Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said After Win Over Oklahoma

The Missouri Tigers head coach had plenty to say on fans who doubted Drew Pyne and the rivalry with Oklahoma.

Nov 9, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz calls a timeout during the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

No. 24 Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz earned another vindicating win in Week 11, with backup quarterback Drew Pyne leading the team to a 30-23 win over the Oklahoma Sooners.

Missouri moved on to 7-2 on the season after winning over Oklahoma for the first time since 2010. Drinkwitz had plenty to say about thoughts from social media on Pyne's previous performances and stirred up the revived rivalry between Missouri and Oklahoma.

Here's a full transcript from Drinkwitz's press conference after the win.

Opening Statement:

"This would be real disappointing to Bob Stoops, but OU doesn't always whoop Missouri's ass anymore. So, with that, I'll open it up for questions."

Q: Have you ever seen a finish as crazy as this in your career?

"No, I've never seen anything like that before. Obviously, for us to score, having to drive the length of the field was little bit surprising. As well as we were playing defensively, and then for us to turn the ball over like that. I just can't say how proud I am of Drew Pyne for all the crap he's taken. I feel like I'm up here all the time having to defend my quarterback, which is not great, but for all the crap he's taken on Twitter, for him to come out here with the noise, some of it from y'all [reporters] in this room, and y'all can raise up and look at me like it's not but it is, okay. He goes out there and delivers in the keyest moments in the fourth quarter, after fans been booing, he just goes out there and delivers. And that's the thing I love about this team, is we love y'all when you're cheering for us and when you're not, we just, we just keep on rolling. We're gritty. We're really, really gritty.

And atmosphere was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. But for the team just to stick together the way they did. Shoot, ball is on the 25 yard line, it looks like there's no way we're going to get it down there. Hits a slant, get a penalty, throws little play to Lou [Luther Burden III], and then to throw the game-tying touchdown to Theo was pretty awesome.

So extremely proud of our guys, extremely proud of Drew Pyne. Extremely proud of our defense for them to continue to go out there, the first nine points of the game, fake punt, the fourth down, and then a penalty on special teams. Otherwise, they don't give up anything, and they never even flinched, and just kept going out there, kept going out there. And it's the brotherhood of this team that is so, so special. So so special.

You have the injuries, and you have your backup quarterback and your center goes down. I mean, that's another thing. Drake Heismeyer goes in, is in there the whole time after Theo's touchdown on the screen, he didn't miss a beat.

Extremely proud of everybody on that team for just doing their job and doing it as well as they possibly could, no matter the circumstance. Both coordinators, I thought, did an excellent job. 9-3 at halftime, and I can't wait for that Mini Movie to come out. I mean, we all knew we were exactly where we wanted to be. We hadn't turned the ball over. We had established the run game. We knew it was going to turn our way, and took a little bit, but we got there."

On Drew Pyne's response after a three-interception day at Alabama:

"I see him in practice every day. I've seen his game. He's played a lot of college football. He's won a lot of college football games as a starter, and one bad outing doesn't define a player. We have to quit reacting to every single play like, let guys play, man. There's a lot of throwbacks in the NFL, [who throw] three interceptions, they don't go to the bench. You don't shoot 'em and get another one. You let them play through it. Drew is a great competitor. He had a great two weeks of practice. He was in here grinding on tape. We had a game plan that fit exactly who he was. I mean, he was excellent 11-for-19 on third downs. I mean, just excellent, pushing up in the pocket, making big time throws to Luther Burden. So there wasn't a shadow of doubt within this building [in Pyne]. Within this building, there was no doubt.

On what changed offensively from the first to second half:

"We were setting the table to be able to throw the ball in the second half, but we couldn't go out there and make a mistake early, or take a bunch of sacks or lose field position, you have to establish the run game. And that's what we did. And those yardage, started leading to longer yardage, and then it opened up the pass game, and we took advantage of what we needed to. I mean, Drew had a great quarterback draw.

