Everything Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz Said After Nail Biting Victory Over Auburn

Drinkwitz was emotional and had plenty to say after Missouri's 21-17 victory.

Oct 19, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz looks on during the second half against the Auburn Tigers at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

After a game full of emotional highs and lows, Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz stepped up to the podium to rehash it.

The Tigers walked away with a close victory won in the final moments of the game thanks to heroics from quarterback Brady Cook, improving to 5-1 on the season and 2-1 in SEC play. Here's everything Drinkwitz said to the media following the game's completion.

Opening Statement

“I couldn't be any prouder of that football team. I just don't know how they found a way. I really don't, but they never quit and never quit on each other, something that every Mizzou fan should be extremely proud of. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t clean, but man, those guys fight together.

They represent everything good about Mizzou. [I] can't think of a better way of winning homecoming.” 

“Brady gets hurt, can't really find a rhythm, defense just keeps us in the game. Hats off to coach [Corey] Batoon on that defensive side of the football. They never flinched even after the muffed punt. Didn't flinch, didn't feel sorry for themselves, forced the missed field goal, and then the offense answered.”

“Want to say how proud I am of Drew Pyne. Drew came in a very tough situation, led us down for that field goal, which ultimately is the difference in us winning right there.”

“For all the criticism that young man takes, 12 sure would die on that field for everybody. For him to be out there and put his body on the line for us is incredible and should be inspiring everybody that watched it today.”

On what was learned about Brady Cook

“Already knew it. They took him to the hospital to MRI the ankle. He told the team, and in the hospital, he realized I only got two-and-a-half games left at Faurot Field. There's no way I'm sitting here in this hospital.”

On conversation before Cook ran out on the field

“They said they were going to warn him up in the indoor and see if he could go. He did pass the test. He Came out and I just said, can you really play? He said, I'm going to go.”

On the fans at Faurot Field, Cook’s performance

“I just think it was that energy we needed. That just the energy kind of died out. We weren't really playing good, couldn't really get into a rhythm, but he came back.”

“He [Brady Cook] gave us a spark, and that big that throw to Mookie [Cooper] and then for Mookie to make the play and just he stood in the pocket, made the best throw so far this year.”

“So really proud of the fans. The fans were awesome. They stayed the whole game, got loud at the end and helped us find a way to win.”

On winning games in this part of the season

“They're all important, but you just keep stacking them up one by one and at the end of the year, you look back on it.  For us, I told the team this morning everything we want is on the other side of this game. If we can win, you know, and whatever we got to do to win this game, find a way to do it. And they sure did. Boy, they did.”

On the final offensive drive

“We actually did a two-minute drill Wednesday and the whole conversation with us on our two-minute drives is we run out of downs once we run out of time. So let's just find completions, just one play at a time. He [Brady Cook] did and even when we got the sack, found the completion through another great throw and then fourth down, it just comes down to critical execution. And there was no doubt he was going to do it.”

On Jamal Roberts

“Nate the first drive hurt his foot. It's not broke, but we don't know how bad he's and he wasn't able to go. Jamal's always been kind of our third-down back, so he's in the two-minute drive. We just said we got down to 10 and wanted to see the run and we got the outside zone. He first down, wanted to sink another one so we could sub in the 11 personnel. So he had plenty of times and get the right plays, and Jamal just refused to be tackled.”

On defensive success

“I liked everything about how they played and other than the one big play, they really contained the run game, which we knew was important. They hit the quarterback. I don't know what the numbers are on third down but they played really well. Corey [Batoon] had a beat on what they were doing and I felt like he called a great game. Just seemed like Eddie Kelly and champ [Corey Flagg Jr.] were all over the field today. Marvin [Burks] had a big play on third down.” 

On Drew Pyne

“We're all proud of Drew [Pyne]. He came in a very difficult situation and played well enough to keep us in the game. [He] didn't put us in a bad spot at all. Those guys just want to win in the locker room and they really don't care. They just want to buy in.”

On the last reception for Luther Burden III

“Luther’s a first-play mentality kind of guy, so he doesn’t really worry about it. Absolutely it was redeeming, but the play before he caught a 15-yard pass over the middle. He was trying to make a play right there. I'm not going to tell you what play call is, because we are a no-huddle offense.”

On Mookie Cooper’s catch

“This play philosophy. Every play has a life of its own, previous play doesn't matter. The final score doesn't matter. It's all about this play. Give us everything you got on this play. That's the mindset of our team. We're never going to play perfect. We're gonna play the best we can on this play.”

On a win like this building the Brotherhood

“There’s a lot of recruits here today in the locker room celebrating right now. There's a lot of toughness in that team. There's a lot of young guys in the team that haven't had a win like that before,  so they know they're never out of fight. You're never out you just got to keep swinging. Especially the response after what happened to us a couple weeks ago, for this team to find it and figure it out like that bodes well.”

On where this win ranks for coach Drinkwitz

“I'll be honest, we’ve had quite a few since I've been here. We had the one against Arkansas, 37 seconds left. We had Florida in  2021. We had Kansas State, Florida. We've had a lot of good ones. Tough-minded team.”

On Cook’s injury potentially being a continuation

“I don't know. He's been beat up, but I don't know if it's a continuation. It's on the right leg. I don't know if that was the same one that got dinged up at UMass or not on the first drive. So I don't know that question, but he had his best week of practice.”

On believing what he’s seen from Cook

“It’s one thing to come back. It's another thing to be able to scramble for a couple of first downs, to move in the pocket, deliver accurate throws.  Number one characteristic of a quarterback is toughness and he has it written all over him.”

On how Cook brings his team back in tough situations

“They know how hard he works. They know he’s put in the preparation. They know he’s put in the time. At the end of the day, you’re never going to be perfect, right? There’s going to be failures, but everybody’s going to be able to lay their head on their pillow knowing he did his best to give us a chance. And when somebody like that, when somebody does that, you want to lay it on the line for them.”

On getting back the win over Auburn

“Yeah, I’m not gonna lie, when it was 17-14 I thought it was a bad dream because that was the same score as last time. For us to find a way to go back and finish the game, pretty special.”