Eli Drinkwitz provides injury update on Ty'ron Hopper
The Missouri Tigers dominated their SEC east rival Tennessee Volunteers 36-7 at home in week 11. While the victory was a win across the board in several different ways for the Tigers, it came at a cost, as a handful of players suffered injuries. One of those players was linebacker Ty’ron Hopper.
As Missouri prepares for their Week 12 matchup against the Florida Gators, their head coach, Eli Drinkwitz, provided an update on Hopper’s injury status.
“Tyron’s X-rays were clean; MRI was clean,” said Drinkwitz. “It is an ankle sprain. It was pretty swollen yesterday. He’s going to treat the mess out of it today. I’d say he’s questionable. So, we’ll see how he progresses this week.”
Hopper gingerly left the field in the second quarter of Missouri’s victory over Tennessee. After a brief visit to the team’s medical tent, the redshirt senior linebacker eventually headed back to the locker room and did not return to the game.
Hopper has been essential to Missouri’s defensive success this year, as he is the team leader in total tackles with 53. He also has three sacks to go along with three passes defended on the season. It is unclear when he will make his return to action, but if Hopper is unable to go against Florida, that will be a massive blow to a Missouri defense that is already without another starting linebacker in Chad Bailey.
Drinkwitz makes joke about Connor Stalions, figuring out Tennessee plays
Drinkwitz couldn’t help himself. After Missouri’s convincing 36-7 win over Tennessee on Saturday, the Tigers’ head coach raved about his team’s defensive gameplan while tossing in a slight jab at Michigan’s ongoing scandal.
“We had some of their keys. Jake Olsen, one of our analysts, had identified a couple of tendencies that they had — not signals, not Connor Stalions,” Drinkwitz said with a smile. “But, we had identified a couple of things that we felt like were going to be crucial for us.
“Coach [Kevin Peoples] and Coach [DJ] Smith and Coach [Al] Davis had a really good plan. We went to a sub-package, three-down front, and we kind of chopped up their front a little bit.”
Drinkwitz and Co. did more than chop up Tennessee’s offense. They turned it into a fine powder. In the win, Missouri only allowed 350 yards while squeezing three turnovers out of the Volunteers.
Tennessee’s seven points were the least it has scored in a contest this season. For reference, the Volunteers tallied 20 points against a grueling Alabama defense. The blowout win was a taste of sweet revenge for the Tigers.
In the teams’ previous two meetings, Tennessee scored a combined 126 points against Missouri. Drinkwitz wasn’t about to allow history to repeat itself.
“Our team came out, we wanted to stand on business last night,” Drinkwitz said during his postgame interview with CBS’ Jenny Dell. “We had some unfinished business from last year. And we came out and took care of business… Great win. Our defense kicked their ass tonight.”