Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said to Preview Alabama

Read all the Missouri Tigers head coach said in his Tuesday press conference.

Oct 12, 2024; Amherst, Massachusetts, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz returns to the sideline during the second half against the Massachusetts Minutemen at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz knows the challenge that lies ahead of his team. Though two of Missouri's opponents were ranked when the Tigers faced off against them, Missouri has yet to win over a team currently ranked in the AP Poll.

Enter the No. 15 Alabama Crimson Tide. Here's all Drinkwitz had to say looking ahead to the Alabama matchup and reflecting on Missouri's win over Auburn.

Recapping win over Auburn:

Recap Saturday's win, really proud of our team and how they stuck together, and specifically defensive players, Zion Young, Eddie Kelly, Johnny Walker, Jahkai Lang, I thought those guys at the defensive end position played extremely well, provided big time plays when we really needed them. Obviously, Jahkai Lang had the sack in the third quarter on the drive that ended up being the missed field goal. Johnny Walker had the sack on the last drive the game, and Eddie Kelly was involved in two of the three tackles on the last stop defensively. Zion Young had his best game since he's been here. So just really proud of him and the way he provided leadership to our team on the sideline, and the energy responded every time we put him in bad situations. Coach Batoon and the defensive staff deserve a lot of credit. We got to continue to improve and build upon that performance. But I was just really proud of those guys.

Offensively, really proud of Mookie Cooper, that the play he made in the third quarter, Luther burden the way he responded to the adversity from the muffed punt, obviously Brady. And then the offensive line on that 17-play drive, the big fourth-down conversion, quarterback checks for protection, Luther makes a great route, quarterback delivers the ball, then obviously Jamal Roberts to find his way in the end zone, runs through two unblocked guys. Just really key plays and key moments. We talk about competitive greatness being your best when your best is needed. I thought those guys really did a nice job of that.

Looking ahead to Alabama:

So, proud of those guys. But like we've done so many times before, now it's onto the next challenge. And boy, it is it a big challenge. Opportunity to play against a top-15 opponent. I think they've only been beaten once at home in the last 10 or 11 years. That was Texas last year. So really good football team with the position and history of winning in that stadium, at home.

Alabama's offense:

They've got to elite players all over the field, top 100 players, top 100 draft picks on both sides of the football.

Offensively, their offensive line really big, physical players, know exactly who they block in and how to protect the quarterback. And quarterback is a dynamic athlete, and quarterback has really improved. It's a hallmark of (head) coach (Kalen) DeBoer's offense is taking quarterback and getting and developing him into a great a great passer. When he does that, obviously has the ability to scramble, make plays with his feet. I think the biggest thing offensively they've done is the design quarterback runs specifically in the red area, have been huge difference makers for their team. They utilize all the shifts and motions to try to gain a number advantage, and then they have that number advantage with the quarterback as the extra hatch. So, I think (Georgia) coach (Kirby) Smart accurately described it after his game: you have to kind of pick your poison if you double team the freshman wide receiver, Ryan Williams, who's 17 years old, then you leave yourself a hat down on the quarterback. So really difficult challenge there on the offensive side of the ball.

Alabama's defense:

Defensively, (coordinator Kane) Womack has a great scheme, elite linebackers, very talented defensive line, I would say them and Texas A&M's defensive line are the two best that we've seen so far. And probably Georgia has an argument as the top three d-lines in this conference. Young at defensive back, but they have some really talented players, guys who are really highly recruited. Obviously, they've got the transfer corner, Domani Jackson, that kind of anchors their cornerback position. They're battling some injuries, but they have Malachi Moore, who is an elite player at the safety position. So really good defense, special teams, fast, fast, fast, talented team.

And it will be a tremendous challenge, but we accept the challenge. This is going to be a challenge for our team to not focus on all the reasons why we can't. We got to focus on the reasons why we can. We have to play it one play at a time. This is going to be really important to lean into our this play philosophy and not worry about the scoreboard or worry about pre-displays or next place disappointments. We got to play the life of this play as hard as we possibly can and continually do that. I know everyone's going to want a health update with our guys. I don't have much of one, just because we haven't practice. We practice this afternoon, so I don't know for sure either way. We'll follow SEC protocols. We'll get that information out tomorrow night between. Yes, I expect ready to be defined at participating in practice. Though I don't know if I'd say participate. I anticipate that he will be out at practice, but that's why I'm not letting the media practice so they all can't worry about what he's doing or not doing in practice. Coach,

Q: Do you expect Brady Cook to be at practice today (Tuesday)?

