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 travels to Bryan-College Station, Texas, on Saturday to face off against No. 25 Texas A&M at Kyle Field for its first road contest of the year. The game will be broadcast on ABC with kickoff slated for 11 a.m. CT. 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)
“I Just want to start by saying my heart and thoughts and prayers are with the people of Western North Carolina. Obviously, my wife and I and family spent some time there in Boone, North Carolina, and to see the devastation caused by the hurricane has been very difficult. I know those people are very resilient, but they could definitely use our help. I know I retweeted a tweet by Shawn Clark today that had a link for donations for the people of Boone, specifically the student-athletes and the faculty at App State University. But there’s all kinds of people in Western North Carolina and in eastern Tennessee that could use our help, and so definitely want to bring awareness to them and let them know that they’re not forgotten. And that our prayers are with them.
“Obviously, we have a tremendous challenge to go on the road this week to play a top-25 team in one of the premier stadiums in college football. You know, Mike Elko has done a tremendous job wherever he’s been as a head football coach, and obviously, this being his first year, he’s really doing a tremendous job, I think, developing the identity of that team. I think it starts with their new quarterback, Marcel Reed, who’s clearly become the focal point of what they’re doing offensively. You can tell, in my opinion, Coach [Collin] Klein is very comfortable with him as the quarterback, his style of play reflects, in my opinion, what Coach Klein had in the past at K State, and the type of player that he was. He does a great job of designing run schemes for him, also utilizing him on the move, and he’s able to create opportunities on his own with his feet. Interesting connection. Marcel’s sister, Briah Reed, is our assistant director of on campus recruiting here at the University of Missouri, so she’s not allowed at practice this week. Didn’t know that until about three weeks ago when he started at Florida and won, and one of the staff members told me, so obviously happy for their family, and Briah does an excellent job here, and we’re very fortunate for her to be on our staff.
“You know, Coach Elko always does a tremendous job on defense. They’re multiple and they’re attack, very multiple in their coverage scheme. Third downs have always been a problem. I’ve gone against him several times in my past, like I told Kirby [Moore], it’s his opportunity to try to dial it up, because I haven’t been too successful against it. They’ve got some really good football players, led by Mel Kiper’s number one defensive end on the board, Nic Scourton. He’s a game wrecker, single handedly won the game for them in my opinion versus Arkansas. But it’s not just him. They have multiple defensive linemen who I think are tremendous players, whether you’re talking about Shemar Stewart or Shemar Turner. Cashius Howell, the transfer from Bowling Green, played at Rockhurst and is a really good player that subs in in their diamond package. So, they’ve got a really good scheme on both sides of the ball. They’re extremely talented, and it’s going to be a very difficult challenge for us. You know, as a team, we really need to have the best Tuesday practice we’ve had all year, and that’s our challenge for our team is to stack good days. You know, the only thing we can control right now is our preparation for today, and that’s really what our focus is.”
(Ref.: On the advantages of having a bye week before a big matchup)
“I think the advantages were where you kind of got to see where you’re at after four games and figure out what are the continued glaring weaknesses that you have got to shore up, and then what are the strengths, or maybe the things that have surprised you, that you should push your team toward. And then the opportunity to get healthy. You know, I think so far, other than Marquis [Johnson], everybody else is going to be ready to roll.”
(Ref.: On what things he took a longer look at during the bye week and what really stood out to him)
“Yeah, I mean, there was multiple things in really all three phases, but it really kind of was summed up in you know third down offensively. In the red areas we’ve not been good in the two power four games. I think we were 3-for-10. You know, there’s a lot of different things that can get fixed but if you just fix those issues, I think everything else kind of falls into place. So being better in third downs in the red zone. Defensively, we had missed 22 tackles against Vanderbilt, and we had, in the two power four games, we had four busted coverages that directly resulted in 28 points. So, you know, clearly communicate. Make sure we’re all on the same page and then better tracking angles and tackling, which was a point of emphasis last week in our drill work, and then consistency at the specialist position. You know, we’ve had two out of bounds kicks in four games, which just can’t happen. And we’ve had, you know, multiple games with multiple missed field goals, which has got to get cleaned up. So, again every position coach had things for their position and every player had things that they needed to improve, but from a 10,000 feet view, that was what my focus was.”
(Ref.: On what needs to change on third downs in order to be more successful)
“Oh, I don’t think there’s a whole lot that has to necessarily change. I think there’s just got to be better execution, and there’s got to be better schematic fits. Couple of plays designed weren’t conducive to being successful and a couple of plays, you know, aren’t executed the way we thought they should be. So, it’s everybody doing their job just a little bit better is really what it comes down to.”
(Ref.: On if he expects Marcel Reed to be the starting quarterback for Texas A&M)
“I mean, at this point, I know on their depth chart it says the other kid’s the starting quarterback, but I mean, that’s just semantics in my opinion. The guy is 3-0 as the starter, and you know, whether he’s listed as questionable or whatever, I don’t see them going back. So, they’re 3-0 and they clearly have a different offensive identity with this guy as the quarterback and they’ve developed an offense that fits around his system. It’s a little, I wouldn’t say a little bit different, it’s a lot different than the first game of the year. So, I mean, if they go with the other one, they go with the other one, but they’ve kind of already built the offense toward this, toward Marcel [Reed]. I think he went out with the press conference yesterday, so whether or not there’s semantics around it, I fully anticipate Marcel, being 3-0 as the starter, is going to be the starting quarterback.”
