Eli Drinkwitz Addresses Two Mizzou Problems Revealed in Win Over Kansas

Missouri left Lawrence as the victor of the 122nd chapter of the Border War but learned a few grim things about itself in the process — makes sense, given it was war the Tigers participated in.

Of the most prominent woes revealed in the contest was on the Tigers’ special teams, which was rather disastrous. Both of Missouri’s first-half field-goal attempts were blocked by the Jayhawks, the first of which saw a cluster of Jayhawks break through the blocking unit.

Struggles on special teams aren’t new to Missouri football. Tigers made just five field goals from 40 or more yards out and averaged the second-to-least amount of yards per punt (41.8) in the Southeastern Conference last season.

The struggle against Kansas takes the cake for the worst, according to Drinkwitz.

“Probably the most embarrassed I've been and we've had some embarrassing special teams performances here,” Drinkwitz said.

The struggles in the third phase last season led to the eventual departure of longtime special teams coordinator Erik Link, who had been in the role since Drinkwitz’s arrival in 2020. Even with a new coordinator, John Papuchis, taking over the unit, the struggles continued to open the Tigers’ season.

"I'm going to put it on me,” Drinkwitz said of the responsibility of the struggles. “I'm in charge of that unit. I'm in charge of all the special teams units, but whatever we were teaching and how we were teaching was not getting communicated to the players in a way that they understood it, because we had the same block happen twice in the same area and we got to do a better job and so we have reinstalled the protection, and we've made a few personnel changes on that. But at the end of the day, that's on me as the head coach because I didn't get it corrected from the UAPB game… We got it fixed later in the (Kansas) game, but that's too late."

Kansas Jayhawks defensive end Leroy Harris III (33) blocks a kick by Missouri Tigers kicker Blake Craig (19) during the game inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Sept. 11, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Despite the mistakes, Missouri was able to handle Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 40 points and take down Kansas by 21. Missouri also has significantly better rosters and investment assets than both of its first two opponents. The Tigers will next play Troy of the Sun Belt Conference, but begin a grueling eight-game SEC slate the week after. Mistakes as severe as the ones committed against Kansas might not be as easy to rebound from against tougher conference foes.

“Football is a game — I think (Georgia coach) Kirby Smart said it yesterday — you're one week away from being humbled. And for us, that's really got to be the mindset. When you watch the tape, you got to look through a really critical lens and see that we're really one week away from being humbled if they continue to exploit things that we put on tape and don't have — from a coaching staff to a players (perspective) — have the wherewithal to get it fixed.”

Secondary Struggles

Special teams wasn’t the only area of concern against the Jayhawks, as Missouri’s corners displayed a less-than-admirable performance against Kansas wideouts, both in the air and on the ground.

"We got to have more consistency out of that position,” Drinkwitz said. “I thought Jahlil (Florence) did an excellent job of making that interception but his tackling was faulty. Clearly, could have had a fourth down stop early in the game if he does a better job tackling, he's leaving his feet too quick. Sione (Laulea) had an issue in man coverage on third down where the quarterback scrambled and he didn't stay attached to his man. So we've got to get that off the tape.”

Sep 11, 2026; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks wide receiver Keaton Kubecka (3) runs the ball as Missouri Tigers cornerback Chris Graves Jr. (1) and Missouri Tigers safety Santana Banner (15) make the tackle during the second half of the game at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Florence, Laulea and the rest of the crew didn’t allow many completions, but part of that can be credited to Kansas quarterback Isaiah Marshall missing open receivers down the field. More experienced SEC signal-callers — or even Troy quarterback Goose Crowder — will likely hit those throws, a looming fact Drinkwitz seems well aware of.

“(The cornerbacks) have the potential and they have the talent, but we're two weeks in, man. It's going to get a lot more challenging, let's just be real. It's going to get a lot more challenging each and every week, and it was a good win because of the circumstances that we created, but it's going to get a lot more challenging. The quarterback this week is going to dial up our seams if we don't get those corrected and if we don't stay attached to man-to-man, he's going to eat us alive, so we got a lot of work to do there… It's gonna be a little bit more of a difficult challenge."

Missouri will be back in action against Troy at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium, where the team will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the stadium and honoring the 1960 MU team recently awarded the national championship from that season.

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