Quarterback Stetson Bennett IV
"I think Missouri came into this game, and I think their game plan was to not let us run the ball. They were popping backers and had low safeties, and were trying to stop our run game. When they do that, we’ve got to be explosive to either make them back up or, if they don’t, then that’s how we score points." - Bennett on the offense being able to pick up big chunks through the passing game.
"Arian might be the fastest dude in the country playing football. I think they went (cover) zero there, and it was definitely man to man. We full-slid the protection. I just trusted him to get to a spot, and he got there and finished the play off." - Bennett on his fourth-down touchdown pass to Arian Smith.
"With our offense, you hope to be as good running the ball and throwing the ball. They’ve got to pick their poison. If they go all out to stop one, the other one’s going to bite them. You kind of saw that with Arkansas when they dropped eight every down, and we ran the ball a lot. Here, they tried to stack the box. I think we ended up at the end with 168 yards rushing, but in the first half we weren’t really running the ball that great. It fires me up, and it fires me up that we have guys on the outside, like that ball I threw to Jermaine (Burton), the big one where I underthrew it and he just went up and made a catch. It’s exciting to see. With the protection the o-line gives me, I have time to read it out." - Bennett on if it "fires him up" when teams try to force him to beat them throwing the ball.
"Brod’s done a great job filling in for some guys. He’s a young player, but he’s a freak athlete. I had all kinds of time in the pocket, which makes it so much easier to throw the ball. I don’t think I got touched other than when I ran. It just makes you feel secure knowing those guys aren’t going to give up a lot of sacks." - Bennett on the play of left tackle Broderick Jones and the offensive line as a whole.
Inside linebacker Quay Walker
"It matters a lot, because the standard pretty much doesn’t change, whether we’re on the field or not. At the same time, a saying we have around here is, ‘If you’re on the field, you’re a starter,’ no matter who it is, no matter how many games you’ve played, no matter how many reps you have throughout the game. At the same time, you’ve got to have the same mindset as us. That starts by us, the leaders and the players that start, no matter whoever it is or whoever is in the rotation, and just start with us by just keeping up our intensity and whatnot, and them matching it whenever their name is called by them going out. To answer your question, we were really in tune to it on the sideline." - Walker on how into it the starters are when the backups try to make a stand late in a blowout.
Outside linebacker Nolan Smith
"One hundred percent the QB run game. They ran the QB really good. They put us in a lot of situations where they got a lot of yards rushing. That’s just not our standard. We shouldn’t let anybody come in here and run the ball on us, especially in our house. I think they did that." - Smith on what Missouri did that gave the Bulldogs trouble on defense.
"I was raised like this: you get to play something, a game, for fun. Most people take special teams, as a play, off. I don’t. I never do just because I know Kearis (Jackson) is working as hard as he wants (for) a touchdown, so I’m going to block my hardest. I know if there’s an opportunity for me to go block a punt and they shouldn’t be in that formation, then I’m going to go as hard as I could to do my job. I just like doing my job 100 miles an hour. I think that’s how everyone on our team is. We take pride in special teams. We always say defense is two-thirds of special teams. All the defensive players are out there, and it’s just something you take pride in." - Smith on his blocked punt and why special teams matters to him.