After Another Tough Loss, HC Eliah Drinkwitz Says Missouri Tigers Will Press On

The Tigers were four-points away from knocking off the defending champs, but Georgia outlasted Missouri and handed them a 26-22 loss.

It's been one tough break after another for the Missouri Tigers lately. After having the game slip through their fingers against Auburn in Week 4, they were narrowly defeated by Georgia after leading for almost the entire game on Saturday. 

Although nobody expected Mizzou even to be close, watching their lead dwindle and disappear was heartbreaking to the Tigers fans that packed Faurot Field.

The Tigers can't dwell on the loss though. As much as they'd like to have one more crack at the Dawgs, Missouri has to move on and focus on their task ahead. It's been a rough few weeks for head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, but he says his team is ready to move forward.

"Press on, press on. That's what you gotta do," said Drinkwitz of what his message to the team was postgame. "A lot of football left, nobody feels sorry for us. Press on. We've got a lot of things to build on. Our football team's coming together. Press on. That's what we're gonna do."

Mizzou made their fair share of mistakes, especially on offense, and some of those were more costly than others. Still, there's a lot to build on even in the loss. For what it's worth, they outplayed the nation's best football team for 57 minutes. Moral victories aren't worth much in Power 5 football, but you've got to think the Tigers are headed in the right direction.

Quarterback Brady Cook played some of his best football, throwing for 192 yards plus a score, and controlled the ball against college football's most talented defense. Had it not been for a couple of untimely team penalties, he would have likely added to his touchdown total and secured a victory. 

The Tiger defense held Georgia to nothing but field goals for three quarters. The Bulldogs came in as one of the most potent offenses in the country and Mizzou stifled them for most of the game. They also won the turnover battle, forcing two turnovers. This defense is quickly becoming the strength of the team and looks like a true SEC unit.

They'll have another conference challenge this coming weekend when they face the Florida Gators. Mizzou will travel to The Swamp to take on their SEC rival and try to bring home their first road win of the season. For Drinkwitz and the Tigers, it's a chance to take that next step forward and see what this Missouri team is really made of. 

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