ATHLETICS

Tigers Bound for Shreveport

Coach Pinkel and players discuss match-up with Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Missouri Tiger football team is headed to the MainStay Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., for a Dec. 31 show-down with the Arkansas Razorbacks, MU and Independence Bowl officials announced Dec. 7.

The bowl will mark the first postseason appearance for Mizzou under third-year Head Coach Gary Pinkel. MU last played in the 1998 Insight.com Bowl, when the Tigers beat West Virginia, 34-31.

Missouri and Arkansas have met only three times before, despite sharing a common border. Missouri leads the series, 2-1, including a 7-6 victory in the last game between the schools, in Little Rock, Ark., during the 1963 season.

Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel and members of the Tiger football team were on hand at Memorial Stadium for the bowl game announcement. Below is a transcript of their comments.

Missouri Associate Athletic Director Ed Stewart:

“This is an incredible time; it’s especially exciting for some of our kids. We have some of our captains here with us tonight. It’s been a long, hard-fought season, and they are very deserving of this opportunity.

“Right now I want to take a minute to introduce a special guest who’s here with us today for our announcement, the Executive Director of the MainStay Independence Bowl, Mr. Glen Krupica.”

MainStay Independence Bowl Executive Director Glen Krupica:

“It’s great to be here, and this great showing today certainly confirms in our minds what a great choice we made in selecting the University of Missouri as our Big XII participant to face the Arkansas Razorbacks from the Southeastern Conference.

“We’re excited. We think it’s a great match-up that hasn’t be played in about 40 years. The proximity between the campuses is close, obviously there are some ties between the programs. We’re just excited about it.

“We think it’s a game that all fans can make from both schools. We think it’s going to be one of the best match-ups within the bowl business. It’s the first time since 1993 that we’ve had two teams with eight wins each, so we’re very pleased with the match-up.”

Missouri Head Football Coach Gary Pinkel:

Brad Smith and the Tigers will play Arkansas on Dec. 31. Photo by Brian McNeill

“We’re certainly excited to accept this bid on behalf of the football team, the coaches and all the people that assist our program. We have worked very hard for this opportunity to get into a bowl. The Independence Bowl against Arkansas; the Southeastern Conference and the Big XII are, I think, two of the best conferences in the country.

“As Glen mentioned, the proximity of the bowl to fans, I think it has the opportunity to be a great bowl. I certainly appreciate everybody being here. I thought maybe a half-dozen people would be here. I’m surprised and excited. The Mizzou fans are very, very excited – and that’s probably an understatement.

“Hopefully this will be one of many [bowls] as we continue to build our program.”

On beginning to prepare for the Arkansas Razorbacks…

“We exchanged films Friday, just in case the match-up happened. That’s just being prepared; we told them we’d send it back if it didn’t happen. Both sides wanted to get the film broken down, and our graduate assistants are in the process of doing that. We mentioned to our football team that it was possible. But we’re excited about playing Arkansas.”

On the team’s practice schedule for the next month…

“We have a team meeting tomorrow, and we have the schedule set up until we take off. We’ll practice Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week and then take off for finals the following week. Then we’ll practice Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The players will go home for Christmas, I believe after the morning practice on the 22nd. They’ll come back up, and then we’ll depart on the 27th.”

On the development of the MU football program…

“We’ve made progress. My players have worked extremely hard. That’s the reward – the bowl games, the gifts that bowl games bring you that you keep the rest of your life. My staff and I have asked an awful lot from our players in the three years we’ve been here, and it’s nice to see it pay off a little bit. I’m certain we’ll get better, but it’s nice for the players to get the experiences.”

On playing another 8-4 team…

“I think that’s really good – it’s almost a perfect match. We’re two 8-4 teams that play in very competitive conferences, who border each other, but hardly ever play each other.”

On the Arkansas Razorbacks…

“I certainly know their tailback is a great player. I’ve seen them on TV a couple of times. I know they beat Texas – that got my attention fast. I do know that they’re a very well-coached football team, a good program, and it will certainly be a challenge.”

MainStay Independence Bowl Executive Director Glen Krupica:

On selecting the Missouri Tigers…

“We’ve had great interest in Missouri for quite a while. This really doesn’t span just the past five or six weeks; instead it’s been the past five or six years. We hoped to have a shot at them back in 1998, but it didn’t work out. We’ve been focused on the program and have really charted the progress of the program for quite a while. We thought if we could catch them on the way up, that’d be a great thing, and fortunately, we did it here.”

Missouri Senior Center A.J. Ricker

On being selected for a bowl game…

“It means a lot. All of these seniors have overcome a lot of adversity with the coaching changes. It’s great to know that we’ll be leaving our stamp on this program by going to a bowl – and from here on out, every year they should be going to a bigger and better bowl.”

On facing the Arkansas Razorbacks…

“It’s an exciting game. I committed to Arkansas coming out of high school, and all the same coaches are still there – I looked at the media guide. It’s going to be a great game and a great atmosphere.”

On balancing having fun and winning the bowl…

“I’m not sure how I can answer that, because I’ve never been to one before. I’m going to have fun – this is my last time suiting up as a Missouri Tiger. But when it comes time to strap it on, you better believe the fun is over. We’re going out there to win that game. Nine wins sounds great, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Missouri Junior Linebacker James Kinney

On going to the MainStay Independence Bowl…

“It has been one of our goals ever since we got here. It is great to know where we our going. We just want to go out there and get a win.”

On going to Shreveport…

“It did not matter. We just wanted to get to a bowl game; it is going to be a great time. We want to win the game because it is not our goal to just get to the game, but to win it.”

On the feeling when he found out…

“It was a great feeling this was the bowl we thought we were going to. We are excited to go to Louisiana for the nice weather. There are two good teams playing; it should be a good time.”

On being pumped up…

“We have been working hard for this, and this is the chance for all the work to payoff. We need to start working on Arkansas right now and focus on winning the game.”

On Arkansas…

“They are very athletic, and they have a good running back.”

Missouri Senior Defensive Back Terrence Curry

On the rewards…

“We have worked hard, and we appreciate everything that we have got. It is going to be fun; it is a great pay off.”

On preparation…

“We are going to work hard and approach it as a regular game, but it is not a regular game.”

On balancing the fun and work…

“You have to know how to separate the fun from the business. We have to go to the meeting, and as captains, be leaders for the team. We are here not just to play in the game, but also to win the bowl game.”

On playing Arkansas…

“We did not care, and now we want to go out and get nine wins.”

On playing in the MainStay Independence Bowl…

“We are able to play in one and share in the fun that other schools have. It will be a battle. We have to prepare hard and go in with our main goal to go get nine wins.”

Archives | Comments | Home

SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscribe | Change Your Address | Unsubscribe

Copyright © 2007 — Curators of the University of Missouri
DMCA and other copyright information.
All rights reserved. An equal opportunity/ADA institution.
Published by the Mizzou Alumni Association
Questions? Comments? E-mail comments@mizzoualumni.org

Last Update: March 12, 2007