Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said Ahead of Matchup with Texas A&M

Drinkwitz talked to the media about the coming matchup following a week off.

Aug 29, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz watches team warm ups against the Murray State Racers prior to a game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The No. 9 Missouri Tigers are back in action on October 5, heading to College Station to face the No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies.

The Aggies won't be an easy team at all, sitting at 4-1 on the season with wins over Florida and Arkansas. Their only loss came at the hands of Notre Dame in Week 1, dropping that matchup by 10. Last week, the Aggies battled the Arkansas Razorbacks and came out on top 21-17. Defensive end Nic Scourton's sack with 1:30 to play in the fourth quarter sealed it for the Aggies and the performance of running back Le'Veon Moss put points on the board. The immense amount of talent on both sides of the ball for the Aggies should prove a challenge for the visiting Tigers.

Here's everything Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz had to say prior to the Tigers faceoff with Texas A&M.

On the advantages of having an early bye week:

“I think the advantages were, you kind of got to see where you're at after four games and figure out what are the continued glaring weaknesses that you got to sure up and then what are the strengths, or maybe the things that have surprised you, that you should push your team towards.

Then, the opportunity to get healthy. I think so far, other than (wide receiver) Marquis (Johnson), everybody else is going to be ready to roll.”

On what the focus was for the team during the bye week:

“There was multiple things in, really all three phases, but it really kind of was summed up in, third down offensively, the red area has not been good in the two Power Four games, think we were three-for-10. There's a lot of different things that can get fixed, but if you just fix those issues, I think everything else kind of falls into place.”

“Defensively, we missed 22 tackles against Vanderbilt, in the two Power Four games, we had four busted coverages that directly resulted in 28 points. So,clearly communicate, make sure we're all on the same page. And then better track with angles and tackling, which was a point of emphasis last week, in our drill work.”

“Then consistency at the specialist position.We've had two out of bounds kicks in four games, which can't happen. We've had multiple games with multiple missed field goals which has to be cleaned up.”

On the process of improving execution in the red zone: 

“I don't think there's a whole lot that has to necessarily change. I think there's just got to be better execution, and there's got to be better schematics.A couple of plays designed weren't conducive to being successful and a couple of plays weren't executed the way we thought they would be. So it's everybody doing their job just a little bit better, is really what it comes down to.” 

On Texas A&M’s quarterback situation:

“I mean, at this point, I know on their depth chart, it says the other kid (Conner Weigman) is the starting quarterback, but, I mean, that's just semantics. In my opinion, the guy’s (Marcel Reed) 3-0 as the starter and whether he's listed as questionable or whatever, I don't see him going back. 

They clearly have a different offensive identity with this guy (Reed) as the quarterback, and they've developed an offense that fits around his system. It's a little bit- Well, I wouldn’t say it's a little bit different, It's a lot different than the first game of the year. 

I mean, if they go with the other one (Weigman), they go with the other one, but they kind of already built the offense towards Marcel.”

On Reed’s mobility compared to the quarterbacks of Missouri’s two previous opponents:

“It's a common theme right now for the opponents that we play. I think he's (Reed) got a speed dynamic that is similar to (Boston College’s) Thomas Castellanos. Until you see him live, I don't know if the short area quickness or burst is the same. I don't know if he's got the physicality necessarily that (Vanderbilt’s) Diego (Pavia) had, but he's kind of somewhere in between both of them.

He does a really good job keeping his eyes downfield, throwing the ball, he had the wheel route (at) Florida, for a big one that kind of exploded the game for A&M’s favor. 

He can definitely create on the move, and he does a really good job of buying himself time. One stat I saw was he threw for two touchdowns and 80 yards rushing in back-to-back games, I don’t think he quite got there last week, but that was the first time since Johnny Manziel that that had been done (at Texas A&M).

He's in rare air with what he's able to do from an athleticism standpoint. For us, it's just one of those challenges. I think he's a really good thrower, so it's not like we can sit there and try to do the same rushing attack that we had against Boston College to keep him in the pocket, because he'll pick you apart. But I don't know that we can afford to let him out of the pocket the way we ended up letting Diego a couple times.”

