Nov. 3, 2008
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening statement on Senior Day this Saturday:
"…(Saying goodbye to the seniors) is very personal for me. This is going to be a big day on Saturday. Hopefully, Aaron O Neal's family is going to be there. It's the Blackout game, and our fans have been the absolute greatest. We're very appreciative of all they do. We appreciate them all being there, especially for Tiger Walk and embracing our team. The K-State game is always a difficult game for us. I have tremendous respect for (Kansas State junior QB) Josh Freeman. They're very well known for their special teams. We're working hard to prepare for our offense and defense."
On saying goodbye to the senior class:
"It will be an emotional day for me. To really think about what they've done, they had other choices (for where to go)…They believe in what we're doing. I've been around these kids for four straight years, some five years. I've seen them change and mature. What they've done for our program, I don't really think we can put it into words…We want to honor our seniors more than ever. It's going to be very difficult. I'll just have to get my head together by the time we kick off."
On senior quarterback Chase Daniel's performance:
"I think Chase Daniel is doing fine. I see a lot of quarterbacks throw interceptions here or there. I think he's a great leader. I always said this, it happened last year, you have to win at the highest level to have your name thrown around. This isn't about Chase Daniel it's about our team reaching our goals. And I think he would be the first one to tell you that."
On the receiving corps stepping up:
"We play a lot of receivers…J-Mac (sophomore WR Jeremy Maclin) and (senior TE Chase) Coffman are gonna' get their catches, but certainly all those other guys are good football players. Those guys attract a lot of attention, and I think that really puts us in a position where Chase (Daniel) makes sure he knows where (senior WR) Tommy (Saunders) is, where (junior WR) Danario (Alexander) is.
On senior K Jeff Wolfert:
"I just remembered when he came in and asked, 'If I win it, are you going to allow me to play?' That's what we do here, it's based on performance…I think players respect that…I don't ever assume (he's always going to make a kick). But you don't really think about it much. He has been gold. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in him."
On senior WR Tommy Saunders:
"Tommy doesn't care if he catches one or 15, all he cares about is if we win. That's a great player…He came as a walk-on, and it didn't take long to give him a scholarship. He's got great ball skills, great athleticism. He can make plays. He kept working harder and harder and he's done a lot of good things for us. It's nice to see him have a great game like that (against Baylor)."
On Kansas State junior QB Josh Freeman:
"I think he's a very talented player. He's always had my attention. He's a big strong athlete that throws the ball well."
On defending against Kansas State's special teams scores:
"You just try to be good. You cover well. You block well on your punts and cover well on kickoff returns. You try to do the best you can. There's no question about (their ability). The proof's in the numbers."
On honoring fallen Tiger Aaron O'Neal:
"We all know the emotion that goes with all that. That will be a tough time. We'll really want to celebrate for him. For everyone that's out there…I think we'll all sit down. I'll get the senior class and Mike Alden and decide what we're going to do (about his locker), and do it the right way. I thought about a scholarship in his name. We'll wait until the season is over. We want to be very respectful of how we do it."
Senior DL Stryker Sulak
On what Jacquis Smith still needs to learn:
“He’s young. He’s just got to be able to flush some things in the game. I know he got a little excited and got a few penalties last game, but I think that’s just a learning experience.”
On having two strong backups at his position:
“It helps a lot. We know we have people that can step right in and play if we go down at any time. Since Tommy [Chavis] went down the past two weeks, we knew that they were right there, and [Brian] Coulter and Jacquis {Smith] pulled it away and actually had two great games.”
On Josh Freeman and his tendency for interceptions:
“We’ll take advantage of them, if he makes any of those tough decisions while we play them. But right now we’re preparing like he will be playing his A game. Last year he had a pretty good game against us, and he’s a tough, physical quarterback. That’s something we’re going to have to definitely play for.”
Senior WR Tommy Saunders
On playing his final game at Mizzou:
“We’ve been through a lot as a class, and this week and this last game at Mizzou mean a lot to us. We’ve just got to prepare and really focus on the game, and not really worry about emotions and the things that are going to be in this game.”
