Missouri’s Gary Pinkel expects ‘mammoth’ atmosphere for Georgia game
Missouri coach Gary Pinkel expects a raucous atmosphere for the school's first SEC game against Georgia on Sept. 8.
Georgia fans have often asked me what awaits the Bulldogs when they visit Missouri on September 8th. Well, I’ve never been to Columbia, Mo., either. But I know the Tigers and their fans will be especially fired up for their first SEC game in history.
Here’s what Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel thinks:
“It will be mammoth here. Our fans are so excited about being a part of the SEC. That being the first game is going to make it a big, big, game here. People are talking about it already; rarely do they ever do that. They understand we’re playing a great Georgia team. We understand that. When we switched leagues, that enthusiasm really for that game and from our fanbase in general has been remarkably positive for us.”
Pinkel was taking part in his first SEC teleconference call on Tuesday. Thirteen of the 14 coaches — Arkansas’ new guy, John L. Smith, wasn’t due to be introduced until about 3 p.m. — answered reporters’ questions for about 10 minutes or so as part of this post-spring-practice tradition.
Pinkel, Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin and Ole Miss’s Hugh Freeze were the new kids on the block. Pinkel was asked about making the transition and trying to get ready for the Bulldogs.
“Anytime you make a transition like we’re making to the SEC there are a lot of things that are involved,” Pinkel said. “One is, not knowing any of the personnel or schemes we’re playing as far as our opponents. Obviously we know all the Big 12 teams very well. So we’re doing a lot of analysis right now, not just of Georgia, but of all the teams we’re going to play next year. That’s been going on since the end of February and it will go on into August. That’s kind of part of our transition. We have to do a lot of homework and a lot of study and evaluation of the schemes of all these teams and certainly personnel. . . . It’s very important for us to do a thorough analysis so that when we play these teams we have a pretty good understanding of what their makeup is.”
Georgia and Florida both have the unenviable task of christening the new teams into SEC play. The Gators also play Texas A&M on Sept. 8 in College Station.
“You knew [when SEC 2012 schedules were released] that was going to be an historic game for Missouri and for Texas A&M, for that matter,” Richt said. “It was pretty obvious the excitement for those programs is going to be at an all-time high. So it’s going to be a great challenge for us from a psychological point of view. But, in the meantime, we’ve been able to look at some film of Missouri’s offense and defense and they’re very impressive. You look at their overall record, knowing Coach Pinkel and his history of success, just seeing the players that they have and the big games they’ve won in teh past, we know it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us. But we’ll be excited about it, too.”
A lot of the coaches were talking about how different it will be playing Missouri because they play such a radically different style of spread offense, often utilizing four and five wide receivers. Florida’s Will Muschamp and Auburn’s Gene Chizik both faced Pinkel’s offenses while defensive coordinators at Texas.
Richt doesn’t believe the scheme itself is a problem.
“Our league is pretty diverse,” he said. “There’s not any one way of doing things in the Southeastern Conference. They’ll be doing some things a lot of teams in our league do. They may spread out a little more than most people in our league do, but not anything that no one has ever seen before.”
Schemes and matchups aside, it’s the sheer electricity expected on Sept. 8th that has everybody so excited. Pinkel expects his team to be pumped up by the atmosphere — but not overwhelmed by it.
“We’ve had some remarkably big games here,” Pinkle said. “A couple of years ago we were both 7-0 when we played Oklahoma in a big night game here. We’ve had a bunch of games like that over the years, like Georgia has had and all the other teams in the country have had. What really is different here is this a new era. This is the beginning of a new era for Missouri football forever. We just happen to be playing Georgia this year in our opener for that and there is just a real enthusiasm for it. It will go down in history as the first game. So to say it’s just a normal game, just a normal conference game, it’s really not. Once you break the ice there, then there it goes and we’ll just move on.”
– Chip Towers, The UGA Blog
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
220 comments Add your comment
Lowcountry Bulldawg
April 24th, 2012
4:26 pm
Gary Pinkle Nov. 2011 – Damon Evans July 2010…..
Evans was fired while Pinkle is still leading the program bc the AD didnt have the balls to fire him bc of the transition. So yeah call me redneck all you like. Sorry the facts get in the way with your feeble brain.
bham dawg
April 24th, 2012
4:27 pm
The dawgs front seven is not a very good matchup for the missouri offense. If they can not run the ball it will be a long night for the tigers. Sure the secondary is depleted but it is hard to throw from your backside. Their offensive line will not be able to slow down the JJs. Dawgs win going away and welcome the tigers to the sec.
GATA
Ex Mrs Pinkel
April 24th, 2012
4:28 pm
I fired Gary
Lowcountry Bulldawg
April 24th, 2012
4:28 pm
Red Jello-
If anyone is a troll it is microphone assasin if you follow this blog tard you would know I am a huge UGA supporter and have blogged on this site for over 5 years. Unlike yourself I dare say. Before you wanna spout of you might wanna review the contexts of the posts.
kingdaddy
April 24th, 2012
4:30 pm
Let the smack-talk begain. How many techies will now pretend to be Missouri Tiggers??? It is going to be a really good game and if Ga is ready, we will win, but I don’t think it will be a blow-out. Close game…
Lowcountry Bulldawg
April 24th, 2012
4:31 pm
kingdaddy you’re correct 10 outta 11 makes the Yech fanbase so jealous.