"Yes, I expect Brady to be at prac — define "at"

"Participating in practice"

"Oh, I don't know if I'd say participate. I anticipate that he will be out at practice, but that's why I'm not letting the media at practice so that y'all can't worry about what he's doing or not doing in practice."

Would Cook have been able to return from injury if the game was on the road?

No, if it's not a home game. We're not able to get over to MU Health, we're not able to get the MRI, we're not able to get that read in a timely manner. That's the one time I was very thankful that games lasted three and a half hours. It was a two and a half hour games, it wouldn't happen. So, no, it wouldn't be a possibility if we weren't at home and very fortunate for MU Health Care."

On the importance of gap integrity defensively when facing Jalen Milroe and Alabama's running backs:

Obviously there's open gaps. Again, these guys up front are so big, they create space just by the size that they have. So we're gonna have to do a really good job of stopping the run. And anytime you commit more people to doing that, you're leaving one-on-ones or voids in your zone coverage. So it's a real challenge. And then you add on top of it, that if you rush four, he (Milroe) gets vertical in his escape, then you got real problems. I think the biggest key for us is we got to figure out how to rush the passer. Obviously we can do that, but we can't create vertical rush lines for him to escape through. Once he gets his shoulders pointed downhill, he's got unbelievable speed. He's got great vision, really good thrower. So he's the definition of a dual-threat.

On what the defensive secondary will need to do against Alabama:

"We're gonna need blankets. We're going to have to do our jobs. I think Coach Batoon has a pretty good feel of mixing up coverages, and I thought we did a really good job of that on Saturday. But we cannot let the deep ball beat us. That's been an issue for us. We've given up way too many deep balls, deep shots. Obviously, the touchdown that Auburn had in the game, Boston College, Vanderbilt, all had deep throws. So we're gonna have to keep the ball in front of us."

On Luther Burden III's response to muffing a punt against Auburn:

"He was disappointed in that decision. We all we're. It's probably more on me than anything on that punt return. I should have had hum automatic fair catch on it, and he was trying to make a play with the frustrations of the day. But you can't do that. You have to play within the play, and you can't force something that's not there. He responded. Everybody understood what he was trying to do. Don't condone it, but we understood it. So it was about just focusing on this play for the fourth quarter."

On where he's gained confidence in his team from close wins so far this season

"I think you have a lot of confidence in our players, grit and toughness. This is going to be a new challenge that we weren't able to measure up to last time just with the size of the stadium and going on the road and a ranked opponent. So, we're going to have to challenge ourselves to meet this challenge, and we're going to have to work hard this week to build up our confidence. Your confidence comes from your preparation. Like I told those guys, don't wish for it to be Saturday. Just focus on having the best toughness Tuesday you can have, because then you'll know on Saturday you're ready to play. And so that for us is really going to be the confidence that we have is, what kind of practice do we have today? Can we piece together the details and practice today so that we can perform on Saturday? It's going to be a heck of a test."

What he learned at Texas A&M about playing in a tough road environment:

"We can't play over analyzing every situation. We can't have too many checks on both sides of the ball. We can't have too many what ifs, we can't have 'if they do this, if we're going to do this, and if they do this, if they motion to this, we're going to check to this.' Or 'if they show us this coverage, we're going to check to this.' Like, we got to go out there and play football, and it's going to come down to who's able to stop the run, who's able to run the football, who's able to defend the pass, are we going to be able to tackle, are they going to be able to tackle us? Are we gonna be able to play clean on special teams?

Sometimes we get caught up too much in the minutiae. And if you just go back and watch our game from a 10,000 feet view, just because it was a good idea doesn't make it the best idea for our team. We got to focus on what we can do, and if our base call allows our guys to play fast and without hesitation, then that's going to be the best thing that we can do in the game. So the biggest thing that we can go in there, and the thing that I've challenged our team, is play with zero hesitation. Go out there and play as fast as you possibly can. Don't hesitate, and when the play's there, go make it."

