Monday, Nov. 02, 2009

Pinkel: Gabbert's toughness could pay off for MU

With Blaine Gabbert reportedly nearing full recovery from his high right ankle sprain suffered nearly a month ago, Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel sees a bit of future gold in the weeks of limping through games.

“He’s showed a tremendous amount of courage through this,” Pinkel said during the Big 12 Conference media call on Monday morning. “There are some quarterbacks who would say, 'I’m not a hundred percent. I don’t think I should play.’

“He’s just a warrior. Down the road, that’s what, I think, is going to give him a chance to be a great player.”

Although Gabbert did run on several occasions against Colorado, Pinkel said he was still limited compared to what he should be in coming weeks.

“Hopefully those things will come back to us,” Pinkel said, “and help our offensive continuity a little bit.”

PROUD OF THE LINE: After taking much of the heat for Missouri’s problems in the running game for nearly a month, the Tigers’ offensive line drew praise from one of the more important sources on Monday.

Particularly sophomore right tackle Dan Hoch, who played sparingly as a freshman and struggled early in the season.

“He’s playing up there with all of them,” Pinkel said. “We’re very, very impressed with him, how he’s come around, how he’s matured.”

With better blocking producing wider running lanes out of a two-back set, Missouri gained 184 yards on a season-high 45 carries against Colorado.

In CU’s upset victory over Kansas earlier this season, the Buffaloes held the Jayhawks to a minus eight yards in 22 carries.

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