Everything Eli Drinkwitz said following Missouri's 29-20 win over South Carolina

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz spoke to the media Saturday night after defeating South Carolina 29-20 at Farout Field at Memorial Stadium.

Here is everything he had to say.

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Opening Statement:

“Yeah, just really, really proud of our team. That was a heck of a battle tonight. I thought Coach Beamer really had his team prepared. You could tell they were ticked off about last week’s performance and came in and fought. Really proud of our team, not really flinching. Obviously missed (an) extra point, gave up a big bomb, and got stuck in the red zone a couple of times. We just kept hammering away. And, ultimately, at halftime, I told our guys, if we just sure up the boots and we continue to run the ball, we’ll win the game because in the fourth quarter, you’ve got to run to win.”

“And ultimately, that’s what we were able to do. You know, can’t say enough about Jayven Richardson. Um, coming in and playing, you know, I’ll have to go back and watch the tape, but man, I was really, really proud of his performance tonight. We made a lot of big runs to his side. Really proud of Robby for making that kick. That’s not an easy kick to make in that moment and he did an excellent job there. , Really, really proud of the staff. I thought Corey (Batoon) did an excellent job. We had five sacks, held to minus nine yards rushing. Um, so really, really proud of those guys. And with that, I’ll take questions.”

With the ground game overall, Ahmad (Hardy) and Jamal (Roberts), what went into being able to do so much in the second half on the ground?

“In the first half, we really were trying to run inside zone and some gap scheme and they were widened up. They did a great job, and we made the adjustment at halftime to get to our outside zone scheme, and I thought our guys really hit some designed some good stuff in the 12 personnel, and ultimately, they weren’t able to stop it.”

“I mean, they tried to go big on us. Uh, give Beau (Pribula) credit that was a heck of a job for him on the sucker play. Ultimately, that was a big game for us too. I think he had almost 80 yards rushing. I thought he was crucial in providing us some first downs with his feet on unscheduled plays, and uh, really played a nice game.”

You said for a long time you think this is your deepest team. I know you talked a little bit about Jayven and Robbie, but just how does that mentality go into what happens tonight

“Yeah, I mean, ultimately we’re trying to be a team of teams. Uh everybody on this team has a role and their job is to continue to be as good a player as they can be and develop, and when an opportunity calls, go in there and embrace their role.”

And then, follow up, is there anything you can share about Cayden (Green)?

“Cayden got injured in Wednesday’s practice. We thought it was going to be okay. Um, he actually was a full participant in Thursday’s walk-through, but just didn’t feel right about it. So we got an MRI Thursday night and decided that the best form of the best thing to do was to attack it. And so he underwent a minor medical procedure on Friday morning.

“He should be back as soon as he possibly can. It’s not end of season. Um it could be three weeks, it could be five weeks. We’ll see. Uh, but um, you know, really, really proud of how our team responded, and I was really proud of him. He said some really cool things to our team about this opportunity.”

How do you think Ahmad has lived up to what you expected when you got him?

“I didn’t think he’s going to be this good. I mean, let’s be honest. The dude’s running through people like he’s a dump truck. I mean, he’s a Clydesdale amongst a bunch of Phillies. It’s unbelievable. Uh, I mean, how he scored on the one run when he left his feet, came back, and had balance and scored. I mean, I ain’t never seen that on tape before. So dude’s special, and there’s not really much more to say about.”

What did you think of your defense in the fourth?

“Well, I will say I’m really proud of the way they played defense in the second half, especially after the deep ball to get the sack right there. Push him out of field goal range or not push him out of field goal range, but push him back.”

“Um, but that I mean when we watch the tape tomorrow, I’m going to be on some secondary coaches’ rear ends because this is getting ridiculous how porous our pass defense is, and uh, that’s got to get shored up in a hurry. And whatever we got to do to fix it, we’re going to have to do.”

“But uh there’s way too many holes in our zone cover. Uh, we got bad eyes in the back field. I’m not going to get negative, not get negative, but uh yeah, that crap’s got to get corrected. We gave up 290 total offense 293 yards, and 300 of it was passing. 302 passing. It’s ridiculous.”

 Ahmad has an exceptional start to the game. Jamal helps to ice it once more. What is it about his makeup that gives you guys so much confidence in late and close situations?

“I mean, dude’s been around. He’s been steady as a rock for us, he’s of the right stuff. He’s got an elite edge to him, he’s always been a leader. We trust him with the ball. He’s got great contact balance. Him in his own right. So, he’s a heck of a run back.”

What did you tell Eli on the missed extra point?

“I didn’t say anything to him after the missed extra point. I mean, he knew he dorked it up. But after the timeout, I just looked at him and said, ‘We believe in you, and he went out there and made it.’ You know, some people say they don’t talk to the kickers, but you know, Robbie, I don’t think it would matter either way.”

Thoughts on defending mobile quarterbacks

“We had to figure out how to defend them, giving up way too many points and yards, but we’re doing a great job pressuring them and doing a good job stopping the run, but we can’t give up 300 yards passing.”

“I mean, that’s the thing that’s disappointing. You look up, our stats and our numbers and our time of possession is dominating, and yet the scoreboard’s not. It’s because we’re giving up explosive plays down the field for touchdowns. So, we’ve got to get that off the table.”

Is it encouraging at this point to be able to run the ball the way you do?

“No, I’m not discouraged by anything that happened tonight at all. I’m not discouraged at all. Ultimately, in this league, if you can run the ball, you’re going to win. You’re going to win a lot more games than if you can’t.”

“And taking stuff off the tape is a good thing, right? That’s something you want. I mean, u,m this can either be a highlight or a launching point for us. We can either be satisfied with our ability to win this game or we can go back to work and launch ourselves into the rest of the SEC. It’s great to be 1-0 with things to learn from. Ultimately, we got to fix some red zone stuff, and we got to fix some pass defense.”

One more on Jayven Richardson, what’s his last few minutes of working prep look like behind

“I mean I think Jayven Richardson is a testament to what being a great teammate’s all about. Um, the dude took every snap as a starter in spring and in three weeks of fall camp. And ultimately we made a tough decision to slide Cayden out, and he could have done a lot of different things. He could have pouted, he could have been disappointed. He could have come in and demanded a trade. I guess they can’t demand a trade, but I mean he could have done a lot of different stuff, and he didn’t.”

“What he did was every day he went in and went to work, and then he is our swing tackle. So, he’s our backup right tackle, too. So, he learned multiple positions. And, um, you know, ultimately we had a ton of confidence.

You know, I know there were a lot of different things, you know, being thrown out there about Jayven, but ultimately we had a ton of confidence in Jayven Richardson because he’s a great young man, works hard. When his moment showed up, he was there for the brotherhood. And, uh, that’s what this thing’s built on, you know, take advantage of your opportunities. It’s what Jamal Robertson does every day. You know, Marquise stepped up today. Brett Norfle stepped up today. Um, so ultimately, I think that’s the identity of our team is, you know, things aren’t going your way, you can either be disappointed or you can get back to work. He did a great job.”

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