On Theo Wease coming up for the team in multiple big moments:

"He's always been that way. There was a moment in this third quarter when we went three-and-out he came over there, was really, really frustrated, and I just grabbed him, pulled him aside and said, 'Hey, we need one play at a time, one play at a time.' And credit to him, he had four catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns."

On how this win will build momentum for the team moving forward:

"I mean, it's just one game at a time, and sets us up for next week to be another big time game, South Carolina, I'm sure there'll be ranked next week. So we'll get to go to Columbia for the Mayor's Cup, and we'll get a chance to compete for an opportunity [a matchup] versus two ranked teams. Of course, normally when we [win] we fall in our rankings. So maybe we'll see."

On the performance of the defensive line:

"They kicked ass all night."

On linebacker Triston Newson's performance, Zion Young's fumble recovery:

"Relentless. Dialed into the game plan. I mean, him and Corey FLagg were all over the place. Obviously, a sack, two and a half fumbles.

And, it's awesome. We do a drill every Monday and Tuesday, called the Bolton drill, and it's specifically a step over, ball comes out, and we scoop and score. We talk about it all the time, practice execution equals game day reality. And that's exactly what happened with Zion Young And I mean, it's teach, tape. It's awesome."

On running back Jamal Robert's performance:

"I thought he was a really tough runner. Unfortunate on that last play [fumble], but didn't flinch, went back in there and protected and did what we needed him to do."

On the performance of the offensive line:

"Armand [Membou] brought a lot of physicality to the game. They [Oklahoma's defense] run a lot of different fronts and a lot of different stunts, and so, it's challenging for us to to always be hat on a hat, not get on edges. But I thought those guys really did a nice job of mumbling up their twist game in the middle and getting after it."

On how open the SEC is and where this win positions Missouri:

"It just continues to allow each game to be important. I think for us, we have to just beat 1-0. The biggest thing for us is, don't let pressure or any of that stuff matter. Most important game we're gonna play this year is the Mayor's Cup, and it's gonna be an awesome opportunity to go into Columbia and play a really good team that's surging right now, so we'll have our hands full.

On how having Drew Pyne as the starter changed the preparation for this game:

"It's just experience within the system and making sure we call plays that he's comfortable with. When you go into a game, your quarterback has a lot to say in how you're trying to attack a team based off what he likes and what he's comfortable with, and so Drew's got a different feel and a different style. And so, we knew we needed to establish the run to take some pressure off of him. And I thought he delivered. I thought he did a really nice job stepping up in the pocket."

On what he saw from Drew Pyne at halftime:

"What I saw from everybody, no panic. It's a four-quarter game. We're a gritty team. [Wide receivers coach] Jacob Peeler reminded everybody that we were undefeated in the last two years and one-score games and we weren't going to lose this one. And I guess the team realized that and believed in it. We all believed in it. We don't play 30 minutes. We play sixty."

On limiting Oklahoma to

"Defensive coordinator] Corey Batoon had a heck of a game plan. If it wasn't for, like I said, the field position, crazy stuff in the first half, it would have been a lot different. So really proud of him [Batoon]."

On his live reaction to Zion Young's fumble recovery for a touchdown:

"I was discussing when we were going to use our final time at time out to try to force him into a punt to block it. So we weren't thinking overtime. We were thinking about how do we win the game in that situation. When I saw the ball on the ground, I was actually down there because I was close the official, and then I saw Z pick it up. My immediate reaction was to turn and keep everybody off the field, because I knew there was gonna be time left. I'm one of these guys, as y'all have seen in my reactions on the field, until it's :00, I don't really celebrate anything."

On the rivalry energy between the two teams:

"Felt pretty good. I thought coach Stoops did a nice job stirring it up this summer. And I thought their coaches did some stuff this summer that felt like they, stirred it up a little bit with some tweets and different things. Our guys were ready."