Anyone who thinks OU won't be ready for Mizzou..Think again
Whether this article was true or not; it has gotten OU's attention as Pinkel compared OU's def to a MAC team
NORMAN, Okla. - If the University of Missouri football team wants to find third-ranked Oklahoma dozing or looking ahead Saturday to its showdown next week with second-ranked Texas, those hopes have been dashed by comments improperly attributed to MU coach Gary Pinkel.
"You want to call us out? We'll just see what happens," Oklahoma safety Eric Bassey said, later adding, "We want to dominate the game, so when we leave that field on Saturday there's no doubt in anybody's mind that we're not only a great defense but maybe one of the best defenses that college football has ever seen."
But Bassey and his teammates are reacting not to Pinkel but to a scam. Because the comments deemed offensive and ascribed to Pinkel were manufactured and passed on to the team in the form of a forged Kansas City Star article.
Although the perpetrator remains unclear, the counterfeit article was manipulated, printed out and presented to the OU defense Monday afternoon.
"I've got no idea about any of that," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "It's not for me to comment on."
Pinkel also declined to comment.
Reports conflicted on whether the article also had been posted on the bulletin board in the Sooners' locker room, but it was from the locker room that OU administrative assistant Matt McMillen retrieved it for reporters Tuesday.
Highlighted in the story under Star reporter Mike DeArmond's byline were the following quotes, which DeArmond said Tuesday he had never written nor heard Pinkel say:
"I don't want to say a lot that will give them bulletin-board material, but just let me say that after watching game film on them vs. South Florida they seem very Vulnerable right now."
"They have a great defense, but I have seen teams in the Mac that I feel were just as good. We certainly feel like we know how to attack there style of play."
The improper use of "there," the random capitalization of "Vulnerable" and the reference to the Mid-American Conference as the Mac instead of MAC were among oddities that made the story appear bogus. It also would have been out of character for Pinkel to make inflammatory statements.
Not that that necessarily matters to Oklahoma.
When linebacker Lance Mitchell was told Pinkel would be unlikely to wave a red flag at the Sooners, Mitchell said: "Well, it's already waved. There's no taking it back now until after the fourth quarter (Saturday). Hopefully, we'll see their white flag" then. Perhaps unreasonably, Mitchell also said the comments made him feel as if he had been stabbed in the back.
It's unclear whether the article was fabricated on the Internet and then passed on to the OU staff, or whether a member or members of the staff did the tinkering. Several players said OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops had made a ruckus about the article during the Monday meeting, but Mike Stoops said he didn't know where the article came from.
When told the article was phony, he asked, "Who put that out?" Told that's what he was being asked, he said, "Just showed up in our office." He suggested a fan perhaps had sent it in or that one of the secretaries or graduate assistants in the football office found it in a routine daily Internet search for pertinent news.
While denying any knowledge of how it was produced, Mike Stoops smiled and said, "That's pretty good. I like it." But co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables said, "I hope (the players) don't need that to get motivated."
Need it or not, they've got it.
"I don't know if we're a MAC defense or not," Bassey said, "but we'll see come game time."
Mizzou's Roberson is questionable
Missouri reserve running back Tyrone Roberson's availability for the Oklahoma game remained undetermined Tuesday.
Roberson, a sophomore from Pattonville High, spent Saturday night in a hospital in Columbia, Mo., after he began feeling woozy several hours after the Tigers beat Troy State 44-7.
According to an athletics department spokesman, doctors still are unsure what caused Roberson's symptoms. He was involved in a helmet-to-helmet collision with Trojans safety Damien Coleman late in the second quarter. Coleman, who immediately lost feeling in his limbs but since has regained nearly all movement, was removed from the field on a stretcher and also was hospitalized overnight.
Roberson apparently showed no ill effects after the play. He sat out Sunday's practice, then returned Tuesday wearing a red "no-contact" jersey. Roberson was unavailable to comment Tuesday, and MU coach Pinkel refused to discuss the situation.
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Everyone wants to talk about how bad OU's offense is and yes they have problems but did they not score 37 points to a great Bama team who some say has the best front 7 in college football and are now favored over the number 6 team in the nation. For some reason people are saying Bama should have beaten OU and yes they had a chance but that is why they play 60 minutes not 57. OU's 1st team defense has basically given up one TD drive all year; Bama needed 2 onside kicks; 1 blocked fg, 1 fake fg for a td, 1 blocked punt for a td and they still lost by 10 points.
