Gary Pinkel talks Stanzi, Iowa offense and his QB

[JonDMiller]

Quotes from Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel and other Tigers from Sunday's media event

Head coach Gary Pinkel

Q: What are your thoughts on Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi?
A: “I think Ricky Stanzi is an excellent quarterback. When you look at his statistics, they’re as good as most of the top quarterbacks in the nation. His touchdowns to interceptions ratio is absolutely outstanding. I think he runs that offense exceptionally well. He’s very, very accurate…I just don’t see any weaknesses.”

Q: Is Iowa difficult to prepare for because some players aren’t playing?
A: “I don’t think so. I think they’ve got great depth. That’s why they’ve had so much success at Iowa, and Kirk has done such a great job. We’ve had injuries throughout the year, we’ve had more injuries than we’ve ever had. You move them over and move them up. They’ve got a lot of good athletes and I would expect them to have the depth that they can be very successful with.”

Q: What makes Blaine Gabbert so effective?
A: “Blaine'’s a very talented player. He’s got as a good an arm as I’ve ever coached. He’s a very smart player. He’s very, very competitive, and I think he’s very, very tough. I think those two characteristics are a necessity if you want to be a high, high levelquarterback. You can talk about great arm all you want, you can talk about reads and all those other things, but if you aren’t mentally tough and you aren’t physically tough and a

 

[Cyclones17]

Wait Jon, I thought I read where YOU said Gabbert didn't have a great arm?

 

[Hawkfromnorwalk]

Wait Jon, I thought I read where YOU said Gabbert didn't have a great arm?

I'm pretty sure a coach isn't going to come out and say his QB has a ****** arm.

 

[ShadasRevenge]

Wait Jon, I thought I read where YOU said Gabbert didn't have a great arm?

You should go find it just to make sure.

 

[hawkeyescott]

Wait Jon, I thought I read where YOU said Gabbert didn't have a great arm?

LMAO, you moron the coach of his own QB isn't going to say if he doesn't have a great arm.

 

[coralville]

not to worry--we make QB's look terrific

 

[Chickenlounge]

not to worry--we make QB's look terrific

Except ISU QBs...

 

[imported_ankle23]

Wait Jon, I thought I read where YOU said Gabbert didn't have a great arm?

Honestly - what does J. Miller know about Gabbert's arm strength?

 

[Cyclones17]

Honestly - what does J. Miller know about Gabbert's arm strength?

Exactly. Yet he felt the need to make many comments about how Gabbert wasn't as good as all but 3 QB's Iowa has faced. Despite the fact that the kid is the most talented QB Iowa will play all year and will a top 15 pick in next years draft

 

[ShadasRevenge]

Exactly. Yet he felt the need to make many comments about how Gabbert wasn't as good as all but 3 QB's Iowa has faced. Despite the fact that the kid is the most talented QB Iowa will play all year and will a top 15 pick in next years draft

It took you two hours to not find anything? Shocked, I am.

 

[olddude]

I think it will be a game of rack em and sack em. Gabbert is going to have black and gold in his face all day long. That will force bad throws and or fumbles, giving us a chance.

 

[hawkfan2679]

Wait Jon, I thought I read where YOU said Gabbert didn't have a great arm?

Honestly - what does J. Miller know about Gabbert's arm strength?

Exactly. Yet he felt the need to make many comments about how Gabbert wasn't as good as all but 3 QB's Iowa has faced. Despite the fact that the kid is the most talented QB Iowa will play all year and will a top 15 pick in next years draft

It took you two hours to not find anything? Shocked, I am.

I found this (rather quickly, I might add) that matches up somewhat with what Cyclones17 is saying...

I have seen a few posts on here comparing Mizzou QB Blaine Gabbert to Northwestern's Dan Persa.

I am sorry, but that is not close to being accurate. I have seen Mizzou play three or four times this year and NW at least that many, including all of the NW-Iowa game. Persa > Gabbert.

Gabbert completed 62% of his passes, not a bad number, but many of those throws are horizontal and quick dumps. He is no where near the deep ball thrower that Nick Foles of Arizona is, and Iowa doesn't give up many big plays deep, less than 10 of 25 yards or more all season.

Now, that dovetails into areas where Iowa has struggled, so I am not trying to imply that Gabbert and the Missouri passing offense is bad. It's not. Gabbert just does not have the command of his offense that several of Iowa's opposing QB foes had this year.

Iowa's defense faced 5 of the top 20 rated passers in the NCAA this season, and 6 of the top 26. Every Big Ten opposing QB Iowa faced this year has a higher passer rating than Gabbert with the exception of true freshman QB Rob Bolden of Penn State. Only Bolden, Austen Arnaud and Keith Wenning of Ball State had a lower passer rating from Iowa's 11 FBS opponents than Mizzou's Gabbert.

Missouri also does not have the standout individual talent they have had at receiver in recent years, no real standout deep threat...but then again, neither did Northwestern.

