Drinkwitz Confident in Mizzou After Response to Texas A&M Loss

The Missouri Tigers head coach reflected on the accountability his team took on after losing in Week 6.

Oct 22, 2022; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz on the sidelines against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first half of the game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Eli Drinkwitz left College Station, Texas with at least one positive takeaway — the response from his Missouri Tigers team following a 41-10 loss to Texas A&M.

"What gives me a lot of confidence," Drinkwitz said Tuesday, "in our football team and our staff is the way we handled ourselves after the game. There wasn't finger pointing, there was not assigning blame."

After a poor performance in many areas, the Tigers had plenty of reason to turn against each other. But, according to Drinkwitz, there was no blaming or complaining, just accountability.

"There was a responsibility," Drinkwitz said, "accepting of 'hey, I had ownership in this. It starts with me, and we got to work to improve.' And that's how you bounce back."

Missouri rolled over itself after falling to a 17-0 deficit in the first 16 minutes of play. The tide was too strong for the Tigers to sustain a comeback effort. Add the pressure of the enviroment at Kyle Field and the Tigers were in store for a beatdown.

Missouri failed to score until the 5:06 mark of the third quarter. Heading into a week as a top-10 team, the Tigers have their work cut out for them to improve the same issues they've had since the beginning of the season.

"I'm not specifically concerned with any one side of the ball," Drinkwitz said. "I'm concerned with, as the head football coach, making sure that our team is working to improve and making sure that our schemes put us in a better position for our players to execute."

Drinkwitz's approach applied to he and his coaching staff too. At some point, if the team isn't executing, something needs to change in what they're being asked to do. The staff is taking a comprehensive look to see how they can to better utilize the personnell.

"You look at everything," Drinkwitz said on where the staff looks to make improvements. "You look at preparation, the travel, the practice, plans."

Though there's a long list of things to work — penalties, lack of explosive plays, third downs, etc. — there's a balance between overwhelming players with drastic changes six weeks into the season.

"I think you have to be steady in your approach," Drinkwitz said. "Who I think run into the most trouble are the ones who jerk the steering wheel too fast.

A slight adjustment can change the direction and angle of a football team."

Missouri hopes to take the Texas A&M loss in stride and not make any knee-jerk, emotional decisions that will derail the Tigers from their hopes for the season. Drinkwitz believes their reaction and response will define the outlook for their entire season.

"I had a very clear and direct message with our team," Drinkwitz said. "One bad day doesn't define our team or our season. Our response will. There's going to be bad days. You're not always going to have peak performance as much as we would like to."

The challenge for the Tigers is to consolidate the loss into a learning experience and not one that snowballs into an avalanche that bursts

Drinkwitz believes the issues experienced against Texas A&M are all fixable. He has no concerns about the amount of effort or motivation of his team. Just whether or not they can make the necessary improvements.

Not allowing attitude to become a roadblock to reaching those improvements will be critical.

"The sky is not falling. We had a poor performance. Doesn't have to define us."

Read more Missouri Tigers news:

Mizzou's Season Will Be Determined by Response to Blowout Loss
Bowl Projections for Mizzou Football Ahead of Week 7
Chaos Ensues as Six Top-25 Teams Fall - Eye of the Tiger, Week 6