Pinkel: Missouri fans still want Border War
Gary Pinkel has said that fans still want the annual game against Kansas, which was stopped after the Tigers moved to the SEC.
The so-called ‘Border War’ might not be the fiercest in the country to college football neutrals, but to both fanbases, the game at Arrowhead highlighted the season. And the rivalry’s very close – Missouri leads the rivalry 57-54-9 (or 56-55-9, depending on who you talk to!). The Tigers have won five out of the last six.
“I don’t think there’s any question the fans want it back. It’s one of the longest rivalries in college football,” he said. “As you well know, when we moved it into Kansas City, Arrowhead Stadium, we’ve had some phenomenal games down there. Hopefully, sometime down the road we can get it in the beginning part of the season when both teams have good records, play in the early part of September, and get that thing going again. We’ve got to find a way — I think both fans would love it, and I think that maybe down the road that will happen.”
Pinkel – who has won the last two SEC East titles – said about that he doesn’t care how favored or unfavored his team is. “Honestly, I don’t know where we’ve been picked since I’ve been here. I don’t want to disturb anybody here, but honestly, anybody that knows me, I don’t ever read newspapers, ever. I don’t do that, about our football team. Chad Moller keeps me in tune of what’s happening out there, but I have no idea. If you picked us first or third or fourth or fifth, it would have no impact on me at all. Just being honest with you.” Sarcastically, when he was told that the media picked Mizzou to finish sixth last year and fourth in 2014 he said: “That upsets me.”
And although his Missouri team managed to win the SEC East, Pinkel said that his quarterback Maty Mauk needs “more consistency”.
And he said about defensive tackle Harold Brantley, who will miss 2015 because he was in a car wreck: “The good news is he’s going to be fine, most importantly. The good news is he can — all that being in a car wreck, he had a lot of injuries, they can all heal, and he can come back and accomplish all his goals, and we’ll get him back next year. But that also puts some — we have to make some adjustments there, understanding we’re losing a great player. Everybody’s got to do that. That could happen the third game of the season. It could happen to anybody in our league.”
Terry Beckner Jr – who was rated as the 13th player in the nation, the top player in Illinois and the country’s third-best defensive tackle by 24-7Sports and was offered by the likes of Auburn, Tennessee, Ohio State, Florida State, Florida, Oregon and Michigan State – has given Missouri high hopes. “he was one the top defensive lineman in the nation last year out of East St. Louis High School. One thing about him, he doesn’t get caught up in a lot of stuff. It’s kind of nice. The shining light is not really him. I think he’s a little bit shy that way. I just think we have to get him to focus on becoming a better player and keep his priorities right. I think you always try to do that. You try to help kids. Priorities and humility is hugely important for success, and those are things we try to instill in our players.”. Without mentioning names, we know who Pinkel was talking about when he was talking about ‘priorities’ – Dorial Green-Beckham.