Missouri will be in the shotgun most of the time, and I would guess they will try to uptempo the Iowa defense.

The pressure will be on the Iowa offense to convert on third down. Missouri's defense has been a revelation this year, but they can be run on, and we know Iowa is going to try to establish that ground game. Iowa should be healthy along the OL, which will make a big difference, especially at RG.

 

[troy]

Saw the '91 Rose Bowl on ESPN Classic recently. Coach Pinkel was the offensive coordinator at Washington, and they scored a lot in that game. His QB: Mark Brunell

 

[Cyclones17]

I found this (rather quickly, I might add) that matches up somewhat with what Cyclones17 is saying...

Thanks. Shada knew what I was talking about he was just being difficult.

I think for a lot of QB's you have to look past #'s. I don't have to see Gabbert's QB rating to know he is a better QB than some that Jon listed. I mean Stanzi has a passer rating that is 16 points higher than Nick Foles but I bet most Hawk fans think Foles is better

 

[ShadasRevenge]

Thanks. Shada knew what I was talking about he was just being difficult.

I think for a lot of QB's you have to look past #'s. I don't have to see Gabbert's QB rating to know he is a better QB than some that Jon listed. I mean Stanzi has a passer rating that is 16 points higher than Nick Foles but I bet most Hawk fans think Foles is better

The only thing in that post that comes anywhere close to saying "Gabbert doesn't have a great arm" is when Jon says it's not as good as Foles. Now, that may or may not be true. Foles hit one long pass against Iowa, and that was one of two Arizona games I watched this year.

I watched one Mizzou game this year, when they ended ISU's season. I didn't see Gabbert go down the field in that game, and ISU's secondary can hardly be considered competent. Mizzou scored 14 points against ISU.

 

[Cyclones17]

The only thing in that post that comes anywhere close to saying "Gabbert doesn't have a great arm" is when Jon says it's not as good as Foles. Now, that may or may not be true. Foles hit one long pass against Iowa, and that was one of two Arizona games I watched this year.

I watched one Mizzou game this year, when they ended ISU's season. I didn't see Gabbert go down the field in that game, and ISU's secondary can hardly be considered competent. Mizzou scored 14 points against ISU.

Your lack of football knowledge is showing with the second paragraph. Did you actually watch the game? Iowa State ran a 3-2-5 defense and dropped 7 back all game on Mizzou. Tough to go downfield when they do that. And ISU has talent in the secondary, pretty decent talent actually, but they are so bad up front that in most games the QB has all day to throw and can pick them apart.

 

[franstheman]

Your lack of football knowledge is showing with the second paragraph. Did you actually watch the game? Iowa State ran a 3-2-5 defense and dropped 7 back all game on Mizzou. Tough to go downfield when they do that. And ISU has talent in the secondary, pretty decent talent actually, but they are so bad up front that in most games the QB has all day to throw and can pick them apart.

so that means mizzou can't run the ball if iowa state ran a 3-2-5. you have to be physical and not be one dimensional against the iowa D and if mizzou can't run the ball, control the clock and put of points on the grounda against a 5 man box then we should have no trouble shutting them down.

 

[hawkfan2679]

Iowa State ran a 3-2-5 defense and dropped 7 back all game on Mizzou.

so that means mizzou can't run the ball if iowa state ran a 3-2-5.

Man, ISU would have had a better chance to win that game if they would have just used 11 guys on defense.

I thought I remember hearing from somewhere that Missouri was very stubborn in that game vs. Iowa State, determined to throw even though ISU was all but giving up on defending the run by playing dime packages for most of the game. I didn't see the game, so I can't confirm.

 

[Cyclones17]

so that means mizzou can't run the ball if iowa state ran a 3-2-5. you have to be physical and not be one dimensional against the iowa D and if mizzou can't run the ball, control the clock and put of points on the grounda against a 5 man box then we should have no trouble shutting them down.

I agree you have to run the ball against Iowa and take what their defense gives you. I picked Iowa to win b/c I don't know if Mizzou will do that. Although Mizzou did a very good job this year of having a balanced attack. They will have to remain balanced to beat Iowa. I am just commenting about Gabbert. I think he is much better than Jon Miller wants to give him credit for.

Man, ISU would have had a better chance to win that game if they would have just used 11 guys on defense.

I thought I remember hearing from somewhere that Missouri was very stubborn in that game vs. Iowa State, determined to throw even though ISU was all but giving up on defending the run by playing dime packages for most of the game. I didn't see the game, so I can't confirm.

Ha. Good catch. Sorry I meant a 3-3-5 and yes Mizzou was being stubborn. They could have been getting 5 yards a pop on the ground.

 

[Bohawk]

Are you guys talking about the line where Jon says Gabbert doesn't throw the deep ball as well as Foles?

I'm sure you all realize that there is a difference between throwing a good deep ball and having a great arm, right?

There are a lot of people that can throw a ball a long ways. Standing in a pocket and throwing a deep ball where your receiver can run under it is a whole different story.

Just throwing that out there...