Everything Eli Drinkwitz, Bill O'Brien Said After Missouri's Win Over Boston College

Both head coaches held press conferences following Missouri's six-point victory over Boston College.

Sep 14, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz talks with Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien after the game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The final score was far different for the No. 6 Missouri Tigers than the previous two weeks, but they still managed to secure a 27-21 win over the No. 24 Boston College Eagles.

Although deal-threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos was an intimidating matchup for the Missouri defense, it held him particularly well overall, allowing 249 yards on 16-of-28 pass completions and just 16 yards on 13 carries. Meanwhile, Luther Burden III and Nate Noel each individually stepped up on offense for big days.

Here is everything head coaches Eli Drinkwitz and Bill O'Brien said following the game:

Eli Drinkwitz

Opening statement

"Really proud of the football team today. Was not pretty, wasn't our best performance top to bottom, but we really responded. We hadn't been challenged all year, and it was concerned with so many new faces about what that response would be. Today I think you saw the team that's committed to each other, a team that responds, a team that's never out of a fight. They took some of the things that we really talked about, we talked about the swing eight, we end up winning the swing eight 10 to nothing. We talked about forcing turnovers, obviously, two to nothing. And then we talked about as an offense, you always want to finish the game with the ball in your hand. Today reminded me of the Middle Tennessee game last year, where if we give the ball back, they've got all the momentum. We're not playing the way we need to, on defense right there in that last instance. Brady and Luther completed a big time third down, and then Brady keeps that on the zone read at the end. So really proud of them for those things. Like I said, there's a lot of a lot of stuff to take off the tape. I mean, first fourth down of the game, we're in zone. It's inexcusable for that ball to even be completed. They fumble the ball, and we have everybody on defense run up instead of staying in coverage, and then that last touchdown, it's cover three. I know Corey is disappointed. I thought he did a really good job stopping the run. But, we found out a lot about our guys today on both sides of the ball. The penalties, those are on me. I mean, at the end of the day, those are on me. They said they captured me getting on Luther pretty good about it, and that's the bottom line. That was selfish football, and it's got to get cleaned up. But, sure glad he's on our team for 100-something yards."

Message at halftime

"We had it right where we needed them to be. We needed to finish. I thought it was going to come down to conditioning, you can tell it's getting hot out there. We went right down and scored. I thought we were really in a peak position, but (the) penalties in the third quarter, I've never seen that many flags on a single offense in my time, so got to go back and watch that and go from there."

Defensive gameplan

"Anytime you rush past an athletic like that, then you're playing with 10. So we felt that we had an advantage if we could keep them in the pocket. We did that for most of the game, you just can't bust coverages when you're doing that. I thought that they had a great plan at the end of the half to be able to stuff them up there, get us the ball back and go down and score. Third quarter they didn't really do anything."

Blake Craig

"Difference in the game. There's a lot of questions about his field goals last week and I said I wasn't really concerned about it because I know he's got the leg for him to hit that 57-yarder at the end of the half. I think it gave our team a lot of confidence going into the half and he had an excellent game today."

Running backs and offensive line

"I think they did a really good job. We got our outside zone working and Nate and Marcus both did a really good countering it. I though about the offensive line, we weren't able to get up to the second level as effectively in the second half and we weren't finishing our blocks right there in the fourth quarter. But, again, did enough to win the game."

Response from the team

"When they went out and scored, our offense went down and kicked the field goal. I felt like we were going to be fine moving the ball, it's just a continued missed execution here. If we want to be the team we want to be, we got to take personal responsibility in that."

Tre'Vez Johnson's interception

"I think it shifted a whole lot. We just kicked the field goal, Tre'Vez gets the interception. Great, great return yardage. I think was a three or four play drive right there. I told everybody on the headsets that we were going to go for two when we scored the next possession, because I just felt like we had fought so hard to get back in there. I wanted the game to be tied. So was really, really proud of Vez for setting us up, the offense for responding, and then the executions on the play."

Getting Luther Burden III involved early

"We got a lot of really good players, and the ball finds the players. It's it's supposed to. If we were talking about the end of the first half, I would be concerned, but I'm not. There's a couple of plays that were designed for him to be option A or B, right there in the quarterback, the other guy was open. So it is what it is. He has to maximize his opportunity, and he's got to stay disciplined in the third quarter."

Defense stopping the run

"That was the key. We really felt like if we could stuff the run and contain the quarterback, that was the key to having success. And we really did that. We stuffed the run, we contained the quarterback after that first drive. I felt like we got into a rhythm of really compressing him in the pocket, and that was really the key for us.

