Off the Couch

“Coach Pinkel has come in and changed a lot of things. I can say that he’s changed my attitude. They expect a lot out of their quarterbacks. I’ve got to have the confidence in myself or the offense isn’t going to work. So I just have to go out there and push myself, be confident, be poised. That’s what he wants in a quarterback. If the linemen look at me in my face and see that everything is okay then everything else is going to be okay.”
— Darius Outlaw, Mizzou’s starting quarterback

GH: Outlaw has no intention of giving up his starting job when Kirk Farmer returns from a broken hand. “This is my chance. It’s my shot,” he told me. But the rail-thin Outlaw will have to be part-Houdini to stay healthy throughout the Big-12 schedule.

“Oh yeah, I’ve gotten a helmet in the back from those two plenty of times. It’s all right, though, because most times we’re falling into the end zone. Those guys run hard, both of them do. It’s a pleasure blocking for those two because even if we don’t make a big hole, they’re still going to get through it.”
— Aaron Crittendon, 6-foot-5, 340-pound senior offensive tackle, on the hard running style of Mizzou’s two running backs, Zack Abron and Zain Gilmore.

GH: Abron is a 5-foot-8, 220-pound tank with the agility of a Porsche Boxster. He has the word “strong” carved into his massive right bicep. A better case of redundancy has never been documented.

“I can’t really say that [we’re the best offensive line in the Big 12]. I’d say we’re probably one of the best. To be the best we’ll just have to go out and prove ourselves.” — Justin Bland, MU’s 6-foot-6, 345-pound senior offensive tackle.

“There was a guy who played with us here in Kansas City a couple of years and he had one of the all-time worst names a guy could have in the NFL — or anywhere for that matter. His name was George Shorthose. I’m not kidding you.”
— Bill Maas, WHB 810