Opening Statement:
“First of all Nebraska did a great job doing the things necessary to win. I think you start with that. They’re a good football team. They deserved to win the way they played down in the end. I think when you look at a game like this, a really tough game, a defensive football game, really even into the fourth quarter, you’re going to look at some plays. Obviously, there were a couple of turnovers in the fourth quarter. Those plays are critical. But I would suggest also that there were a lot of opportunities the first three quarters. If we had done a better job of executing there on both sides of the football, it might not have gotten like that in the fourth. This is a tough loss. We’ll regroup. Part of this business is handling adversity and that’s what we’ll have to do.”
On Sophomore QB Blaine Gabbert:
“He struggled a little bit but he felt he could play. You have to evaluate interceptions too. He threw one ball late and I think another ball he had was a quick passing game. What happens in a quick passing game, we cut the defense or you have to make sure that the offensive lineman are physical enough that it causes the lineman to not be able to reach up like that... that’s not his fault. That’s the linemen’s fault. In any football game you look at big plays, you’ve got turnovers, kicking game. All those things I always talk about are ultimately what happens. We had a chance to recover from it. We got that holding penalty, and were in the redzone there. It was critical, and we couldn’t make a play to get ourselves in position to win the game.”
On Penalties:
“There were a zillion penalties. We were the least penalized team in the league coming in here. Like anything, you’re going to have to overcome some good calls and bad calls, it’s part of the deal. It wasn’t the penalties that dictated the outcome of the game. They had a lot of tough penalties for them too, on both sides of the ball. That’s discipline, and I’m responsible for discipline. Going into this game, I thought we were pretty disciplined. We were the least penalized team in the league. Obviously we didn’t do a good job today.”
On turning the loss into a lesson for the team:
“I think you always do that. Obviously you deal with anxiety, frustration and disappointment. But you’ve got to learn from it and look at the leadership of your team and my leadership and the things that I’m supposed to do with our football team. You evaluate, you learn, and try to make corrections so that you don’t do it again. It’s all just a part of football.”
On Missouri’s defensive performance:
“Going through three quarters against a really good offensive football team, they were playing absolutely outstanding. We had to play a little better redzone defense. You have to be able to handle that sudden change and that adversity a little bit better, and I think we are capable of handling it better. That puts a lot on the defense to do that. Overall we did a lot of things defensively and offensively I don’t think we really ever got on track.”
On the weather’s effect on the running game:
“Well, the passing game wasn’t very good either. It’s a little bit of both, and you’ve got to analyze all of that. In our offense though, you’re going to throw the football. If you don’t want to throw the football, you shouldn’t be in the spread. You have to throw the ball well. They ran like this against Kansas State a couple of years ago. I’m not going to blame the weather for any of this. You can execute. If you’re a defensive coach, you say it’s a defensive day. The weather certainly isn’t in your favor, but if you want to win a championship or compete for a championship you have to play in any condition. That is no excuse at all.”