Approach on the last drive

"The approach right there was the ball was at the 37 and there's no real statistical difference between being up 13 or 10. In fact, you could argue it's worse for you to be up 13 than 10, because they know that there's no longer a third down component. They got to go forward on fourth down. So at that point, without really being able to flip the field, it felt like at fourth and four, that was a very makeable fourth down. Same thing on the fourth and two, when we didn't get it on the third and four it was going to be better off to take the points."

Mindset flip from first to second quarter

"It was the first time that we had to face some adversity, I think everybody kind of had to settle into what the fist fight was going to be and that's really what happened. We kind of settled into what the fist fight was going to be and what we were going to have to do respond. I thought we would start faster than that, but we didn't, so that's the response. (I) said in the locker room, 'it's great to be 3-0, but there's got to be a lot of improvement in order for us to take on the SEC,' which is what next week is. Coach plays kind of open up the forward office. Yeah, I thought, thought we did a better job of creating some explosives in the past game. Obviously, Luther had the big one. Mookie had two and then some of the run lanes. So those are always important."

Chunk plays

"I thought we did a better job of creating explosive plays in the pass game. Obviously Luther had the big one, Mookie had two and then some of the run lanes. So those are always important, got to keep searching for them."

Nate Noel

"He got really hot on the outside zone, and he's got so much experience carrying that play. We felt like it was going to be an outside zone game, so that's kind of where we're going with him. Obviously, Nate or Marcus did a really good job of getting their shoulders down, and I believe that last drive of the game was Marcus getting us the 38 yards and then Brady finishing it off right there. It's going to be whoever fits the strengths the most, so hot hand scheme decision."

Brett Norfleet

"I haven't gotten any updates on the injury report. Had a couple of catches and a couple of more design plays we couldn't get to. Always great to have him back. We were a little bit worried about making sure we didn't do too much with him in the run game just because of that shoulder, but every week, every day he's getting a little bit stronger."

Dreyden Norwood's pick

"I think we turned it into three points right there, that was the one we went for it on fourth down twice. It was really good because we had done the exact same thing when he scrambled, we all just took off running like a dadgum Little League football team chasing the ball. Fortunate for us that Dreyden had enough wherewithal to stay in the zone."

Responding with new faces

"I got a lot of new staff, I got a lot of new players. So for us to have to face some adversity and then figure out who we are, who we can count on, what are you going to do when your back's against the wall and you're tired, I think was really important. Guys who fell short of the standard today, they got to look themselves in the eye, look themselves in the mirror, and say, I'm gonna pick myself up and figure out how to improve and not let this happen again."

Corey Batoon

"I mean, just up there dialing up great calls. He did lose it a little bit on the last coverage bust. But, he's a vet. Can't say enough great things about him and the calming presence and tactical advantages that he gives us. Again, disappointed that we gave up that many points, but he did a really good job keeping our guys focused. The next week's quarterback is going to be real similar."

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Sep 14, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien watches the replay board against the Missouri Tigers during the first half at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Bill O'Brien

Q: Coach, in the late second quarter and third quarter, you guys seem to be struggling with some tackling. Can you guys just talk about that issue and how that needs to get corrected?

O’BRIEN: Yeah, I think at times we tackled well, but you're right. I mean, we did, we did struggle tackling at that point in the game. We gave up too many yards rushing, turned the ball over too much. How do we correct it? We go back to work. We go back to practice. We’re never going to accept losing at Boston College but these guys fought hard, very proud of these guys. We got to coach better. I think all of us have to give a collective effort. Get back tomorrow, we go right back to work. That's what football is.

Q: What does this game say about where you're at and where you want to be? How far are you up to get to where you want to go?

O’BRIEN: Yeah, that's a good question. Trevor, I don't know. I probably have to watch the film to really answer that for you probably when I see you this week, but I was very proud of these guys to come on the road in the SEC. We're never going to accept losing. It's not a moral victory. That's not what I'm saying. I want to be real clear about that but even with the adversity that we dealt with, we turned the ball over, we had trouble stopping the run at the end, we were in the game. If we stop them on that last that second to last third down got shot to get the ball back, you never know what's going to happen. So should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, no doubt about it, but I think we got a lot to build on here and I'm really proud of these guys and I'm looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow.

Q: Coach, beginning of the game you start incredibly fast, at least on the scoreboard. You get out, get out to that quick lead. It obviously goes away, but then to come back. For you in that game flow, what does that kind of speak to the team as well, just that you were able to get out to that quick start against a good opponent, whether, knowing they were eventually going to have their abilities?

