What Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said about Mizzou
Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino met with media to preview the Razorbacks matchup with Mizzou. Here is what he said about the Tigers.
When asked about embracing the Battle Line Rivalry as the Thanksgiving week game
Petrino: “Definitely new for me. We used to always finish this one off with LSU, which was a lot of fun. Missouri’s done a really nice job. Their football team they’ve built with the D-line, linebackers, secondary, they’re very good on defense.
“Offensively they’ve been a team that always can run wide zone. They believe in it, they do it really well. Their running back is a really, really good player. And they’ve had some quarterback issues with injuries, so, that they’ve overcome a lot.
“So you’ve gotta say they’ve done a really nice job.”
When asked about meetings with Eliah Drinkwitz outside of last year’s game
Petrino: “I know him really well. He used to come down here when I was the head coach and watch us practice when he was still in high school. When he was at the University of Missouri and I was at Missouri State, they flew down and watched us practice and met with us for an afternoon about some of the things we were doing offensively.
“We’ve known each other for a long, long time.”
When asked about the Mizzou run game
Petrino: “They believe in the wide zone and they do run counter that compliments it. And they do a great job with their offensive line. They have ever since Drink was at App State, that’s been their gig. That’s probably what helped him get that job is their ability to run wide zone and scheme it up.
“Their running back is real. He’s very, very powerful, he sees things, he makes cuts. And he breaks as many tackles as guys I’ve seen or that we’ve played. And then they have another guy that’s bigger and just as fast come in behind him. So the two of them complement each other very well.”
When asked about Beau Pribula and how to prep for both him and Matt Zollers
Petrino: “I think (Pribula will) be the quarterback. He came back from that injury, they believe in him. He did a good job early in the year when he was healthy. And he played well last week, a couple turnovers, but he did play well.
“We feel like he’ll be the one that will be their quarterback.”