Coach Stockstill Talks Mizzou & West K Game
Rick addressed the media before answering questions.
“Moving forward to Missouri this week, they’re a very talented team, they’ve had some tough losses to Georgia, LSU and to Florida. Three really outstanding football teams. Us going on the road to their place is going to be a great challenge for our players, we’re looking forward to it. A little bit about them, they’re a lot more explosive offensively from last year. They’re throwing the ball a lot more then last year and doing it more effectively. They have great speed at the wide receiver positions, their quarterback is off to a good start as well. As you would think, being an SEC team their offensive and defensive lines are gigantic. Their defense was really good last year and its on pace to be one the best again in the SEC this year.”
Q. Coach, can you speak on the kind of performance Richie James had on Saturday, breaking his own school record for single game receptions?
A. I thought Richie was a lot better against Western Kentucky then he was against North Texas. I didn’t think he was very good against North Texas and he worked extremely hard, he took it personally in practice leading up to the Western Kentucky game. He was more consistent with his routes, he didn’t improvise as much as he did at North Texas. He made some good plays and had a good game.
Q. Coach, is it any harder to move on from a gut wrenching loss like you had the other day compared to maybe one where it didn’t come down to an odd circumstance in over time?
A. Every loss has its own identity, that one Saturday stung, stings. Hard to get over it, a tough pill to sallow, but you have to sallow it, you have to be tough, that’s what tough people do and move on. We have to learn from it, we have to learn how bad loosing taste and that you don’t want to experience it again, get that taste out of your mouth. Players hurt and as a coach, you hurt because you lost, but you also hurt because you see how much it hurts your players. The investment that they put into that game, then to not have the success that they worked so hard to achieve, but you just have to man up.
Sophomore Quarterback Brent Stockstill took the podium next
Q. On the interception in the fourth quarter, when the guy is running at you full speed and your almost down on your back and still make the tackle, whats going through your mind? You just threw one arm out there and got him.
A. I make a mistake like that, I feel like its my job to find a way to get him down and give the defense a chance to make a play like they did where they hold them to a field goal and they miss the field goal. That’s just my mentality, however i have to get the guy down I’m going to get him down.
Q. Brent in a win or a loss there is always something to improve on, looking at tape and talking with coach yesterday, what was the one thing you have to take from the loss against Western Kentucky heading into this week’s game?
A. We played well, we moved the ball, we kind of settled for some field goals and they stopped us when we got down close to the thirty. But i think we played well, everybody played disciplined and played hard. From a personal stand point I can improve on some of my decision making. We’ll bounce back and we’ll improve and make those adjustments and get ready to go.
The Blue Raiders will travel to SEC country this Saturday as they face off against the Missouri Tigers. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network at 3pm. This will be only the second time the Blue Raiders have met the Tigers on the gridiron. The first game was in 2003 where the Raiders lost a thriller in Columbia by a score of 41-40 in over time.
