Eliah Drinkwitz Press Conference Quotes: Mississippi State
11/19/2024 4:46:00 PM | Football
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football head coach Eliah Drinkwitz met with members of the media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference.
Missouri and Mississippi State meet for an SEC matchup at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network with kickoff slated for 3:15 p.m. CT. The contest can also be heard on the Tiger Radio Network from Mizzou Sports Properties and LEARFIELD through the varsity app.
Eliah Drinkwitz Missouri Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Another week, another opportunity to go on the road in the SEC, in a very difficult environment. Mississippi State has had an extremely challenging schedule. You could argue it's one of the toughest in the SEC this year, and so I don't think their record accurately reflects or depicts the style of football and the team that they are. They're improving every week. I think Coach [Jeff] Lebby has done an excellent job of staying the course. They have clear identity on offense, defense and special teams. I think offensively, they are very explosive. You look at the wide receiver, Kevin Coleman, who we know well from his time in St Louis. He's a dynamic wide receiver, really good route runner, really good yard after catch. He is also their punt returner. As challenging a wide receiver as there is in the SEC, in my opinion. I think their running back is playing really well. They've been very effective running football the last two, really, four weeks, and Davon Booth has really given them a lift in the run game with explosive plays. He's also their kickoff return man. I think their freshman quarterback is a really good player, and he's just getting better and better each week with the reps, the game reps, and so I know they spent the bye week just continually putting it all together.
"Defensively, very multiple, do a lot of different things. Have a couple of key anchors at linebacker position, you know, with Stone Blanton and Nic Mitchell. I think those guys do a really good job getting them lined up, playing downhill, playing physical. So, it'll be a real challenge for our guys. I know the last time we went to Starkville was in 2020 and did not play a good game quite honestly. Didn't play nearly as well as we need to. So, it's a very challenging road environment and a very challenging game for us.
"I know our guys responded well. We had a really good practice yesterday, great weight session. I know they're looking forward to the challenge and excited about Toughness Tuesday, so with that I'll open it up to questions."
(Ref.: On what he's liked from his team after losses)
"I think there's a competitive character. You know, winning and losing has to matter to you, but you have to be quick to move on. Learn the lesson, leave the event. And I think that's something that our guys have embraced, is learn the lessons from the games, but you can't let them drag you down and, you know, we've got enough competitive character on this team. We've got enough of upperclassmen that know you can't dwell on the past. You just got to continue to move forward. And I believe our guys are going to do that and that's the focus."
(Ref.: On what his diagnosis is for giving up explosives against South Carolina)
"Yeah, it was kind of the perfect nightmare for us, to be honest. You know, the first play of the game was a miscommunication. We thought we had a push call on and the linebacker didn't have a push call on. So that's a three-man situation and they have to communicate. We leave the guy totally uncovered, and that kind of set the tone. You know, then we have a corner blitz. It was two-by-two removed, so we had adjusted to the will linebacker, then motioned to become a two-by-one. It was an over-split by the X. So, if it's an over-split by the X and the free safety goes, where technically the rover goes, but the corner had adjusted for him, and so there was miscommunication by the three people. On the night on the road in the SEC, can't happen. On that last drive, there was really two, or the last two drives, there was two combinations. There were times where rush didn't quite get home. And then there were times where, you know, on the play that was kind of the big break that they had on the explosive play, we had an edge pressure called, didn't get it and really didn't execute the way we needed to. He has too much time in the pocket, you know and when you're playing man-to-man coverage, and a guy motions across the field and then catches the ball on the other side of the hash, and the quarterback still has no pressure. You know, that's one-on-one, that's a really tough long time to hold up. So it's a combination of scheme, coaches take ownership of that. It's combination of execution, players take ownership of that, and you move on. You know, I told our guys yesterday, there was a lot of plays we made, you know, the fourth down stops, but we needed one more play on both sides of the ball. We needed a third-down execution in the red zone by the offense. We needed one more stop and on the reverse in the kickoff coverage, and we needed one more play on defense. So, between those three phases, we got to come up with one more play. Whether it's a better call by the coaching staff, better execution by the players, at the end of the day, it's all of us."
