Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said to Preview Oklahoma

The Missouri Tigers head coach talked on the injury status of Brady Cook and previewing the matchup.

Aug 29, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz on field against the Murray State Racers during the game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The No. Missouri Tigers will look to start November off on the right foot against Oklahoma after going 1-2 in the SEC in October. After a bye week, the Tigers host Oklahoma Saturday to rekindle a classic rivalry.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz spoke to the media Tuesday to preview the matchup. Here's a full transcript of all he had to say.

Opening Statement:

"Excited to get back to it. I thought our team had an excellent bye week. We accomplished the things that we wanted to accomplish, not only working on ourselves in finding areas that we can improve, but also working on upcoming opponents. Really pleased with the way our players have responded. Had a great practice last night. Obviously, today is Toughness Tuesday, and we need to have another great day of work ahead of us."Tremendous matchup versus Oklahoma. Have a lot of respect for the history of that program and the coaches. I think they do an excellent job in all three phases. Obviously, Coach [Brent] Venables and his defensive prowess is really good and excellent. I think he's done a tremendous job of changing the identity of that program and team to being a defensive football team. They really swarm to the football. They're very aggressive, attacking style and make it very difficult on offenses. Offensively, it looks like they found their rhythm. They've made a change at the offensive coordinator position, and you can see in the last two games continually getting better. Obviously, had a breakout game last weekend versus Maine. The quarterback is more and more and more comfortable, they've been able to establish the run and do a tremendous job there. So, we'll absolutely have our hands full. We need to have another great day of practice today to continue to prepare.  "Really excited about the fans. Obviously, a night game sellout at Faurot Field is an awesome thing. I know the hill tickets have already been sold out, so looking forward to an awesome environment and atmosphere, and can't wait to play at home underneath the lights of Faurot."I know y'all are going to ask me about injuries, and I'll welcome all the questions that you want to ask, and I will defer to the injury report that will be released tomorrow night as a competitive equity within the SEC. So with that, ask away."

On who would start at quarterback if Brady Cook is unavailable:

"Drew Pyne."

On what his conversations were like with Pyne following the Alabama loss:

"Hopefully it was a learning opportunity. I mean, we put him in some bad situations, and we've got to protect better. We've got to establish the run better, and we can't turn the ball over. Look, quarterback is not a position without errors, and we've all had tough days at that position, but we have confidence in Drew, and Drew's practiced well, and our team is behind him, if that's what it needs to be. But that's definitely not been decided yet."

On Pyne's mentality to bounce back from Alabama:

"I think that's all of us. We can either choose to be victims or be relentless in our pursuit of being a better football team. And Drew (Pyne) has been relentless being dedicated to his goals. When you face setbacks, finding ways to respond and grow from them, develop toughness and be determined to meet the standard. And I think not only Drew but J.R. (Blood), Brady (Cook), offensive line, running backs, wide receivers, defensive players, I think all of us have chosen we're going to be relentless and continue to improve this football team."

On why Mitch Walters started for most of the game against Alabama over Cayden Green at left guard:

"On Tuesday it showed up in the injury report, but Cayden (Green) got rolled up and just, he tried to go. Everybody was trying to give it everything they could to go in the game but was banged up and really couldn't drive off of it, so it was an injury decision. He's trending back in the right direction but will still be classified tomorrow night on the injury report, and we'll see who's the best available option on Saturday."

On what sticks out about Oklahoma:

"Offensively, I think Jackson Arnold's a dynamic quarterback who's got a really quick release. He's accurate and does a really good job scrambling. His running ability that they've tried to utilize him as a plus one hat in the run game. They do a lot of read game stuff with him, and he's been impressive in that. It's different from what they were kind of doing before.

At wide receiver, obviously, JJ Hester, a guy that we know well here has really stood out for them and is coming into his own his senior year. So excited and happy for him. They have a really good running back. They've got several running backs. I know they've been injured at that position, but Jovantae Barnes has played really well, and I think he's a really good downhill SEC back.

On the defensive side of the ball, I mean, obviously their Mike linebacker (Danny Stutsman) is an outstanding player. And their defensive line, I think Mason Thomas has been a guy that really steps up and stands out on tape. They have a lot of movement and a lot of different blitz patterns, so it's hard to kind of get a beat — you can't ever predict what they're going to be in so the multiplicity of the defense is challenging."

On the tradition of Missouri's rivalry with Oklahoma:

"We're aware of it. Every time we introduce a team, we talk about how many times we've played and what that series history is, and we realize there've been a few matchups here in the past, whether it's Big Eight or Big 12. So, we're aware of it."

On multiple players on Missouri's roster formerly playing from Oklahoma:

"We really don't do much different. I think it's kind of a norm of college athletics now that there's potential crossover, and we've faced that, really for the last three years now, within the league. Different players on different teams. So, there's nothing new that really goes into it."

On finding the right amount of agressive defense against Oklahoma:

"You got to defend the play that they run. So, it's not like when it's going to be run or pass, and you can decide what you got to do. We got to stop the run first in my opinion. I think that the difference in their past two games is their willingness to try to establish the run game and then have plays off of it. So, for us it's going to be about stopping the run first and then reacting to the pass and obviously the weather potentially kind of changes the way all of that plays out."

On if the team spent time self scouting over the bye week:

"We absolutely self-scout. We self-scout every Sunday night, but this one was an ability for us to get a little bit more in depth on both sides of the ball and kind of identify maybe some patterns in people attacking us or us being attacked on both sides of the ball. And I would say it was very productive."

On the decision making to possibly limit playing time for true freshman on the border of losing eligibility for a redshirt:

"No, we're at the point in the season where we're playing to win the game, and if those guys are called upon to play to win the game, both of them are in the rotation depth chart, then I would anticipate that both of them will play this week. So, I'm not worried about that part of it."

On what Cook has done to recover from his two injuries:

"He's done everything in his power to prepare himself to play, and you would expect nothing less from him. And he's been great energy in the building, been attacking the rehab, been attacking the game plan. So typical– preparation and leadership."