Eli Drinkwitz Reveals Mizzou's Focus During Bye Week Practices

On a recent appearance on the Bobby Bones show, Missouri football head coach Eli Drinkwitz commented on what its Week 5 bye provided the team.

Sep 14, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz greets players against the Boston College Eagles prior to a game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The first of two bye weeks for the Missouri Tigers came early on its 2024 campaign, but came at an ideal time for the Tigers.

Missouri narrowly handled the Vanderbilt Commodores in a double-overtime win during Week 4, in which it was expected to easily grab a win at home. Instead it came down to the wire, causing it to drop four spots in the AP poll.

The Tigers certainly needed the extra week to regroup before heading to College Station, Texas in Week 6, where they will take on the Texas A&M Aggies for the first time since 2021. The bye week allows for further preparation for future opponents, but for head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his roster, it's mostly extra time to focus on themselves.

"You get to just take a deep breath, you don't have this constant churning in your stomach like you've got something on Saturday that's going to determine that happiness of about 6.5 million people, including yourself," Drinkwitz said on a recent episode of The Bobby Bones Show.

Instead, Drinkwitz was able to live in normalcy for a brief period, whether it be through picking his kids up after school or attending their volleyball and T-ball games.

On the football side, it allowed Missouri to really take the time in practice to work on the things it needs to improve on before Saturday. Drinkwitz set aside increments during practice to focus on individual areas — including third downs and motion adjustments — which provided greater attention to fix the issues that arose against Vanderbilt.

For Drinkwitz, the bye week was less about the Aggies or any other opponent coming in the next few weeks, it was about the Tigers.

"I don't like to practice too much for one team," Drinkwitz said. "No matter how much you practice, they're going to have a new wrinkle, so you got to be prepared to adjust."

Missouri will and has scouted Texas A&M plenty, but if it can't improve where it needs to, that won't matter at the end of four quarters.

Read more Missouri Tigers news:

Why Week 6 Marks Crucial Point for Mizzou's 2024 Season
2024 Missouri Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 6: UMass
SEC Network Pregame Show to Be in College Station for Mizzou, Texas A&M Matchup