(Ref.: On what it's been like for Brady Cook the past couple of weeks dealing with injuries)
"I think it's been mentally taxing on him. I think it's been a mental challenge for him to stay positive and have a lot of uncertainty and unknown but try to do the very best he can every day to try to get as healthy as he can for his teammates and for himself. You know, he's dealing with multiple injuries that aren't fully recovered yet, but you know, he's choosing to play much like he did several years ago. Which you'd expect nothing less from Brady as a leader and a teammate. And I think you know, for him to make that throw he did the Luther [Burden III] was pretty impressive. He can't quite snap his wrist the way he needs to, which is why some of the balls get left short, specifically the first third down to Theo [Wease Jr.]. But he's a battler that makes no excuses and very fortunate to have him leading our team the next three games."
(Ref.: On what kind of message Brady Cook's passion for the program sends to the team)
"I think it's just a resiliency in what we're playing for and why we're playing for each other."
(Ref.: On why his team starts slow in the first half but picks up in the second half)
"Yeah, I don't have a great response for that. It's definitely something that we've challenged our guys to be better in the first half. Play faster, play with better execution. But obviously, it hasn't gotten done. Good job adjusting to keep fighting at halftime though."
(Ref.: On what he saw from Drake Heismeyer in his first career start)
"I was really, really impressed and proud of the way he played and performed. I thought for as good as that defensive front was, for him to keep us on the right IDs. There's only a handful of plays that weren't executed the way we wanted to, but he held up really well. Didn't have any snap issues in a very challenging road environment."
(Ref.: On the brotherhood of the program and if he thought when he first started it would have this big of an impact)
"I mean, honestly, that's why I coach. I thought that would be one of the strengths of our style, is being relational and being intentional, and developing a culture and a brotherhood. Trying to be less transactional and more intentional in building that. That's what I enjoyed the most about playing the game, and kind of what I've always tried to foster, whether it was as a position coach or a coordinator or a leader, is playing for each other and playing for the man next to you. So not surprised that that's where our program is. I'm really blessed and fortunate that we've got coaches like Coach [Ryan] Russell who buy into that stuff too, and our players who believe in it. You know, it was unbelievably cool to have Darius Robinson there, you know, on a bye week and, just the different tweets and texts throughout the game from former players who are watching and are still connected with us and rooting for us."
(Ref.: On how he's seen Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll mentor the younger guys)
"Yeah. I mean, I think everybody understands, like, embrace your role. Be a very unselfish player. You know, you have Nate who comes in and provides a spark. Marcus Carroll comes on the goal line and finishes. Kewan Lacy comes in, I thought he did a really nice job providing us a spark right there in the third quarter with some explosive, tough runs. I think, you know, Jamal [Roberts] comes in and does what he does on third downs and in special teams. I think it's just an unselfish room. It starts with Coach [Curtis] Luper, and again, his belief in brotherhood. You know, the 'game breakers' is what that group calls themselves. And so, you know, I think those guys buy into to the position coach. And the position coach continues to give everybody an opportunity to prove themselves."
(Ref.: On what role Kewan Lacy has provided)
"Well, the role is what he earns. You know, we had a couple of specific plays that we wanted him in the game for, and we had repped him all week. You know, we weren't quite sure how long Nate [Noel] could go. Nate again did a tremendous job for us. But if Nate couldn't go, those were going to be Kewan's plays, because we felt like we needed a little bit more explosiveness to it. You know, we want to continue to integrate Kewan into our offense and continue to get him going, so we'll see how that plays out the last three."
(Ref.: On guys burning their redshirt and what he's seen from them to demonstrate they're ready to play, especially in SEC games)
"Well, it's a combination of things. It's a combination of depth and need, and a combination of readiness. And, you know, these guys, a lot of them, have contributed on special teams and a couple other ones, just especially with the injuries that we're dealing with, we need them to finish games. This game, no different, you're going to play a team that's a high-volume offense. You know, can get a lot of plays and so in order to stay healthy and efficient on both sides of the ball you got to have multiple players playing."
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