Everything Mizzou’s Eli Drinkwitz Said After Loss to South Carolina

The Missouri Tigers suffered their third loss of the season Saturday at South Carolina, falling 34-30 in a tight game with five lead changes. Missouri scored a go-ahead touchdown with 1:10 remaining but could not seal the deal, allowing a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in 47 seconds.

Here’s a full transcript of what head coach Eli Drinkwitz had to say following the loss.

Opening Statement:

“Coach [Shane] Beamer and his football team, they earned it right there on that last drive and hats off to them. Disappointed for our guys that we couldn’t find a way to win. Had opportunities, both in the first half and second half, and just didn’t execute well enough when we needed to in order to win the game.”

“Really proud of them. Proud of both sides of the ball. The fourth-down stops by the defense to get us back in going on a little run right there. Both sides of the ball did what they needed to do. We just came up short. In the second half, defensively, we couldn’t get off the field right there on the last drive, and in the first half, we went 0-for-six, three of those in the red zone. That’s the difference in the game.”

On the mindset of his team during close games:

“I just think there’s a relentlessness that our team plays with and believes in. Just didn’t have enough tonight.”

On the performance of Missouri’s pass rushing unit:

“I thought they did some really good things, but our inability to get him on the ground on that last drive was bad.”

On Brady Cook’s performance:

“Gutty performance, led his team down there, played well. Obviously we missed some third downs, and that’s going to be something that we have to assess. But I thought he did everything he could to give us a chance to win.”

On his message to his team:

“Don’t hang your heads. This is college football on the road versus a ranked team. Gave yourself a chance to win. You didn’t get it done. We got two games left to go finish. So, you can be disappointed, but we can’t be devastated and we won’t hang our heads.”

On the offense’s struggles in the red zone:

“Ultimately, I think that’s the difference in the game. In the first half, we had the fourth-down stop and then had the turnover, and didn’t get any points off the turnover, with the missed field goal, went three-and out right there and the sack. And our inability to convert third downs in the red zone in the first half was why we were behind and ultimately, the difference in the score. IF any of those are touchdowns, it’s different game.”

On the explosive passes let up by the defense:

“They were getting separation in man, and we weren’t able to get to the quarterback. We’re gonna have to reassess what we’re doing there.”

On the confusion with South Carolina’s failed fourth-down conversion in the fourth quarter:

“The explanation that I got was they had a miscommunication on their sideline to give it a first down, and the guy on our sideline knew that it was not the mark needed to be measured, and so it was just a miscommunication, and that’s why they measured it.”

On Luther Burden III’s touchdown:

“We had a different play called. They pressed, quarterback adjusted it with the wide receiver, and he had a great release, great football throw and one handed catch. Dissapointed that we wasted that.”

On Nate Noel and the offensive line’s performance:

“They were able to get Brady comfortable. We end edup giving the two sacks, but it was on the last drive in the last play the first half. So, quarterback had plenty of protection. We were able to keep the defensive ends off balance, and we did what we needed to. We just didn’t execute right there at the end to finish it, we didn’t execute on third downs in the red zone.”

On Brady Cook and Nate Noel returning from injury to play:

“They’re tough guys. Man, this Brotherhood’s not for soft people.”

On the decision to elect to receive the opening kick:

“We wanted to take the ball and go down and score, and we did, but we needed to execute on that third down. We just felt like having an opportunity to try to take control of the atmosphere.”

On the decision to attempt a two-point conversion after scoring their first touchdown:

“Down 15, and so you can either wait late and see how it goes, or you can go for two there and then figure out if it’s a two-possession game, which is what we did. So went for it. ends up allowing us to kick the field goal and then knowing we need a touchdown late. So it’s just a different way to play it. I felt like when we scored, I think there’s maybe five minutes left to go in the third quarter, and they had one possession, we had one possession. So I kind of needed to force the issue on what was going to be the timing of the rest of the game.”

On Brady Cook’s toughness to return from injury:

“I’m proud of him for competing and demonstrating toughness.”

‘Just Didn’t Have Enough’: Mizzou Let South Carolina Out of Its Grasp in Week 12 Loss
Instant Takeaways From Mizzou’s Climactic Loss to South Carolina
Mizzou Tigers Football Bowl Possibilities