Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Nov 06, 2004 | General
Opening statement...
“Our football team had a good week of practice, I know they wanted to win they worked hard but there were also a lot of mistakes out there. Against a good football team that’s hard to overcome. Four turnovers, the first three we survived, we got out of those alive, the one in the last quarter was critical. We had some kicking errors and some things that were very disappointing to me and for me. We’ve just got to keep fighting.”
On field position...
“We had a couple kickoff issues that we had to deal with. We tried to squib it and had a few missed tackles. Certainly that was critical. Punt, I think Crossett did a good job today, that one time he had a line drive and out-kicked the coverage. That’s all the kicking game is -- field position. We missed a field goal and made one. There are reasons why you win those types of games. “
On the atmosphere at halftime...
“In the locker room it was more positive. We’ve got thirty minute and we’ve got to do things in the second half. We don’t do that, we talk about it’s a 60 minute game and we’ve got 30 minutes left. We’ve got to keep working hard, it was a very spirited locker room and they’re all dying now. But that’s going to happen.”
On losing three close games...
“You can analyze it all you want. You have to do the right things in the offense, defense and the kicking game. We had leads last year and we were mentally tough and this year we’re not.”
On K-State quarterbacks Webb and Meier...
“I think when you throw the option it adds a little different problem. They got some things going that freed [Darren] Sproles up a little more and they got some things going.”
On motivating the team...
“You try to maintain your poise, that’s what you have to do as a competitor. You have to compete and compete harder. They have scholarships too so they’re going to make plays. So when they make plays you have to counter their plays.”
On the offense...
“We moved the ball, made some plays and did some good things. There were some scoring opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of, obviously when you’re down you want touchdowns if you’re playing good enough defense you can get a field goal and that’s okay and if you’re not it’s not good enough and that’s the way it goes. There are reasons why you lose football games. My football team is doing things that they shouldn’t do and that’s coaching.”
