Eli Drinkwitz Diagnoses Mizzou's Secondary Issues Following Week 4 Win

After some time to look back, Drinkwitz put his finger on what went wrong in the secondary against the Gamecocks in Week 4.

Sep 20, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks wide receiver Vandrevius Jacobs (19) makes a diving catch as Missouri Tigers cornerback Stephen Hall (0) looks on during the second half of the game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

A lot went right for the Missouri Tigers on both sides of the ball in a 29-20 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks in Week 4.

However, the one glaring weakness that came out of that game was the Tigers' secondary and the chunk plays it allowed.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz was frustrated by the secondary's performance immediately after the victory. But with a few days to digest what went wrong, the issues became much clearer.

Part of that is players not staying true to their coverage assignments.

"We need to eliminate some volume and get good at what we do," Drinkwitz said Tuesday. "We don't have to be the best at everything. We have to be the best at what we do, and right now we're trying to be a jack of all trades and a master of none, and that's got to get cleaned up."

This was a recurring issue throughout the game, and has appeared in game tape from earlier weeks, as well. The details of what happened against the Gamecocks, however, are now very clear.

The first touchdown of the game may have been the most egregious of the explosive plays that the Tiger secondary allowed. It came on third-and-15 when Sellers found Vandrevius Jacobs on a 49-yard bomb down the right side of the field.

It was a simple streak route, but it was also a free play, thanks to a jump offside from defensive end Zion Young. Sellers hit Jacobs with perfect anticipation, but there looked like there was some let-up after the offside flag was thrown.

"One, we can't jump off size on third-and-15 and give a team of free play," Drinkwitz said. "Two, we gotta play the play once the ball is snapped."

That being said, there was some miscommunication on who was supposed to be where. Safety Santana Banner was supposed to drop back and help cornerback Toriano Pride Jr., who was tasked with defending Jacobs on this play. Pride got beat quickly, but didn't have any help on his backside.

"We should have been in a version of Cover 2, that was the original call," Drinkwitz said. "Our safety on the divide never got off [and] left Toriano in a vulnerable position."

VANDREVIUS. pic.twitter.com/M6Mzts1jUl

— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) September 20, 2025

This isn't the first time Pride has found himself in sticky situations like the one against Jacobs, where he truly was burnt on the route. It was an issue last season and he showed that those errors can still slip into his in-game performances.

That wasn't the only deep ball that Jacobs let loose on. Early in the third quarter, Sellers found Jacobs on a deep post where he'd very clearly out ran Washington State transfer Stephen Hall.

The 43-yard reception that placed the Gamecocks on the 1-yard line wasn't all on Hall, however. Veteran safety Jalen Catalon was supposed to drop back in coverage if Sellers hadn't stepped back into the shotgun. He did so, leaving the area behind him wide open for Jacobs to torch Hall.

"If they were in shotgun, we were going to have a safety assigned to the quarterback in the run game," Drinkwitz said. "They came out under center. We didn't make the right adjustment to that. Then, obviously, we didn't play the ball in the air very well."

Outside of that, Sellers found wide receiver Brian Rowe Jr. on a wide-open 24-yard wheel route. There was very clearly a misunderstanding on who was doing what in that situation, a scenario that falls back on communication on the field and coaching off of it.

Rowe's openness partially fell back on Catalon at the safety spot once again. He bit on Jacobs' curl route and was too late to cover Rowe. The route also confused senior cornerback Drey Norwood, which eventually led to Rowe sitting open in the end zone.

"We didn't have a holistic understanding of who was covering the stem route, so our divide said he wanted to cross stems," Drinkwitz said. "He saw one open, so he thought he needed to cover that. Didn't expand his vision and left the wheel route open. That's both player and coaching responsibility."

Poetry in motion 🎯 pic.twitter.com/B81GrmBQ1D

— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) September 21, 2025

The safety group as a whole isn't completely to blame for the mistakes, given it was the corners who were ultimately getting beat over the top. That being said, the positioning and eyes of the safeties on multiple plays did make a difference in some of the big plays.

"Some of the guys higher [were] being greedy with their eyes, trying to rob things low is really not their job," senior safety Daylan Carnell said. "Just trying to really do things that really not their play."

This all ultimately falls on the preparation the Tigers follow through with during practices.

"Good things to work on, but that's the diagnosis," Drinkwitz said. "It's a combination of players, coaches making sure we're on the same page."

The fact that Drinkwitz, the coaching staff and players know and understand where everything went wrong is a positive sign. The Tigers have two weeks ahead of them to get things cleaned up, starting with a matchup against UMass at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and followed by a bye week.