On Texas A&M running back Le’Veon Moss:

“Physical back, downhill guy. They do a really good job in their fold schemes, trying to create edges. 

They're consistent with trying to run the football, we've gone against (offensive coordinator Colin) Klein in the past two years. He understands that running the football is not just about creating explosives in the first quarter, it's about adding up those carries so that the fourth quarter, they can really take their toll on defense.”

On expected challenges of first road game of the season: 

“It's an interesting situation, just because we've got 46 new players on the team, so it's going to be a lot of newness for everybody traveling. We've all traveled before, but it's the first time traveling together, and so for a head coach who worries about everything, that's a little bit of a point of concern for me right now.

It's going to be hot. It's supposed to be 92 degrees on Saturday, which would be the hottest game we've played in all year. 

But then you're going to have to combine that with 105,000 people who are joined forces and trying to create distractions for your team. So you're going to have to be able to block out the noise. … It's something that we've been preparing for. We've worked a noise segment of our practice every single day since the start of fall camp, but now it's going to be noise for a full three hours and five minutes, so it's going to require a lot of concentration and a lot of focus.”

On Marquis Johnson’s patience through the early season: 

“I think in the last game, he made a huge play, coverage down the field. He's embraced his role as one of the best gunners that I've ever had on the special teams unit. So he's found ways to be productive on our football team, outside of just catching the ball.

“But now this is a new challenge. With the banged up angle and trying to get back healthy as quick as you can knowing that you're not going to be, for a guy who relies on his speed, that's probably the biggest challenge is when you're not quite where you want to be with your speed. So, you know, it's, it's something that we're all rooting for and working and he's going to have to work his way through.” 

“Fortunately, he's got guys in that room who battled through that.  Luther’s first year, battled the high ankle for the first part of the season. so there's some people in that room that can help him with the mentality.”

Opening Statement

“Just want to start by saying my heart, thoughts and prayers are with the people of Western North Carolina. Obviously, my family spent some time there in Boone, North Carolina and to see the devastation caused by the hurricane has been very difficult. I know those people are very resilient, but they could definitely use our help. I know I retweeted a tweet by Shaw Clark today that has a link for donations for the people of Boone, specifically the student athletes and the faculty at Appalachian State University. But there's all kinds of people in Western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, that could use our help and so definitely want to bring awareness to them and let them know that they're not forgotten and that our prayers are with them.

“We have a tremendous challenge to go on the road this week to play a top 25 team in one of the premier stadiums in college football. Mike Elko has done a tremendous job wherever he's been as a head football coach and obviously this being his first year and he's really doing a tremendous job developing the identity of that team. I think it starts with their new quarterback, Marcel Reed, who's clearly become the focal point of what they're doing offensively. You can tell Coach Klein is very comfortable with him as the quarterback. His style of play reflects, in my opinion, what Coach Klein had in the past at Kansas State. The type of player that he was does a great job designing run schemes for him, also utilizing him on the move and he's able to create opportunities on his own with his feet.  

Marcel's sister Briah Reed is our Assistant Director of On-Campus Recruiting here at the University of Missouri, so she's not allowed to be at practice this week. Didn't know that until about three weeks ago, when he started against Florida. One of the staff members told me, so obviously happy for their family. Briah does an excellent job here and we're very fortunate for her to be on our staff here. 

“Coach Elko always does a tremendous job on defense. They're multiple in their attack, very multiple in their coverage scheme. Third downs have always been a problem, gone against him several times in my past. Like I told Kirby [Moore], it's his opportunity to try to dial it up, because I haven't been too successful against it. They've got some really good football players, led by Mel Kipers, number one defensive end on the board, Nic Scourton. He's a game wrecker. Single handedly won the game for them versus Arkansas. But it's not just him. They have multiple defensive linemen who I think are tremendous players, whether you're talking about Shemar Stewart or Shemar Turner. Cashius Howell, the transfer from Bowling Green, who played for Rockhurst, is a really good player that subs in on their dime package. So they've got a really good scheme on both sides of the ball.

They're extremely talented. It's going to be a very difficult challenge for us. As a team, we really need to have the best Tuesday practice we've had all year and that's our challenge. For our team, it’s to stack good days. The only thing we can control right now is our preparation for today and that's really what our focus is.” 

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