On possible impacts of both Mizzou coordinators connection to Alabama's coaching staff:

"That's interesting because there is quite a bit of familiarity for both sides of the ball on what schemes. I mean when we go good-on-good (one-on-one), It's probably the best show (scout) team you can get because we run a lot of the same of the pass concepts. They have a big difference in their in their run scheme, our run scheme is a lot different than theirs. But in the pass concepts, it's very similar. I mean, out quarterback can watch all their throws and say, 'Okay, that's this concept.' The challenge is we don't when they're going to do it right.

So, I think there's some of that, but at the end of the day, it's going to be the players on the field making plays, and we're going to try to put them in the best position possible to defend what they do."

On if that would cause Missouri to run more one-on-ones in practice:

"I would if we were healthy."

On what he liked about the offensive line's performance against Auburn, where they need to improve:

"I thought we had our best day running the inside zone. I thought we were pretty square, pushed vertical. Obviously, we had some A gap integrity issues and protections. Gave up the sack on a sim pressure that we actually picked up, but we just didn’t finish. So we got to do a better job in our A gap identification on pressures, and got to sustain blocks longer. They got elite d-line. They always have, and I assume that they always will with the way that they recruit, but they’ve got elite players, great pass rushers, big, physical guys that can stone you at the point of attack. I think their linebackers are really good. I think it might be the best set of linebackers we play this year from a physicality standpoint."

On the Alabama offensive line:

"We're gonna try Dan Lanning's approach and play 12, add an extra rusher and see if anybody notices. We're gonna go play football. I mean, there's no magic to it."

On what has led Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams to success:

"I mean special player, special talent, obviously. I think aside from the size, ball skills, speed, quickness, agility, obviously attention to detail, obviously ability to retain information, I think there's just a competitive spirit about him that's pretty impressive for him to make those plays, specifically in Georgia. The ball in the Tennessee game, there's a competitive quality that he has that is special. And, I don't, I don't know that age is that big of a facto when you have those kind of gifts.

On if the staff was able to get a fair look at the offense amidst injuries:

“It’s hard to go back and evaluate a lot of that. You can evaluate some individual performances, but just because of the nature of the injuries. I mean, first drive, you lose your starting running back, your starting quarterback. Second drive, you lose your starting tight end, you’re already down a couple of wide receivers. At that point, it’s just about figuring out how you put enough patches on it to win the game. Ultimately, I think the great reminder for me is it’s about winning the football game and not getting caught up with the outside noise and measurements of everybody’s team. It’s about playing on Saturday and finding a way to win that game and not worrying about what the criticisms, are you going to drop in the polls, all that stuff. None of that matters."

His thoughts on Missouri being 7-0 in one-score games

"We need to be in those because we're not good when we get blown out. It's a great stat. I think are guys focus on situational football. I think we understand that you play to that. We talk about it all the time, the margins are so small and you can get in those games. Maybe that's when coach can have some impact on the strategy they use. But, I think that's a little bit skewed, because both the LSU and the Georgia game should have been one-score games. We end up throwing a pick-six at the end of the LSU game that's a one-score game. So we had a chance there too in Georgia, that field goal after the pick, which made it a nine-point game.

So, balls bounced towards us, maybe 2022, we were not nearly as good in one score games. So sometimes the ball bounces for you. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes veteran teams find ways to win.

I do think the one quality that I think this team really has that shows up is a refusal to give in. And I think college football that's not always the norm. I don't think that's always the norm. I think people get into that, here we go again mode. Or they don't focus on this play, they focus on the final scoreboard. And our team just doesn't seem to do that right now,"

On what he's learned about the team so far that he didn't know at the start of fall camp:

I didn't know how they would gel. I didn't know how hard they would play with each other and for each other. I didn't know if they would be able to bounce back from adversity, like you can add talent to a roster into a culture, but until you get tested, you really don't know what you got. And I think that was a real positive for us after A&M and being tested and seeing kind of what we had, obviously we were tested in different ways in the Vanderbilt game, the Boston College game but now we've faced some adversity, faced even more adversity, faced even more Saturday, gonna face a lot more this Saturday."