Despite National Attention, Drinkwitz Not Content with Mizzou's Play

The Tigers may have two wins, but their head coach expects far more from them as a team.

Sep 6, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz during his appearance on "SEC Nation" ahead of the renewed Border Showdown between the Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSI

Don't get it twisted: Eli Drinkwitz is pleased that the Missouri Tigers are 2-0 with a win over the Kansas Jayhawks.

That doesn't mean he has to be thrilled with how they've played so far.

When Drinkwitz addressed the media Tuesday, he was all business and didn't seem content with last week's performance against the Jayhawks. Despite a 42-31 win and claiming bragging rights over an age-old rival, something didn't sit right with Drinkwitz.

"I'm really trying to figure out how to improve from our performance last week," Drinkwitz said. "Didn't feel like that as a team, we did the things that we needed to do in critical moments when we really had a chance to put the game away."

READ: Despite Early Win Over Kansas, Mizzou Has Many Areas To Improve In

Though there are some clear positives for the Tigers to build on from Week 2, that didn't seem to be the focus of Drinkwitz. He still feels they have a long way to go before they reach their true ceiling.

He also feels that they already know what they've done well, especially from outside of the program. Multiple players on the team have received national recognition, including weekly awards given to quarterback Beau Pribula, tight end Brett Norfleet and left guard Dominick Giudice.

The national recognition doesn't mean much to Drinkwitz. He wants his team to focus on improvement before they have to face tough SEC opponents.

"They've gotten plenty of praise at the end of the day," Drinkwitz said. "There's a lot of things we got to get better at.”

Issues on the defensive side of the ball, especially the secondary, were a good indicator that Drinkwitz expects more of his team.

Sep 6, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. (2) celebrates after the Tigers' 42-31 victory in the Border War against the Kansas Jayhawks at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSI

Part of that, according to Drinkwitz, falls back on the coaches. However, he still expects his players to execute the game plan they are taught.

"Too much scheme," Drinkwitz said. "Their shifts and motions, combined with too much in the game plan, created a situation where we had confusion that's on us as a staff to get that fixed."

The defensive side of the ball is an area Drinkwitz appeared to be quite disappointed in, primarily on the back end. That's an area the Tigers will certainly have to improve in before SEC play rolls around.

"There's a lot of stuff that was really disappointing when we watched the tape, and I think all of us felt it and knew that we got to play better.”

Even with the good came some bad. The Tigers dominated on defense in terms of stopping the run and the Tigers far outgained the Jayhawks in total yards, yet they only won by 11 points.

"Defensively, I mean, we held them to three yards rushing," Drinkwitz said. I don't know if I've ever been a part of the game where we outrush somebody by 258 yards, and it was that close football game."

Missouri fans might get distracted by a 2-0 record and a win in the Kansas rivalry. That very clearly is not the most important thing on the mind of Drinkwitz and his team, who still feel they have a long way to go before reaching their peak.