Eli Drinkwitz bemoans red zone struggles as Missouri leads Florida at half, 13-7
Missouri took a 13-7 lead over Florida into the half on Saturday night. And though the offense was churning along, Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz wanted some more scoring from that side.
Despite 153 first half rushing yards from star tailback Cody Schrader — plus a touchdown — Missouri had failed to score when in the red zone. Those two empty trips stuck with Drinkwitz as he spoke with ESPN sideline reporter Katie George going into the locker room.
“We’re doing OK. We just gotta do a lot better in the red zone. We’ve had two attempts in there and had to settle for field goals. That’s really the difference in the game right now,” Drinkwitz said.
Schrader accounted for 153 yards and his score on 15 carries. However, quarterback Brady Cook wasn’t sharp in the first half, completing 6-of-13 for 56 yards.
Drinkwitz raved about his tailback earlier in the week
The former walk-on turned superstar has been electric throughout the season, turning in one of his best games yet in a 36-7 win over Tennessee.
“Cody’s story’s going to be a story of Mizzou football,” Drinkwitz said. “And quite honestly it’s going to be a story of the University of Missouri for a long, long time.”
Schrader turned in his most productive day yet on Saturday in the win over the Volunteers. He ran 35 times for 205 yards and a score, while also catching five passes for 116 yards.
He became only the 10th player in FBS history to go for 200 yards on the ground and 100 yards through the air in the same game.
To Drinkwitz, that kind of performance epitomizes who Schrader is and makes him the ideal fit for the program he’s at.
“I know that this place has a bunch of great history, but when I think of Midwest, I think of a place like the University of Missouri, we’ve always talked about you’ve got St. Louis and Kansas City, but rural Missouri is kind of the spirit of this state,” Drinkwitz said. “You’ve got a guy who really embodies the spirit of the state, the hard work and determination, self-made people.
“There’s a lot of farmers in this state. There’s a lot of cattle ranchers. Those people are self-made. They show up every day, work extremely hard. Unsure of what the future always holds but they bet on themselves. That’s kind of the story of Cody Schrader.”