Mizzou has played ball state, troy state, and illinois and got blasted by bg and now they beat OU straight up. Think again. Realize Texas is coming up but OU coaches have been talking the last 3 weeks about conference play and Smith and company take a large step up in competition. OU is not Troy State and this game is reminicent of last year when they went on the road with their offense looking just as bad and everyone saying Tech would win and OU goes in and blasts them 30-13. And while we are on the subject of Texas, Tech, and A&M lets take a look at some of the comments made by Felonious Monk (the biggest Texas homer I have heard and that is saying alot) did he not take La Tech last week calling A&M's pass defense "suspect"...1st if all that is an asinine statement. Just ask Luke McCown QB for La Tech who after the A&M game said "I played Miami my freshman year in the Orange Bowl and they had the #2 defense in the nation and they have nothing on A&M's defense; they are just a bunch of big, mean guys who want to kill me. I guess Luke does not feel that A&M's defense is suspect considering they got 10 fd (2 in the 1st half) and 251 yds total offense (37 in the 1st half) so before Monk and Freeze take Tech (a team that can't run the ball just like La Tech) on the road to beat A&M..again Think again; will lay the 6.5 as Tech will serve it up like they always do when the step up in competition and trust me I think A&M will be more up for Tech than La Tech. By the way nice pick on Neb over ISU monk; almost happened......Lastly Dr. Freeze when you talk about Texas beating OU this year; can I ask you one question; have you seen Texas play this year; they have played noone and I mean noone; they gave up 8 sacks to north texas and had 37 yards total offense in the 2nd half; they looked terrible in the 1st half against Tulane and if there defense wasn't as good as it is as well as special teams who seem to set up every Texas score the scores in those games would not be as nearly lopsided as they turned out. Yes OU's offense has not looked very good but I have seen 3 of the 4 Texas games and they dont look any better and if you saw those games you would agree with me. You did get one thing right OU has a terrible punter but special teams mistakes can be fixed and with Clayton back this week OU's offense should look better; and when they face Texas (OU's defense against a pocket passer) they will be ready as talent is equal if not greater on OU's side so it will come down to coaching and OU coaches have been preparing for this game last 4 weeks (this week only MISSOU) and I will take Stoops over Brown anyday.
Whether this article was true or not; it has gotten OU's attention as Pinkel compared OU's def to a MAC team
NORMAN, Okla. - If the University of Missouri football team wants to find third-ranked Oklahoma dozing or looking ahead Saturday to its showdown next week with second-ranked Texas, those hopes have been dashed by comments improperly attributed to MU coach Gary Pinkel.
"You want to call us out? We'll just see what happens," Oklahoma safety Eric Bassey said, later adding, "We want to dominate the game, so when we leave that field on Saturday there's no doubt in anybody's mind that we're not only a great defense but maybe one of the best defenses that college football has ever seen."
But Bassey and his teammates are reacting not to Pinkel but to a scam. Because the comments deemed offensive and ascribed to Pinkel were manufactured and passed on to the team in the form of a forged Kansas City Star article.
Although the perpetrator remains unclear, the counterfeit article was manipulated, printed out and presented to the OU defense Monday afternoon.
"I've got no idea about any of that," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "It's not for me to comment on."
Pinkel also declined to comment.
Reports conflicted on whether the article also had been posted on the bulletin board in the Sooners' locker room, but it was from the locker room that OU administrative assistant Matt McMillen retrieved it for reporters Tuesday.
Highlighted in the story under Star reporter Mike DeArmond's byline were the following quotes, which DeArmond said Tuesday he had never written nor heard Pinkel say:
"I don't want to say a lot that will give them bulletin-board material, but just let me say that after watching game film on them vs. South Florida they seem very Vulnerable right now."
"They have a great defense, but I have seen teams in the Mac that I feel were just as good. We certainly feel like we know how to attack there style of play."
The improper use of "there," the random capitalization of "Vulnerable" and the reference to the Mid-American Conference as the Mac instead of MAC were among oddities that made the story appear bogus. It also would have been out of character for Pinkel to make inflammatory statements.
Not that that necessarily matters to Oklahoma.
When linebacker Lance Mitchell was told Pinkel would be unlikely to wave a red flag at the Sooners, Mitchell said: "Well, it's already waved. There's no taking it back now until after the fourth quarter (Saturday). Hopefully, we'll see their white flag" then. Perhaps unreasonably, Mitchell also said the comments made him feel as if he had been stabbed in the back.