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
4:33 pm
Missouri fans, I apologize for the SEC. You’ll find that the UGA fanbase is easily the most ignorant of all fanbases in the conference. They are big on talk, small on results. You can’t beat them on paper; no one can. The NY Giants can’t beat them before the season starts. But anyone with a winning record can after the season starts. They are 24-15 their last three seasons. They aren’t Bama, or LSU, or Arkansas. They are Kansas in femine red uniforms. Play solid football and you’ll have no problems. And welcome.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
April 24th, 2012
4:36 pm
….and ignore Red Jello bc if you do over look us you will get embarassed similar to Red Jello’s parents when they have to tell there friends there 40 year old son lives in the basement and plays World of Warcraft.
tony
April 24th, 2012
4:37 pm
My starters against Missouri:
Offense
RT-John Theus
RG-Dallas Lee
C-David Andrews
LG-Chris Burnette
LT-Kenarious Gates
TE-Jay Rome(Sorry Arthur Lynch just being fair)
WR-Tavarres King
WR-Malcolm Mitchell(keep him here)
QB- Christian LeMay(Sorry Aaron but I like LeMay’s precision/gm management better)
RB- Ken Malcome
FB- Richard Samuel
__________________________
Defense
DE- Abry Jones
NT- John Jenkins
DE- Garrison Smith
OLB- Jarvis Jones
ILB- Amarlo Herrera
ILB- Mike Gilliard
OLB-Jordan Jenkins
CB-Damian Swann
S-Shawn Williams
S-Connor Norman
CB- Branden Smith
I know Mr.Richt’s lineup will be different. Welcome to the SEC Missouri!
Kansas fan
April 24th, 2012
4:39 pm
don’t compare us to that trash.
GTBob
April 24th, 2012
4:40 pm
In this blog UGA fans pretend to be worried about a team that wasn’t very good last year and lost a good chunk of their starters. Missouri will more then likely have a losing record in 2012.
The Tide is rolling and nothing can stop it
April 24th, 2012
4:40 pm
Georgia, please don’t embarrass us again like you did last year…
Freaking Boise…
Arthur Lynch
April 24th, 2012
4:41 pm
@Red Jello… check your tampon your leaking
Vandy fan
April 24th, 2012
4:42 pm
They are all talk Mizzou! Welcome
The Tide is rolling and nothing can stop it
April 24th, 2012
4:43 pm
Red Jello is a poet. Seriously man. Well said.
LSU and Michigan State fans
April 24th, 2012
4:43 pm
Georgia is good for the first half; after that, not so much.
South Carolina and W Virginia fans
April 24th, 2012
4:45 pm
You can fake punt them all day long. Serious. Ask Vandy about their special teams play. Horrible.
Vance Duly
April 24th, 2012
4:47 pm
I agree that “on paper”, Georgia should win this game, even with most of our secondary watching from a distance. BUT, do not forget that we have Coach Bobo calling the plays, and his tendency is to try to sit on a lead instead of keeping our paw on the gas pedal until the game is over. So, there is a solid chance that we may build a 10-14 point lead, then hold on for dear life as their spread offense tries to catch up and beat us late. IF Coach Bobo will give us the rare 4 quarters of aggressive offense, and will expand the playbook past the first 2 pages, (the screen passes, fullback runs and the beloved toss sweeps begin on Page 3, according to rumors), we should beat Missouri without it being a nail-biter.
Their defense isn’t that good, so 4 aggressive quarters should give us at least 40 points. But, there’s no guarantee that we’ll play more than 3 quarters of offense……….. GO DAWGS!
To Ed Pilcher
April 24th, 2012
4:48 pm
Don’t you need to be fine-tuning that Veer? Been awhile since you brought home a state title.
Florida fans
April 24th, 2012
4:49 pm
In the last quarter century, I can count on one hand the amount of times they have beat us. And they dance like girls.
Bama fans
April 24th, 2012
4:50 pm
Have a “blackout” for the Georgia game. Seems to really affect their performance in a negative way.
bham dawg
April 24th, 2012
4:51 pm
@The Tide is rolling… y’all have to play them too. Hope you didn’t just put your foot in your mouth.
Desert Dawg
April 24th, 2012
4:52 pm
Both of my brothers went to Mizzou and I went to UGA, from here on out it will be a very interesting Thanksgiving for bragging rights. Go Dawgs, Beat the Tigers.
bham dawg
April 24th, 2012
4:54 pm
@Bama Fans… we actually wore those jerseys one too many times. The first two were complete beat downs.
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
4:55 pm
Alabama is comfortable in big games. Not intimidated in the least. They open up with Michigan. You open up with Buffalo. Really?
