don't play well. I mean, I certainly -- we won't know until tomorrow. But you better learn to sort it and separate it and prepare or you won't play your best game. I think our players understand that.”
On Chase Daniel making a Heisman push:
“I think Chase is—he’s really mature competitor. He loves these environments. I mean, there's no question about it. Because he's a great competitor. He knows he's playing against a great defensive football team and he recognizes that. But honestly I think he sorts all that. I don't think that he carries that on the field with him at all. I think he's handling those things well. And, you know, it's all based on performance. And any kind of an award like that should be. And I think he recognizes that. But this isn't about him winning an award; it's about us trying to win a championship.”
On his fellow Ohio natives rooting against Missouri this week:
“I know everybody in the state of Ohio wants me to lose this game. I can guarantee you that. I grew up in Akron and … I was talking about I have a lot of high school buddies there and Kent State, which is just north of Akron, about 30 minutes, and so I think I'll be very disappointed if all my Ohio friends who are Buckeyes don't root for the Missouri Tigers.”
Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops also met with reporters. Here’s what he said about the matchup:
On Missouri’s differences since the first meeting:
“Maybe a little more emphasis running the football. They run the football I think a lot better than any of you give them credit for, or maybe you do. I'm just saying that sometimes it's not talked about as much. They do a great job running the ball. Tony Temple. And they get a great number of plays off of play action and getting you to maybe get uncomfortable with the run and then they sneak some plays in behind you and they get some big plays that way. … Outside of that, we thought, really, just in the last two times we've played in the last two years, we thought they're really excellent players. Excellent and well coached. And we've got to match that by doing the same thing ourselves.”
On the quarterback matchup:
“Yes, Chase is just an exceptional competitor. You watch everything that he does. He runs the ball well. He scrambles well. But before that when he sees a receiver open, he's got a quick release, gets the ball there. He's accurate. So they use his talents all the right ways by getting the ball out quick, using him to run. He scrambles to make plays when really you've got him played well and then all of a sudden he's got something back there and you have to hold it another three seconds. So he does all those things. So it's important that we can get to him and contain him and make our plays. But Sam Bradford has been — there’s no other word. All the praise I believe has been due to Chase. I've said it as well. Then you look at Sam and think he's only one touchdown behind him and two interceptions less than him and our offense is averaging 44 points a game, theirs is averaging 42. So our guys have done pretty well. For a first time being out there as a redshirt freshman, obviously we couldn't have asked for much more. The guy is exceptional and has an incredible future in front of him. He's doing everything we need him to do and more. Has he surprised us to some degree? It's probably fair to say that none of us saw this coming, to throw for what 32 touchdowns and seven interceptions is pretty exceptional for a first-year guy. And to average 44 points a game while doing it. So we just choose to run the ball a little bit more in some ways that -- but it's been productive for us is the right way to say it.”
On injured defensive end Auston English:
“Well, right now I would say it's a possibility that he plays. And I'm not being coy here. He was better yesterday than he has been in a couple of weeks. How effective that's going to be, we'll have to see how explosive he is and what he's doing when he warms up tomorrow. But he's going to give it — he’s going to try to. But we've been playing without him now the last couple three weeks. The guys have played for him have really done well. We have Allen Davis back who has played a lot for us the last couple of years. Jeremy Beal had a real good game last week against Oklahoma State. Alonzo Dotson has been playing for us for four years.”
On Missouri giving the last game away:
“No, again, it's just whatever perspective you want to take. I mean, you can look at it different ways. The first interception we got the blitz on, pressure them. The ball goes right down the middle. Our guy makes a great cut right in front of the guy, intercepts the ball. Is that good defense or did they just give it to us? I don't know. Their running back Maclin, receiver, fabulous player, they run a quick sweep and they're going to throw the ball. Most people suck up. Makes for a great highlight if we're out of position and get fooled. But we stay in position, we're over the top of them, underneath the receiver and intercept the ball, is that good defense, good reaction or is that them giving it to us. Depends on how you want to write your article. So in the end it doesn't really matter. We had two turnovers too. They take the lead in the fourth quarter when we drop a kickoff return. We fumble the ball and give them the ball in the short field. So we made our share of mistakes as well. It's just how you want to tell your story. That's up to you to do.”
On Pinkel:
“Gary has done a great job. I've said that in the last week in my conference I think Missouri and their administration, just like I said about Coach Mangino at KU withstood their course and developed their programs and look at what's happening now and the way they're playing. And it just sometimes takes a bit of time that they stay the course. And Gary's done a great job. So it's exciting to be in this position. And we just happen to be from Ohio. I even had a coaching stint for nine months at Kent, his alma mater.”