The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Missouri quotes
10.25.2009 | Football
Oct. 24, 2009
TEXAS
Head Coach Mack Brown
Opening statement: It's more important to win obviously than it is to get off to a good start but when you're on the road, the crowd's excited, it's their homecoming, and they're hungry for a win after the two tough losses and our offense has not been starting well and our defense has not been starting well, we thought that was a key tonight to come in with a swagger, come in excited about the game and be ready to play.
On being 7-0: It's really important. We're 4-0 in the Big 12. Our goal is to win the Big 12 Championship, that's our first goal always. We knew coming up here would be tough, we weren't sure about Blaine Gabbert's ankle, but we thought it would be a heck of a fight. We are really proud of the way the kids played. That first half was very similar to the first half we played against them last year.
On Colt's input on playing better when you feel good: Colt has had a very tough year and he's been sick, he's been hurt. He's tough and I think he was 18-of-21 in the first half and had two drops. We've got the Colt of old back now, so we're ready to make this stretch run. Next week's game with Oklahoma State is in the same spot as the Texas Tech game last year, so the kids understand what's at stake now.
On defense and secondary defense: Defense has continued to play hard each week, they played well. Special teams has been good. I was a little concerned with the defense tonight because we were in a position where everybody bragged on them so much for the last two weeks, and that's when it's a dangerous time when you're going on the road. I didn't think they responded in a negative way at all, I thought they were very positive. We've put in more of our offense now, so we've got most of our offense in. I think we're in a great position right now to move forward.
On positive momentum heading into Stillwater: It was very important for us to beat OU last week and then build on that. OU's so good, especially on defense, that after that game you can build on your offense. The kids come out of that game with a win, they come out with confidence, and I thought that confidence showed up tonight.
TEXAS PLAYERS
Senior Quarterback Colt McCoy
Opening statement: We're winning, that's all I care about. This was a great team win--our offense came out and kind of clicked in the first half, which we need to do. It's time. It was definitely a huge team win for us.
On clicking in the first half: It was big for us. We've been focusing on that all week. Our defense has been playing lights out, and we wanted to give them something to play for. This is the biggest team sport there is, and when you can have 11 guys playing on the field together every snap, you win like this.
On playing healthy: It's amazing what not being sick will do for you. I felt great out there tonight, the weather was awesome, and it's just been awesome.
On whether the first half momentum helped: It really did. You've got to give Missouri credit. They had a good defensive plan, but in the first half we really took them out of the game. We were able to execute and play efficiently. We should have played better in the second half, we kind of let up a little bit and that kind of shows what kind of game it could have been if we hadn't come out in the first half and played well. We've got to build off this and get better, because we've got a tough one next week.
On keys to victory: We clicked in the first half. We were able to come out firing, and got a lot of protection up front. That's where it starts is up front. When the offensive line can establish their place, then we're able to run the ball and throw the ball and make things happen.
Senior WR Jordan Shipley
Opening statement: It was a lot of fun. Coach [Greg] Davis was joking around with me in the locker room and asking why I didn't score on that first play. It was fun to get off to a fast start, and that was a good way to start the game with momentum.
On their differences from last year's team: I think the big thing is our defense is playing so well. That's the big thing for us. When you've got a defense that holds a team to 7 points, that's just a huge boost for the team. I can't give them enough credit for what they're doing.
On having an early lead: When you can jump off to an early lead, it definitely makes it kind of fun. You don't have to worry about as many things. I think the defense played great all night, the offensive line did great, and Colt [McCoy] did a great job with delivering the ball.
Senior Defensive End Sergio Kindle
Opening statement: After a win like that, you sometimes expect the team to be worn out or a little flat. The coaches stressed that this week, because that's what the team thought we would expect after a knock-out fight-type battle that we had last week [against Oklahoma]. We had to get that in our mind that that was last week and this is a new week. We had to put it all out there on the field.
On whether the offense's long drives helped the defense: The defense doesn't mind being on the field, but it's always good to see our offense clicking. Those guys are capable of putting up big numbers, so it was just good to see that.
On keeping momentum in the second half: That was the main focus. We wanted to come out after halftime with the same intensity and focus as we had at the opening kick. We tried to maintain that in the second half, shuffling guys in and keeping the same momentum.
MISSOURI COACH
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening statement: Obviously Texas is a great football team. There's no question about that. They might be the best team in the country, time will tell that. But, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in our football team. I'm responsible for getting those guys to play well. It's a pivotal point of the season, obviously, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. The sense of urgency has got to be here. If we don't start playing better, you're never going to win a game. You've got to play well, and I'm not doing a very good job.
On QB Blaine Gabbert: He's OK. It was just precautionary, he's walking around. I think he would've (come back had it been a close game). He was real upset when we took him out, but as the third quarter went and we got that turnover, if we had been in a position to score, we would have played him. It was also my call and I said at halftime that if there was a point where we were out of the game it would be nice to get him out.
On Texas' points late in the first half: The blocked punt, that's just ridiculous. There was nothing special on that, it was a lot of mistakes. Again, they're really good. I'm not taking anything away from them. But, I expect my football team to play a lot better, I don't care who we're playing. I don't care if it's the New England Patriots, I expect us to play better than that. The blame is here, it's me, it's my job. We have remarkable fans, that stadium is awesome, and everything we ask them to do, they do.
On how the players will react: I don't think there's any choice. If a guy's got to choose how to react to this, then he shouldn't be in our locker room. We've run out of time. There's no time left. I can't be more blunt than that.
On how the defense played: They executed well and we just didn't play well. We made a lot of mistakes. They're hard to score against, we saw that last week. It's a war. I thought our defense played better in the second half, but there's no excuses.
MISSOURI PLAYERS
Senior Punter Jake Harry
Opening statement: Huge, Huge. It was giant. We were still pretty much in it and that set the tone for the rest of the game.
On bouncing back for the remainder of the season: The only way we can. We've got five winnable games right in front of us so lets win them all, we aren't out of this.
On the difficulty of looking to the remainder of the season: You never look beyond the game that's right ahead of you. The minute you start doing that you start putting yourself into deeper and deeper holes.
Sophomore Linebacker Will Ebner
Opening statement: Most games we have a drawing board whenever the defense comes to the sideline and we'll draw up adjustments if we need a change to stop them. But, we did not draw up something on the board one time, so it's just that we were beating ourselves. We were not communicating well enough on the coverages. On most of their scores, we've got one side of the field running one coverage, and the other side running another coverage. We just got to communicate better.
On whether the team is ready to face the remaining five games: We have to. There is no other option. What we are doing right now isn't Mizzou and we've got to get back on track.
Sophomore Quarterback Jimmy Costello
Opening statement: The first one was just miscommunication between JP and me. Then the second one I tried to force in there a little bit. I tried to get it in there a little quicker then it needed to be.
On having the experience of playing Texas: Anytime you get to play a team like Texas, you get that experience, it's great.