Media Day Q&A with…Missouri’s players on Arrowhead and expectations
High expectations and Missouri go hand-in-hand entering the 2007 football season. Despite Nebraska winning the Big 12 North in 2006, the Tigers are the media’s preseason pick to represent the North in the Dec. 1 Big 12 Championship game in San Antonio, Texas – site of this week’s Big 12 Media Day. KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene had a chance to ask the Tigers players in attendance Tuesday – Senior tight end Martin Rucker, senior defensive lineman Lorenzo Williams and junior tight end Chase Coffman – what they think of that preseason prognostication, plus their takes on the Kansas-Missouri game being moved to Arrowhead Stadium and avoiding Memorial Stadium, where the Tigers have faltered in their last two trips.
Ryan Greene: The Kansas game, your guys’ biggest rivalry game of the year at the end of the year, what’s the players’ take on that game being moved to Kansas City and homefield advantage really going neither way?
Martin Rucker: It doesn’t really matter. You know, we could play that game in Alaska. It’s the KU game. So to us, no matter who’s watching, that’s always going to be a big game that we place a lot of emphasis on.
RG: KU won that game the last two times it was in Lawrence. Do you guys feel like that takes some of the chips and puts them back in your corner?
MR: I kinda do. That was probably the only thing that I didn’t like, was I wanted to beat KU at KU. But I’m not gonna get that chance. At the same time, a win over KU is a win over KU.
RG: With Nebraska returning as the Big 12 North champ from last year, do you guys feel being the preseason top pick in the North that you’ve earned it? Or is there a wanting to prove it against Nebraska?
MR: I mean I wouldn’t say it’s so much proving it against Nebraska, but just proving it period. Like you said, they have been the North champ the past few years, but I think we’ve been a better team than we’ve showed late season, when we’ve fallen into that lull and gone on losing streaks. And so with just the team maturity that we have on this team right now, I’m sure that hopefully we’ll be able to get that done.
Ryan Greene: The KU-Missouri game being moved to Kansas City, what’s kind of the players’ general feeling on that game being taken out of a home stadium for the next few years?
Lorenzo Williams: Oh man, I can’t tell you how happy we are, not to have to go to KU. For their team, I bet those fans would do anything for their team, and those fans are so crazy. They do a lot of mean stuff to us as we get off the bus, so I’m happy not to have to go back down there again.
RG: How much does it put back into your guys’ corner that it’s going to be played on a neutral site, especially last game of the year?
LW: It puts a little bit into our corner, but, you know, as a good football team, we have to be able to go places to win football games. We can’t change every game to a neutral site football game. We’ve got to be able to go wherever we need to go to win a game. So, I think it puts a little bit back into our corner because it’s closer to home, but other than that, it’s still going to be a tough football game to play.
RG: When you guys look at the preseason predictions, and you guys are picked to win the North, and Nebraska’s the returning champs out of the North, do you guys feel like you’ve earned that?
LW: I mean, I really don’t. If you win the North championship, you’re the the North champion, I think you’re the returning champ, you know what I mean? I think some people realize that we could have a good football team this year, but like I said, I’ll say it a hundred times again, it don’t really matter right now. The end of November is when it’s gonna tell whether or not it matters or not. Whether we took that No. 1 seed at first and did something good with it, or we didn’t. So that’s when it’s gonna matter.
Ryan Greene: Chase, how do you feel about the game against KU this year being moved to Arrowhead Stadium? Missouri’s lost their last two trips to Memorial Stadium, this year it’s supposed to be there and then they move it to Kansas City. What’s your guys’ take on that?
Chase Coffman: I think we’re all pretty excited to play in the Chiefs’ stadium in Arrowhead, and especially me and Rucker being both from the Kansas City area, it’s gonna be fun going back there to play in front of a home crowd. It should be a good game.
RG: Does it take some of the chips and put them on your side that you don’t have to go to KU’s home stadium? It’s more or less a neutral site.
CC: Yes, I think it does a little bit, but also the next couple years, it’s a deal for a couple years, so it’s the same for them the year after this. It’s just a fun game for everybody to be able to play at Arrowhead.
Media Day Q&A with…Kansas’ Aqib Talib
Media Day Q&A with…Kansas’ Brandon McAnderson
Media Day Q&A with…Oklahoma’s Malcolm Kelly