George Stein
April 24th, 2012
4:55 pm
Pinkel probably knows all the best places to get a drink in Columbia, too.
Hey TideTard Fan
April 24th, 2012
4:55 pm
Embarrassment?
How about man on man genital assault and tree killing? (Bama male fun)
You bamatards are truly an embarrassment to our conference and the entire south.
Delbert D.
April 24th, 2012
4:56 pm
Well, I didn’t really expect Pinkel to say, “It’s not like we’re playing Oklahoma or Texas or Nebraska. No, we’re not worried at all.”
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
4:56 pm
bham dawg, sounds like those jerseys were 3 for 3…all beatdowns!!
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
4:58 pm
Hey TideTard Fan
The name is the cake, the post is the icing. Dawg fans, you should be proud.
bham dawg
April 24th, 2012
5:02 pm
@Red Jello… i wouldn’t call an 11 pt. difference a beat down.
RedandBlackDawg
April 24th, 2012
5:03 pm
I think the UGA defensive front seven will introduce them quite nicely to the SEC. It is going to take them a few games to catch up to the speed of the SEC defenses, as they are fast and they are good. They will have three new offensive linemen, and so will UGA, but the difference is they will also have three new defensive linemen, so that kind of negates any advantage for either team. I am not sure how fully recovered their QB will be from his shoulder surgery, so it could be a long day for them. If they can keep their emotions in check a little, they might make a game of it, but if not, they will make mistakes on offense that UGA’s defense will capitalize on.
GO DAWGS and GATA
dawgs will lose in mizzou
April 24th, 2012
5:03 pm
come on folks….you know how this is gonna go. How many years does this have to play itself out? Mark Richt vs a ranked team. Aint good. But then again, it’s april….the dawgs and cubs are dreaming of championships…..
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
5:05 pm
Hahahahahaha bham dawg…yeah it was a close one. The points UGA scored in the second half was against frat boys and walk-ons. Saban took his foot off of UGA’s throat.
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
5:05 pm
But if it help’s you sleep better at night, it was close.
kingdaddy
April 24th, 2012
5:14 pm
Smart
haven’t talked in a while, who are you pretending to be now??? We miss you, the real you, whoever that is…lol…
moleman
April 24th, 2012
5:16 pm
Don’t buy into this SEc speed garbage. Go out and watch video of Fla. State and Va Tech. Georgia is an ACC program playing in the SEC. Finesse ball. Dink and dunk on offense. Tricks and talk on defense. No one fears UGA. Hopefully they will go to the ACC one day. They would be happier there, and so would the conference.
BillS
April 24th, 2012
5:19 pm
Franklin is a very good Mizzou QB, and they have some good skill players returning. Given the intensity of their first game ever in the SEC, it will be a huge task for the Dawgs, especially in the defensive backfield.
bham dawg
April 24th, 2012
5:20 pm
@Red Jello… you are an idiot. considering it was a one possession game gowing into the 4th quarter i doubt saban had the scrubs in.
GTBob
April 24th, 2012
5:20 pm
Mark Richt vs a ranked team. Aint good.
Missouri will not be a ranked team, therefore UGA has a shot.
Paddy
April 24th, 2012
5:22 pm
Jimmy Crack……..SEC crowds will be much like the crowds Mizzou sees when they visit Okla. & Texas. The crowds in the SEC will not be the tipping point.
bham dawg
April 24th, 2012
5:23 pm
@Mole Man… not sure who you have been watching but georgia definitely isnt a dink and dunk offense. I wish we would go to more of a short passing game. But if you actually KNOW what you are talking about then you would know that uga is strictly play action vertical passing.
DawgInaTruck
April 24th, 2012
5:24 pm
I have clients in Columbia and the entire area is absolutely STOKED about joining the SEC in general and the first conference game in particular. It is pointless to predict the outcome of a college football game months before it is played but we won’t get a shortage of effort or emotion from Missouri.
It will be a great game in a great amosphere.
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
5:24 pm
Whatever bham dawg. If it makes you feel better about yourself, i’m glad I could help.
moleman
April 24th, 2012
5:26 pm
ditto what Jello said.
bham dawg
April 24th, 2012
5:29 pm
… in other words you have no more garbage to spill because you both just got shown the exit. later trolls.
kingdaddy
April 24th, 2012
5:31 pm
I think you will see some new wrinkles in our offense that they don’t have on film. Things to take the pressure off the OL. More roll-outs, screens and half-back passes. I hope CMB gives our line time to gell before he throws them to the chickens. Boc… Bocccccc…lol…
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
5:31 pm
My Mom told me to keep my brother out of the house for three hours while she got everything ready for his surprise birthday party. That is when I realized he was the favorite twin. Sigh.
Red Jello
April 24th, 2012
5:35 pm
Nice..If you can’t beat them with truth and intellect, put on the “stupid mask”. You wear it well, my friend.
kingdaddy
April 24th, 2012
5:35 pm
Gotta run again, later. Oh yeah, this will not be last years Dawgs, expect supprises…