On winning in November:
“Last year we went one game at a time. That’s what we’ve really got to do this year, and we got back to that. We’re really just focused on K-State… that’s all we’re really worrying about right now.”
On playing for Aaron O’Neal:
“I don’t think there’s anything I can say, or any words I can use to make people understand how much he meant to us, and how much he meant to this team and still means to this team… how we go out every week and play for him. I don’t think there are any words to make people see how much he means to us.”
On keeping O’Neal’s memory alive:
“Every time a class comes in we talk to them about him. We read them his bio in the program. We have new players coming up that will ask about him and what he was like, and there’s a video that we’ll show them about him… Just little things like that to show so that hopefully they’ll know him, not like we did, but know about him.”
Senior TE Chase Coffman
On the rest of the team stepping out of Chase Daniel’s shadow:
“I think maybe a little bit… just because we saw what he can do last year. He’s still doing those great things, but now we know that we can step up. We have a lot of big playmakers on this team, and it’s not just him that has to be the one to have a good game for us to win. Other people can step up and take his spot if he’s not having such a good game.”
On winning in November:
“It’s very important. You’ve got to end strong, and just take it one week at a time and not worry about anything else. Once we start ending strong, that’s kind of what everybody looks for bowl game-wise.”
On Kansas State:
“They’re a physical team. I think they’ve got a lot of first-year JUCO players, so they like to switch it up a lot back there. We’ll watch film this week and prepare as much as we can.”
On playing his last game as a Tiger:
“I’ve thought about it a little bit, but I don’t know if it will actually hit me until I do it. That [rebuilding] was one of the things we looked for when we were coming to this place. We looked for a program, and it was our goal to come in and change it around, and do some of these things that haven’t been done before.”
On the game against K-State:
“It’s just one last chance to play in front of our home crowd, and experience everything we’ve been working on for these past few years playing here. It will be good just to go out and have a good game and give it everything we’ve got.”
Junior LB Sean Weatherspoon
On how to finish the season as a Big 12 threat:
“Well I think as far as a defensive unit, we can just pretty much dominate these next three games, starting with K-State coming up. That will pretty much get us back in there… people will start talking about us again. If we can go out there and get shutouts, that will be great.”
On their goals for the week:
“We just want to go out there and play better than we did last week… that’s the goal. We had a great game against Colorado, and kind of stepped back last week in playing Baylor the way we played. Hopefully we can just go out there and cut down on things that hurt us this past week, and just go out and have a good week.”
On playing a tight game against Baylor:
“I think it was very important for the team… it was gut-check time. Baylor made some big plays. Those guys played hard… it was their homecoming, and they put us in a bind out there. I think when it came down to it, we all just buckled down and came through with some big plays when we really needed them. I think it’s great for this team and hopefully we can carry on with the way we finished the game, and bring that through to this week.”
On Senior Day:
“It’s going to be exciting. These guys have been here 4 or 5 years, they came here when Mizzou really didn’t have much going on and a lot of those guys are the reason for Mizzou’s success right now. Those guys are going to be excited, and it’s going to be very emotional out there. Coach Pinkel might be shedding some tears. I know I’m rooming with Brock Christopher, and it’s his last game at Mizzou, so I know he’s going to be ready and pumped. It’ll be a great day.”
Senior LB Brock Christopher
On his game-ending interception against Baylor:
“It felt good. The defense had that one last chance to go out there and close the game, and I was able to get the interception and end the game, so that was good. There was definitely joy after the game… we won a road game, which is always tough to do. But there was a little sigh of relief too… we didn’t play as well as we wanted to, and didn’t get the things done that we wanted to. They did a good job, though, and you can’t take anything away from them. We were able to come out with a Big 12 win.”
On the differences between himself and Sean Weatherspoon:
“I think we’re different types of players. He likes to be a really loud guy, and that’s fine. That’s not really my style… I like to keep to myself a little more, and just do my job and help the guys when I can. But we both get our jobs done, it’s just kind of two different types of players out there.”
