Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said to Preview Auburn

COLUMBIA, Mo. — No. 16 Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz had plenty to say Tuesday to reflect on the Tigers' loss to Alabama in Week 7, preview the matchup at Auburn for Week 8 and to adress rumors that he could be a candidate for head coaching jobs elsewhere.

Here's a full transcript of what Drinkwitz had to say.

Opening statement:

"Excited to get back to work. Face a challenge of going on the road in the SEC versus a very good very good team, at night. Really awesome venue. So we got to be focused and ready to go. I know our staff and players have had great energy so far in the building. Yesterday was 'Mindset Monday.' So excited about what we're doing and getting ready.

To recap last week, really proud of physicality that our team played with and the effort that our guys fought really hard. And had the ball with the chance to win at the end of the game. But we got to find that winning play, and that's really on me as the head football coach, to find that winning play for us and this program, and we got to keep working on it.

There was a couple of questions in the post-game press conference that I didn't have great answers to, and I said I'd get back to you, so I want to follow up on those questions.

No. 1, somebody asked why we didn't run the ball. I think when you watch the overall totality of the game, it comes down to our inability to stay on the field. We had 10 third downs in that game, we were 1 for 10. It's hard to establish any type of rhythm consistency on offense. We had three three and outs and a four-play drive. And the third downs were not extremely long. It wasn't like we were behind the chains. We just didn't convert the way we needed to, which also swayed the time of possession and allowed them to have the ball too much.

The second question was, 'Why we didn't execute on third downs, why it was lacking?' And that really is, after watching the tape, it's all of us. It's me organizing and making sure that we're practicing it the right way, making sure we're getting the right looks, making sure we have the right plan. It's the plan we put in place, it's the calls, it's the design of the scheme, it's the protection, it's the routes, it's the decision making. All of it has to improve, and that's something that we'll work on this week. So hopefully that answers those questions that we're pressing afterwards.

But for us, our mindset is improvement and moving on to our next target. Auburn is a really good football team. They've lost three really difficult games, two of them on the road, one at home, under some unusual circumstances, but they have a lot of fight. They're always in those games. They're a very good defensive football team, which allows them to always have an opportunity to be in the game. I think all three phases are well-coached, well-designed and well-schemed. Offensively, obviously, coach Hugh Freeze has done an outstanding job with that offense. It hasn't clicked the way they all want it, but you can tell each week it's a little bit closer. It's a little bit closer. Their offensive linemen have five NFL-caliber players on the offensive line, two of them are returning starters from last year. They went out and got two really good players out of the portal at their tackle positions, some of the highest-ranked portal additions in the country. Again, going into the season, they were talking about those five guys being NFL prospects and being some of the best offensive lineman, and it shows up on tape. That's why they're able to run the ball. They're ran the ball very well versus Baylor and obviously last game (against Georgia).

Wide receivers and tight ends, obviously an elite player with Cam Coleman, just elite ball skills. Really good player can get open, fast, catch radius. Obviously, Eric Singleton Jr. was one of the most dynamic players in the portal that they got. Does a really good job of their slot position, they utilize in a lot of different ways. Malcolm Simmons, the punt returner, also plays that position. The running back, Jeremiah Cobb's a really good player. They utilize their quarterback as a plus-one in the run game, who does a really good job on that. And then they're tight end, Brandon Frazier, very physical player with great length that they can move around and utilize. So offensively, all the skilled weapons, an O-line that's really talented, so they've got our challenges there.

Defensively, again, very, very good defensively. (Defensive coordinator) DJ Durkin does excellent job. Very multiple, very aggressive. Plays — I don't even know what he plays. He plays a lot of defense. I mean, four-down, three-down, odd, bear three safety, man, four man, two, invert, blitzes, pressure. They got two NFL Defensive ends that line up all over the field, with (Keyyron) Crawford and Keldric Faulk. There are two interiors. They rotate a ton of guys. They play a lot of different players. Linebackers fit downhill. Corners are as good as anywhere in the country. Lot of safeties.

So really good football team just hasn't caught a few breaks, for whatever reason. Just hasn't gone their way. So I'm sure that they're very anxious and ready to get after us. So we got our hands full, and that's where our focus is."

