Eliah Drinkwitz discusses plans moving forward
After losing both competitors from the preseason quarterback competition, Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz wasn’t left with many options.
“Beau Pribua, our starting quarterback, had a non-fracture, dislocated ankle,” Drinkwitz said on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference. “Which only occurs in about 1 percent of ankle injuries. It’s considered a taekwondo type injury. So his path to recovery is to be determined.”
Drinkwitz said there is no surgery necessary.
With Pribula out, the Tigers will turn to true freshman quarterback Matt Zollers, a four-star recruit from the Class of 2025 who Drinkwitz kept as a distant part of the QB competition in fall camp.
Zollers has been operating as the Tigers’ backup since Week 1 when Sam Horn was lost for the season to a knee injury.
“He’s had the last eight weeks of opportunities to be the No. 2 and get the reps,” Drinkwitz said. “And we do a two-minute drill every Wednesday and he’s gotten every single one of those. We do dirty show every Tuesday with noise, he’s gotten every one of those the last eight weeks. So, he’s prepared.”
Changes to the plan
As Zollers prepares for his first start following a bye week, Drinkwitz said not much will change for the Tigers. Including designed quarterback runs, which both previous QB injuries happened on.
“There’s a lot of people who run their quarterback and injuries happen,” Drinkwitz said. “They’re kind of an unfortunate part of the game. But we’re gonna have to do what we need to do to win and whatever we need to do to win is what we’re going to do. And we’re not going to put any limitations because of fear on our team. We don’t operate in a fear mode. We operate in an aggressive mode.”
And with that aggressive mindset, the Tigers move into the final third of a season where their biggest goals are still attainable. Mizzou has four games remaining to try to earn double-digit wins, try to make the College Football Playoff and see what Zollers is capable of.
“I’ve been adamant about Matt being the future of our program,” Drinkwitz said. “And he just gets the chance now to step into it early from an experience standpoint. And he’s got a really good defense to lean on. We got to play better up front for him and got to continue to find advantages and special teams and clean that area up so that he doesn’t feel all the pressure.”
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