COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football head coach Eliah Drinkwitz met with members of the media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference.
Mizzou hosts Buffalo on Saturday for its second of four consecutive home games at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium to begin the season. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+ with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. SEC Network+ is complementary to SEC Network and accessible with your TV provider credentials. It can be accessed through the ESPN App on smartphones, tablets, connected streaming devices or via espn.com/watch. The contest can also be heard on the Tiger Radio Network from Mizzou Sports Properties and LEARFIELD through the varsity app.
Eliah Drinkwitz Missouri Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
“Good afternoon. First toughness Tuesday of the season for us. We’re excited to be 1-0 and now it’s on us to try and duplicate the process for this week. I want to recap last week. I first want to start by thanking the fans. What an unbelievable atmosphere at Faurot Field on a Thursday night. The student section was unbelievable. They were loud, they were there early, they were pouring in as we were warming up. I thought when the game kicked our stands were full and that was just an awesome way for us to start fast. So, appreciate the fans and all that they did to create the environment, a winning environment. And then I just saw that the hill has already sold out for this game and excited about what we’re working toward in hoping to extend the streak of sellouts.
“The game, I thought defensively we played very well with a fast start. Obviously, we’re always trying to create takeaways and be consistent at stopping the run. I thought we were consistently physical all night. Special teams I thought Luke Bauer and Blake Craig really did a nice job as the specialist. Luke had his best game punting and Blake was good on his field goals. We had the one kick out of bounds, but I thought they executed well. And then I thought offensively we started fast. I liked being able to score points after the turnovers. But we do need to be more consistent in the throw game. The third downs that we missed were concerning for me so there is plenty for us to work on. Plenty for us to be concerned with that we need to correct and we really need to do a good job.
“We’re going to play a 1-0 Buffalo team led by what I think is one of the great program rebuilders in Pete Lembo. He’s done that at multiple stops whether it was Elon or Miami (Ohio). He just does an excellent job of building culture, evaluating talent and getting the most out of his players. He does an excellent job of recruiting and has a tremendous staff. I think their offensive coordinator has got a lot of experience at both Coastal Carolina, Georgia Tech, Old Dominion and now at Buffalo. I’ve talked football several times with him while I was at NC State. I think he does a really good job of utilizing tempo. He’s got very good players. Their quarterback played at SEMO (Southeast Missouri State) two years ago when we played them so there is some familiarity there. On the defensive side of the ball, they’ve got a tremendous scheme. They’re very discipline in what they do. They have a clear identity of who they are. They’re going to stop the run and utilize their safeties in the run game and in the pass game. And then obviously Coach Lembo’s fingerprints are all over special teams. He’s a tremendous special teams coordinator and has always given us fits going against him. We can always expect the unexpected with Coach Lembo on that side so really have a tough challenge ahead of us and looking forward to that challenge on Saturday.”
(Ref.: On containing Buffalo’s quarterback, including his run ability)
“Yea, that’s going to be the challenge this week. Obviously, we’ve got to do a good job in the read game. They try to get on your edges through zone reads, plus-1 run schemes and option, so we’re going to have to be discipline in multiple and in the way we’re challenging those read schemes.”
(Ref.: On being able to play multiple guys last week and if anyone impressed him)
“Honestly, I was impressed with the way all of our defense played from start to finish. I know our freshman linebackers got eight reps and watching those reps, Jeremiah [Beasley] and Nick [Nicholas Rodriguez] did an excellent job. We know Trajen Greco is playing both on special teams and in the secondary, so I think there were a lot of people who earned opportunities to continue to play and to find their way into the rotation. We made some changes on the special teams depth chart to reflect that and try and get those guys in the game this week so we’ll see how it plays out. You don’t take anything for granted but I’ve been really impressed with that freshman class.”
(Ref.: On how to be more consistent on third down in the passing game)
“It starts with fundamentals. Route depth, timing, quarterback feet. Having the quarterback set his feet when he makes throws. Not drifting after he throws the ball to go get ready to do a celebration. Finish the throw and have your feet set in the pocket. Wide receivers have to run their routes to the correct depth. They’ve got to explode out of them. Just back to the basics of execution and pushing the limits in practice. Don’t practice just the practice, practice to improve. That’s really going to be the message I have with the skill guys.”
(Ref.: On playing the starters half of the game last week and his plan for them this week)
“To play the whole game. I didn’t have any plan. I don’t know what the opponent is going to do. The opponent has a say in everything that we do. We have a plan to win and until the game is in hand, our starters are going to play. So, my anticipation is a really good Buffalo team. They scored 30-something points. Had 200-yards rushing. Had 200-yards passing. Would have been a lot worse but they had two special teams miscues that allowed the other team back into the game. It’s going to be a dog fight and we’re going to have to prepare that way.
“As far as what ultimately led to the decision, at halftime it was 35-0 and I felt like at that point I had seen what I needed to see out of Brady [Cook]. And then Theo [Wease Jr.] was already kind of dinged up so didn’t want to put him in anymore jeopardy. Connor Tollison has had plenty of snap so there wasn’t anything we needed to see out of those guys.”
(Ref.: On his thoughts on how the offensive line played and where they can improve)
“Well we didn’t sustain blocks as well as we wanted to on the outside zone. I don’t think our counter scheme was as clean as we wanted it to. As far as our kickout, I think we were light a little bit on our inside zone double teams so there is plenty of opportunities for us to continue to improve. Specifically with those young guys, we got down inside the 10 and weren’t able to score. We had two guards in there that are 340 pounds apiece and we were getting knocked back into the A gap so that’s got to improve if we want to have a shot in this league.”
(Ref.: On the diversity of the front seven on the defensive side of the ball)
“The front seven on the defense we feel really good about the depth and the quality of depth we have and the ability to keep guys fresh. And so that rotation I think is going to continue because we just don’t see a drop off. I think Corey Flagg Jr. might have ended up being our leading tackler in the game and he doesn’t play on third downs as of now and rotates. I think we feel really good about when Corey and Khalil [Jacobs] come in with Chuck [Hicks] and Triston [Newson], who’ve played a lot of football for us. And then obviously in the d-tackler room with Chris [McClellan] and Kristian [Williams]. Last year we played four guys really in the defensive tackle position and this year we feel like we’ve got six with the emergence of Marquis Gracial, obviously Sterling [Webb] has played a lot of football and really played well. Chris’ played well. Jalen Marshall’s come in and played well and Sam Williams has earned a spot too. He’s done a really good job going against our guys so we feel like we’ve got six guys that can really play at a high level in that room. That’s only an advantage to us as we prepare for this week’s opponent and moving forward.”
(Ref.: On when he knew Blake Craig was going to be his kicker)
“Last year in fall camp when Harrison [Mevis] wasn’t kicking as well as we wanted him to, so I put Blake with the ones just to send a message that there are no secured positions. We had to do that with Blake this year in fall camp. There were a couple days where he wasn’t kicking as good as we wanted him to, so we put Nick [Quadrini] in there. At the end of the day every position is up for grabs and competition. I mean you see that throughout college football. There are no sure things. If you’re not producing, then the next guys have to be ready. And that’s always been the compete mindset that our program is built on so if you’re not at your best someone else in this building is and they’re going to take your spot.”
(Ref.: On his thoughts on how the helmet communication went)
“It was fine. I thought we utilized them well. We utilized them to our advantage. We utilized the helmet communications system well. I don’t know that we’ll change anything really.”
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