O’BRIEN: Yeah, I was happy to see that. I think the big thing again is, like, especially, really both sides of the ball, but sustaining, like putting drives together. Too many three and outs, too many yards on the ground, running the ball for Missouri. That's not us, BC. We were stopping the run pretty well that we got to get back to stopping the run. They did a great job with their stretch and cut scheme and people are going to see that, and we've gotta be ready to do a better job against that. But like I said, I'm very proud of the way the guys fought, and looking forward to kind of getting back after it tomorrow.

Q: You mentioned third down, you guys were 4-for-11, they were 11-for-19. I know you gotta watch the film, but anything in particular you saw?

O’BRIEN: Yeah, definitely a difference in the game or one of the differences in the game was their ability to convert. They had a lot more third and shorts than we did. We had a lot of third longs and that's not a recipe for success, especially against a good team. So we've got to stay on schedule better offensively and then defensively, we’ve got to do a better job on first and second down. They had too many 3rd-and-2’s, 3rd-and-3’s and that's not really a good recipe for success. So they definitely won the third down battle, no doubt, them credit.

Q: Coach, seems like your pass rush was able to get you out of some situations where Mizzou could have really pulled away there. Just talk about how those guys performed tonight and what you liked from them?

O’BRIEN: Yeah, I think the defense was on the field quite a bit, and I give them credit. I think, like I’ve said all along, I think Fitzy did a great job with this team. These guys are in shape. It was hot out there. We rolled a lot of guys in there but they were out there a long time and to continue to try to put heat on the quarterback, which they did pretty consistently was was good, it was good. It was just really, to me, it was not, an inability to stop the run. I think if we can do a better job of stopping the run that's going to lead to more success for us in the future.

Q: You guys established that early 14-3 lead and then they took a 55-yard field goal to go into the half up 17-14. I just want to hear about kind of your message to the team at halftime. What the focus was after going into the second half and then secondly, can you just take me through that broken play that resulted in the 67 yard touchdown from Castellanos to Reed? I just want to hear kind of your account of that.

O’BRIEN: Yeah, halftime. I just said, look, it's going to come down to the team that executes the best. It was a close game. It was a great Division I, it was a great game. I felt like it was, not sure what the fans thought, but I felt like it was a really good football game. And I thought those type of games come down to who executes the best, and they executed better than we did. And give them a lot of credit, they got a good football team. On the 67 yard deal, it was kind of a fast break type play, get up, get set. I think they, they kind of shifted their front, Drew, snapped it a little bit early, not Drew's fault was kind of the way they shifted their front and the ball was rolling around, and Tommy improvised. Made a really good play. That was the play, though. And, it was a heck of a play.

Q: What's your message to Tommy after this one?

O’BRIEN: I haven't talked to him yet, but I talked to him a lot during the game. He's, he's done so many good things for us and all of us wish we could have plays back. We wish we all could have plays back, coaches and players alike. So we're going to work very, very hard to get him back on track. He'll work very hard. He's a very, very good player. We're lucky to have Tommy. We're in the game because of Tommy and those some of the plays that he made and he knows that he's got to execute better, make better decisions, more consistent decisions, and he'll do that.

Q: So you guys have run the ball really well, the first two games but this game that wasn't the case. Can you talk me through what you felt was not going well on the run? What Missouri did to stop it?

O’BRIEN: Got a good front. Got a good front, we got a good offensive line. I would say that we battled, we got behind. We had to throw the ball a little bit more but give Missouri credit, they did a good job up front. They tackled, well, they got a good team. I mean, if Missouri's number six in the country, they're there for a reason. They got a good football team and we just weren't able to establish a consistent running game, and that's got to improve moving forward.

Q: Coach, you just mentioned the stretch and cut, I think is what it was called, you mentioned about Missouri. Just as a clarifying question, could you just explain what that is, just for those of us that don't know or speak the language.

O’BRIEN: Yeah, no problem. They run a great, they have a great running scheme, kind of like the old Denver Broncos, where they run the outside zone to the tight end side, to the split end side, and the backs do a great job of pressing a lot of scrimmage. The offensive line is very athletic. The tight ends do a good job, and they cut the backside and so the back presses it. If he keeps the front side, he keeps the front side, otherwise he's got planes to cut it backside and we struggled to stop that play. We worked very hard on it this week, we did a lot of different things to try to stop it. But it was a tough play to stop and we've got to do a better job of that moving forward. I think our guys fought hard, I think we'll all work together to improve that.

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