It's unclear whether the article was fabricated on the Internet and then passed on to the OU staff, or whether a member or members of the staff did the tinkering. Several players said OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops had made a ruckus about the article during the Monday meeting, but Mike Stoops said he didn't know where the article came from.
When told the article was phony, he asked, "Who put that out?" Told that's what he was being asked, he said, "Just showed up in our office." He suggested a fan perhaps had sent it in or that one of the secretaries or graduate assistants in the football office found it in a routine daily Internet search for pertinent news.
While denying any knowledge of how it was produced, Mike Stoops smiled and said, "That's pretty good. I like it." But co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables said, "I hope (the players) don't need that to get motivated."
Need it or not, they've got it.
"I don't know if we're a MAC defense or not," Bassey said, "but we'll see come game time."
Mizzou's Roberson is questionable
Missouri reserve running back Tyrone Roberson's availability for the Oklahoma game remained undetermined Tuesday.
Roberson, a sophomore from Pattonville High, spent Saturday night in a hospital in Columbia, Mo., after he began feeling woozy several hours after the Tigers beat Troy State 44-7.
According to an athletics department spokesman, doctors still are unsure what caused Roberson's symptoms. He was involved in a helmet-to-helmet collision with Trojans safety Damien Coleman late in the second quarter. Coleman, who immediately lost feeling in his limbs but since has regained nearly all movement, was removed from the field on a stretcher and also was hospitalized overnight.
Roberson apparently showed no ill effects after the play. He sat out Sunday's practice, then returned Tuesday wearing a red "no-contact" jersey. Roberson was unavailable to comment Tuesday, and MU coach Pinkel refused to discuss the situation.
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Everyone wants to talk about how bad OU's offense is and yes they have problems but did they not score 37 points to a great Bama team who some say has the best front 7 in college football and are now favored over the number 6 team in the nation. For some reason people are saying Bama should have beaten OU and yes they had a chance but that is why they play 60 minutes not 57. OU's 1st team defense has basically given up one TD drive all year; Bama needed 2 onside kicks; 1 blocked fg, 1 fake fg for a td, 1 blocked punt for a td and they still lost by 10 points.
Mizzou has played ball state, troy state, and illinois and got blasted by bg and now they beat OU straight up. Think again. Realize Texas is coming up but OU coaches have been talking the last 3 weeks about conference play and Smith and company take a large step up in competition. OU is not Troy State and this game is reminicent of last year when they went on the road with their offense looking just as bad and everyone saying Tech would win and OU goes in and blasts them 30-13. And while we are on the subject of Texas, Tech, and A&M lets take a look at some of the comments made by Felonious Monk (the biggest Texas homer I have heard and that is saying alot) did he not take La Tech last week calling A&M's pass defense "suspect"...1st if all that is an asinine statement. Just ask Luke McCown QB for La Tech who after the A&M game said "I played Miami my freshman year in the Orange Bowl and they had the #2 defense in the nation and they have nothing on A&M's defense; they are just a bunch of big, mean guys who want to kill me. I guess Luke does not feel that A&M's defense is suspect considering they got 10 fd (2 in the 1st half) and 251 yds total offense (37 in the 1st half) so before Monk and Freeze take Tech (a team that can't run the ball just like La Tech) on the road to beat A&M..again Think again; will lay the 6.5 as Tech will serve it up like they always do when the step up in competition and trust me I think A&M will be more up for Tech than La Tech. By the way nice pick on Neb over ISU monk; almost happened......Lastly Dr. Freeze when you talk about Texas beating OU this year; can I ask you one question; have you seen Texas play this year; they have played noone and I mean noone; they gave up 8 sacks to north texas and had 37 yards total offense in the 2nd half; they looked terrible in the 1st half against Tulane and if there defense wasn't as good as it is as well as special teams who seem to set up every Texas score the scores in those games would not be as nearly lopsided as they turned out. Yes OU's offense has not looked very good but I have seen 3 of the 4 Texas games and they dont look any better and if you saw those games you would agree with me. You did get one thing right OU has a terrible punter but special teams mistakes can be fixed and with Clayton back this week OU's offense should look better; and when they face Texas (OU's defense against a pocket passer) they will be ready as talent is equal if not greater on OU's side so it will come down to coaching and OU coaches have been preparing for this game last 4 weeks (this week only MISSOU) and I will take Stoops over Brown anyday.
