Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said After Loss to Virginia in Gator Bowl

Missouri suffered its first loss in its last three bowl appearances Saturday night, suffering a slow death at the hands of No. 19 Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

Take a look at everything head coach Eli Drinkwitz said after the loss to give his thoughts on the struggles Missouri faced on offense, a look ahead to the offseason and more.

Opening statement:

"Obviously very dissapointed at the result. I thought our guys had great resolve and great fight throughout the game. And obviously missed an opportunity there at the end of the game.

It's on me. I didn't do a good enough job calling plays tonight to get us into a rhythm or give us things that we could do and execute. Bottom line, this is on me.

Disappointed for, obviously, the seniors. For Connor (Tollison) for the way he played and performed here for the amount of time he's been here. For Zion (Young), for those guys, it's going to stick with me for a while not doing enough to help them find a way to win.

But, like I told them in there, they helped rebuild this program to what we want to be. This year, we came up short, and now we've got to find a way to move forward. And guys like Nick (Rodriguez), Ahmad (Hardy), and other guys that are coming back, we got to start the process over again when we get back here in January and get back up, and that's what we'll do."

On why Brett Brown had to come in for Matt Zollers on the final play:

"They (the officiating crew) said he (Zollers) had to come out of the game. Guess it was the referee's decision."

On what led to the struggles generating a rhythm offensively:

"I don't know. I thought the first drive, we had a great rhythm. The second drive, we had a good rhythm. We just couldn't convert some third downs. And then, that the muff punt right there, we were just out of sorts. There was a third-and-8, and we run a seven-yard route. There's a third-and-4, and we throw the ball behind him (the receiver) that should have been a clear first down, so we were just off.

And then after the muffed punt, just didn't have a great sequence there. And then obviously, we missed the field goal, they kind of took away the momentum, we were never really able to get back. They went on that (10)-minute drive to start the third quarter, had two fourth-downs (conversions), and we never, at that point, were able to get in and settle in on what we needed to do."

On the struggles on third downs on both offense and defense:

"For us offensively, it was execution. I thought we started off the first drive really good, then on the second drive and the third drive, like I said, we we're short on our routes, so that was not good.

Defensively, they did a good job keeping us off balance. They were running the ball, throwing screens, stymying our pass rush — I don't think we had a sack — I can't remember the last time that we didn't have a sack in a game like that."

On his evaluation of Zollers' performance:

"I thought he did some really good things. Obviously, had a chance right there on that two-minute drive, moved us down the field pretty well. So, a lot to build on. Obviously it's a lot of growth. You know, everybody's got to grow and learn from their reps. And that's his, really, his third start. So, I thought he did some really good things. Obviously, wish we could have that interception back. And I think there was just a couple of throws that we were a little bit late to. Just, overall, I thought he gave us an opportunity, and it was really on me — I didn't do a good enough job calling plays for him."

On Hardy not taking a second-half carry until late in the fourth quarter:

"I think they had the ball for the first 12 minutes of the third quarter, we came out, we threw an out-route to Kevin Coleman that we missed (the interception). We handed off the jet sweep to Kevin Coleman that got us some yardage, and then we missed the third-down conversion, and that was the end of the third quarter, if I remember right. We got to the fourth-and-1 and we punted there.

And then the (fourth quarter) I think the first drive of the fourth quarter, was backed up, and we went, Jamal (Roberts) backed up. We went, run, run, and then we tried to run it again, and we ended up being short. We had the go-for-it call, but we jumped off-sides, and the next time we touched it. So, I mean, it wasn't designed that way, it's just we only had six plays (in the third quarter)."

On transitioning from this loss to the offseason:

"I mean, first week, we got to go in there and appreciate the seniors for what they've done for us. And then, starting tomorrow, we'll finish up re-signing the current roster. There's going to be guys transferring. There's guys that already told us that they were going to transfer, but they wanted to play tonight, and we really appreciate those guys finishing. And then once we have a kind of a final feel of where that is, and then we'll go attack the portal and build a new team. And that's that's college football now. I mean, every team's looking to rebuild their roster, post-bowl games, post coaching changes, whatever, and that's what we'll do. We've got a really strong foundation. Nick's gonna be back. Ahmad's coming back. Matt Zollers is already signed. We've got a really, really strong foundation of guys that have signed. I think people are making fun of people for putting out posters or tweets about re-signing, I think we kind of have to now, just to make sure everybody knows who's who's coming back, right?

But I think we've got a really good foundation in the trenches. We got a really good foundation in the skill positions, and so it's about filling in the holes, sustaining the culture, guys like Nick and Ahmad and Matt, and Jalen Marshall and all these guys that have committed to coming back and re-signing, they got to carry the carry the culture that's been established that Connor fought for. And that'll be what we do, and back to work. I mean, nothing good comes easy. And so it'll be a fight to finish off, re-signing our team, and then we'll go to work, and that's what we'll do. And I know the fans are disappointed, I'm disappointed, I know that locker room's disappointed, and that's a good thing. That's a good thing when Missouri is disappointed after a season like this, that's where we want to be. That's what we got to be. So that's what we're going to continue to fight to uphold."

Read more Missouri Tigers news: