'There's a Lot of Season Left': Missouri Look to Move Forward After Loss to Alabama

The Tigers' head coach emphasized getting healthy in their much needed bye week after dropping the game against the Crimson Tide.

Oct 26, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz looks on from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images / Will McLelland-Imagn Images

The game may not have gone anywhere near how they had hoped or planned, but head coach Eli Drinkwitz was very consistent with his message following the Missouri Tigers crushing loss to No. 15 Alabama.

"We'll get home, regroup, try to get healthy, and on to the next game," Drinkwitz said following a 34-0 loss to the Crimson Tide.

The loss was the first shutout Missouri suffered since the 2019 season. The already struggling offense couldn't put anything together. The closest Missouri got to scoring was a missed 59-yard field goal attempt and a goal-line run that was stuffed in the fourth quarter. Despite a strong first half, the defense showed holes in the second half that Alabama took advantage of.

"We all came with a plan to win, and it just didn't happen," Drinkwitz said. "It wasn't our day today, and we're not going to get divided, we're not going to point fingers. We're going to go back, get healthy this week and finish out this stretch."

Their struggles were made worse by the astounding number of injuries that were announced leading up to and during the matchup. The Wednesday report included three players as doubtful, six as questionable and one as probable, this included their leading rusher and starting quarterback. The list was shortened by game time, but still contained wide receiver Mookie Cooper and running back Nate Noel as out and Brady Cook as a game-time decision.

The game was looking more hopeful after Cook was announced as the starter, but it didn't take long for this hope to be dashed. Cook injured his hand on the helmet of another player and had to be removed for an x-ray. He did not return to the game.

"First off, we gotta get healthy over the bye week," defensive end Johnny Walker Jr. said. "I feel like we gotta regroup as a team, look at the situation if Brady can come back or not."

The question circling the Missouri Football team now is whether Cook will be able to get healthy for the rest of the season. The extent of his hand injury has not been announced, but before that, he was also dealing with a bad ankle that kept him out of the majority of the game against Auburn the week prior.

"There's four SEC games left," Drinkwitz said. "There's a lot of football season left, and we just got to get home, get healthy, and flush this one and move on to the next one."

The rest of the season may be looked at much differently if Cook is not able to return. The Tigers were only able to score six points over the last two game when backup quarterback Drew Pyne was in the game. He also threw three interceptions and was sacked in this time.

Despite all that went wrong for the Tigers, they players and coaches are choosing to remain optimistic for the rest of the season. They have emphasized viewing each play, each game as its own and moving on from the bad.

"Our season's not over," Walker said. "We have four or five games left and a bye week. Depending on what happens, playoffs or try to get a good bowl game. We'll see what happens."