(Ref.: On what similarities he can pull from the previous quarterbacks Missouri has faced in order to prepare for Marcel Reed)
“You know, it’s a common theme right now for the opponents that we play. I think he’s got a speed dynamic that is similar to Thomas Castellanos. I don’t know if his, until you see him live, I don’t know if the short area quickness or burst is the same. And I don’t know if he’s got the physicality necessarily that Diego [Pavia] had, but he’s kind of somewhere in between both of them. He does a really good job keeping his eyes down field, throwing the ball. Obviously at the wheel route at Florida for a big one that kind of exploded the game in A&M’s favor. So, he can definitely create on the move and he does a really good job of buying himself time. I think, you know, maybe one stat I saw was he threw for two touchdowns and had 80 yards rushing in back-to-back games. I don’t think he quite got there last week, but that was the first time since Johnny Manziel that that had been done. So obviously, he’s in rare air with what he’s able to do from an athleticism standpoint. You know, for us, it’s just one of those challenges that I think he’s a really good thrower, so it’s not like you can sit there and try to do the same rushing attack that we had against Boston College to keep him in the pocket because he’ll pick you apart. But I don’t know that we can afford to let him out of the pocket the way we end up letting go with Diego a couple of times. So, we got some challenges on that side of the ball to try to figure that out.”
(Ref.: On what makes Le’Veon Moss a dynamic player)
“Physical back, downhill guy. You know, they do a really good job in their fold schemes, trying to create edges. They’re consistent with trying to run the football, you know, we’ve gone against Coach Klein in the past two years, you know he’s going to, he understands that running the football is not just about creating an explosive in the first quarter. It’s about adding up those carries so that in the fourth quarter they can really take their toll on a defense. And I think that’s what you saw in the Arkansas game. Downhill back, shoulders, runs violent.”
(Ref.: On the team’s first road game being at Kyle Field)
“It’s an interesting situation, just because, you know, we’ve got 46 new players on the team, so it’s going to be a lot of newness for everybody traveling. We’ve all traveled before, but it’s the first time traveling together. And so for a head coach who worries about everything, that’s a little bit of a point of concern for me right now. It’s going to be hot, supposed to be 92 degrees on Saturday, which would be the hottest game we’ve played in all year, which it’s again, October. Holy cow. And then, you know, you’re going to have to combine that with 105 thousand people who, you know, joined forces and are trying to, you know, create distractions for your team. So, you’re going to have to be able to block out the noise play on the 100 and, you know, the 100-yard field and the 53/3 yard wide, and focus on the things that you control in between the white lines. You know, communication is going to be at a premium. You watch back the Alabama-A&M game last year. I mean, it’s first and second down, and their center and quarterback are having trouble on exchanges. So, you know, it’s something that we’ve been preparing. We’ve worked a noise segment of our practice every single day since the start of fall camp, but now it’s going to be noise for a full, you know, three hours and five minutes. So, it’s going to require a lot of concentration and a lot of focus.”
(Ref.: On Marquis Johnson’s role and battling an injury this early)
“Well, I think in the last game he made a huge play coverage down the field, and he’s embraced his role as one of the best gunners that I’ve ever had on a special teams unit. So, he’s found ways to be productive on our football team outside of just catching the ball. But now this is a new challenge, obviously, with a banged-up ankle and trying to get back healthy as quickly as you can, knowing that you’re not going to be, you know, for a guy who relies on his speed, that’s probably the biggest challenge is when you’re not quite where you want to be with your speed. So, it’s something that we’re all, you know, rooting for and working and he’s going to have to work his way through it. Fortunately, he’s got guys in that room who’ve battled through that, you know. Luther [Burden III] his first year battled a high ankle for the first part of the season, you know? So, there’s some people in that room that can help him with the mentality part of it.”
(Ref.: On if there was anyone specifically he checked in with in Boone, North Carolina, after the hurricane)
“Well, honestly, I checked in with several of them. Tried to check in with several people over the course of Saturday and Sunday, but limited cell service so didn’t get responses. Have gotten a couple of responses today. People in our old neighborhood, friends in our old neighborhood, who have, you know, suffered flooding, and then obviously, the pictures of downtown Boone were, I mean, mind numbing to me. The picture of the Walmart flooded. There’s a picture of the Boone Golf Course, that you know has eight feet of water on it. Just knowing the communities there and where people were living, just knowing that houses are destroyed and, I think that’s probably a really hard thing, I don’t think I know it would be. Hurricanes coming in from the Gulf and you can kind of prepare for it, but to be in the mountains of western North Carolina and wake up one day and everything you have is floating down the flooding area is unimaginable. I know they’re in desperate need of supplies. I saw yesterday where Joe Gibbs Racing had donated his helicopter and was flying in supplies, and several people were donating helicopter services. I saw where the NC State player and his mom were sending up U-Haul trucks and trailers, but the people of western North Carolina are resilient and tough but they need our help now more than ever.”
GET YOUR ARKANSAS TICKETS NOW!
A limited number of reserved single-game tickets remain available for the Nov. 30 Arkansas game. Reserved season tickets have sold out as well as single-game reserved tickets for games against Auburn and Oklahoma.
Purchase single-game tickets now by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or buying online.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou Athletics, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on X , Instagram and Facebook.
