Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said After Mizzou's Win Over Vanderbilt

The Missouri Tigers head coach held a post-game press conference following their win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Sept. 21.

Sep 21, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz reacts after defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores in double overtime at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Saturday's game was full of many firsts in 2024 for the Missouri Tigers — a deficit at halftime and an overtime period.

Still, Missouri managed to leave Faurot with its fourth win of the season, mainly off the back of Nate Noel's 199 rushing yard performance. Several mistakes and poorly-timed decisions plagued its passing game, but Brady Cook and Luther Burden III were able to connect in overtime.

Here is everything head coach Eli Drinkwitz said following the game:

Opening Statement:

“Hats off to Coach Lea and his Vanderbilt Commodores football team. They’re a really tough football team, I knew they were going to come in here with something to prove, and they battled us…and battled and battled. But I'm really, really proud of our football team for finding a way to never give in, never flinching. Every time there was a deficit, we came back and found a way to take a lead. Didn't do what we wanted to in the third and fourth quarter, put the ball game away, didn't flinch, defense gave up the first touchdown in overtime. Brady answers with Luther on the first call, and then we find a way to win in overtime. The crowd was unbelievable all game, and they were the difference. I mean, we called the time out, the student section, the band, people on the hill, itt was obviously a very tough situation for that young man, and I give the fans all the credit. Proud to be 1-0 in the SEC."

On postgame emotions:

“I was really proud of the way our team fought. We didn’t have even close to our best game, and they just kept fighting. They just kept fighting for each other, they kept saying they had each other’s back, they grabbed Blake and told him they had his back. I’m proud of those guys for doing it.”

On Cook’s performance:

“It was 23 to 37 for 226 and two touchdowns. Obviously the three sacks are an issue. You know, [he’s] efficient. 1-0 in the SEC.”

On kicking struggles:

“Well, the first time, we didn't have any choices. We had to score. And the second time, it's just look, you just keep putting it back up. Att the end of the day we were going to trust him. It's a learning lesson, can't get too high, can't get too low. Last week we're SEC player of the week. This week, we're not so we’re somewhere in the middle. Just like the rest of us, and starting with me, we got to get better this week."

On decision to snap at the end of first half:

“Totally my fault. That was a really haphazard decision by me and the team bailed me out. Bottom line, I've got to be much better. Should have never done that."

On Blake Craig:

“Bottom line, he's gotta go between the uprights and the bottom line. There's no reaction. We gotta get better. I gotta get better. He's gotta get better. We all gotta get better. They didn't go through the uprights, so I'm not frustrated with him. Like I told the team, we're 4-0, and we got a lot of work to do. There were some really positives as far as the way we ran the football, but not good enough in the red zone for sure when we're kicking that many field goals.”

On his conversation with Craig:

“My conversation with him was to quit showing emotional responses and just go out there and execute. That’s what you got to do. You got to trust your training and your fundamentals and go out there and execute.”

On Nate Noel:

“Unbelievable. Obviously, had the big run right there in the third quarter. He’s a special player, I think we've all noticed that and known that. We just got to continue to finish drives for him, you know? That's the unfortunate thing right now. We're just not able, in the red zone to finish drives, and we got to take a really hard look at that, on what we're not able to do in the red zone and why we're not able to get touchdowns in there. The three field goals, at the end of the day, we got to be scoring touchdowns anyway. So that's on us. And by us, I said it’s on me.”

On Vanderbilt’s first touchdown:

“Just really poor play on the defensive side of the ball. So, we gotta get a lot better.”

On Chuck Hicks:

“Chuck's a leader. He's a captain, he's consistent. Had a sack and never flinches.”

On defensive line performance, Zion Young:

"I thought the defensive line really played well and had pressure. The quarterback is really tough to tackle, 119 yards. A lot of it was on plays that we thought we had a contained player. Obviously the last quarterback draw, it was a really good run by him. The option in the first half, we had two guys completely whiff up on the tackle. But Zion Young, I thought played well."

On Missouri’s job handling Diego Pavia:

“Well, he rushed for 119-yards, so it wasn't as good as we needed it to be. At the end of the day, we're all going to go back and watch the tape and say, a lot of things that we've got to do better. I thought our tackling angles were poor. I thought our first-man-in didn't tackle as well as we needed to in the run game."

On offensive success:

“Offensively, we weren't able to score enough points to flip their game plan, which was the goal all week, trying to get to a two score lead so that you could have to force them to do something besides run the option. We weren't able to do that.” 

On Brady Cook’s rushing ability:

“He had one key first down, right there in the third quarter. I'm not sure, I’ll have to go back and watch the tape. That probably was on me for not having good play design. I thought our pass protection was fine. The sack we took in the fourth quarter, we were hot and that was on us as a play design. So just got to get that stuff corrected. But it wasn't anything in the protection that I was upset with.”

Updates on Marquis Johnson, Brett Norfleet:

“Brett [Norfleet] was just a shoe issue. He just had the bottom of the sole broken. Marquis [Johnson] has an ankle injury. I'll get more updates as it comes. Couldn’t return, but wasn’t anything that warranted significant attention. Good news for a bye week.” 

On redzone drives, overtime lessons:

“I don't think we ended well in overtime, when we kicked another field goal in the red zone. We got to take a hard look at what we're doing in the red area to figure out why we can't sustain drives and why we're not able to convert third downs. So that's on me as the head football coach and I got to do better job finding answers.”

On Luther Burden’s first quarter touchdown:

“We knew on tape that they were overreacting to our outside zone and the great play design by Kirby [Moore]. We put everything into the boundary, which is a typical run formation for us and great action, great fake and great job by the quarterback.”

On preparing for Texas A&M, bye week:

“The furthest thing from everybody in that room, locker rooms, mine, starting with me and my staff, is going to be Texas A&M. We got to go take a hard look at the Missouri Tigers and we got to figure out why we're not executing the third downs in the red area, why we're not kicking field goals, why we're missing tackles, why we're busting assignments. So I'm not even kind of worried about Texas A&M.”

“We've been doing stuff since day one of fall camp when it comes to noise. So I'm not concerned about that. What I'm concerned about is our team enjoying a win, being 4-0, which is as good as we can be record wise, but we're not as good as we can be play wise, and we're going to have to settle in on that and figure out what we got to do to improve. It starts with me, and it starts with that being the message to the team and that's what we'll work to improve. That's always been how we've approached bye weeks and that's not going to change.”