On if the team is approaching road games differently this season after going 1-3 on the road last season, losing first road game 41-10:

"This isn't the first road game — we took our road game in August (a practice at Lindenwood), so we're prepared for it. We went on the road in August. We know what to expect. So yeah, we're not gonna have that as an excuse."

On the deep passing game for Missouri's offense:

"I think that's something that you're always looking at. Are we taking enough shots? Do we push the ball vertically enough down the field? Have we been efficient at it? In the game (against Alabama), obviously Donovan (Olugbode) caught two big vertical throws, had a few missed opportunities there, so something to look at. But again, it comes down to 1 for 10 on third down. You can't design verticals if you can't convert third downs. So it really comes down to those execution numbers as much as anything."

On Beau Pribula's ability to read defenses so far:

"I think Beau has done some really, really good things, and I think there's things that Beau is continuing to grow and develop. I think again, playing quarterback in this league, and playing quarterback in general, is a growth process, and every rep is an opportunity to improve, and that's what he's doing. He's played well enough for us to win five games, and we had the ball last drive of the game with an opportunity. There's always going to be growing pains with a first-year starting quarterback, and so the expectation for Beau to be perfect is unrealistic, and regardless of what anybody else's expectations are, I'm very proud of the way he's played, very proud of the composure that he's shown. I'm very proud of the toughness that he's displayed, and I think he's only getting better and better. And I shared with him yesterday there was a lot of questions about Brady Cook's ability to lead late-game drives. And I think he put all of those to bed his final two seasons as a starting quarterback. So you kind of got to allow guys to grow into it and not expect that the first time anybody shows up anything they're going to be perfect."

On how Pribula performed on Missouri's last drive of the game:

"Obviously, a really good play and decision on the fourth-and-7, gave Donovan a chance, made a play, got us to first down. Inefficiency on first, second down forced us into a third down. I think we had a pre-snap read that we thought the seam was going to be open, the seam got knocked off target, that was our first read. Didn't really react to the post-snap disruption of the read, and put a throw in there a little bit high. Can clearly see what he was thinking pre snap. And anybody in the world can coach it after the snap or after the fact, but that doesn't do anybody any good, so learn from it and move on."

On the message to the team regarding needing to improve in late-game situations:

"Like I said in the opening (of the) press conference, we got to find the winning play. We just didn't have the winning play. We had opportunities. I think there were a couple of critical moments in the game that we didn't have the composure that we needed to make the winning play. Whether we're talking about penalties, whether we're talking about allowing them to be 4 for 6 on third downs, four-point plays in the red zone. We had one before half that didn't convert. They had one in the second quarter on a third-and-12 that they converted. We had two fourth downs on the last drive of the game that, defensively, we weren't able to get off the field. We had two turnovers in the fourth quarter. Those are things that aren't going to win you a game. And yet, with all that, we had the ball with a chance to win the game. And my challenge to the team and everybody is refuse self pity, and I would encourage everybody else to refuse blame. Alright, it doesn't do any good to B(lame) C(omplain D(efend) at all. We didn't get it done, we move on."

On his thoughts on the team's response to the loss:

"You either win or grow. You ither win or grow. That's been our mindset, win or grow. That's it. Win or grow. A warrior knows there's always more battles to fight. And if we sit here and worry about this stuff, like all these questions, ask me about Auburn. We can't do anything about last game, we're focused on Auburn. We're focused on Auburn. And all these questions are just to assign blame to somebody so we can feel better about, 'Oh, we identified why we lost.' We lost because I didn't get it done as the head coach. I couldn't find that winning moment for our team. That's my responsibility. My job is to make sure our focus and everything else is on the next opponent, which starts with 'Toughness Tuesday' today and inside drill."

On the role Olugbode could play in the offense going forward:

"Keep taking advantage of the opportunity that he has. We have really good wide receivers, again, the rep distribution in that game — I mean, at one point we had 36 offensive plays. That's our fault, because we didn't convert third downs. So we want to get more plays, we want to get more touches we want to do all that, well, convert third downs."

On where he got the 'learn the lesson, leave the event' saying:

"I think it was the Cleveland Guardians manager two seasons ago or something. He referred to it after a game that they had. And I thought it was incredibly important as a competitor to understand that. I think too many times we let the weights of outside influences, especially now more than ever with social media, it gets you in just this revolving door of seeing the same things, and you got to move on. There's nothing you can do about the past. You can only learn from it. So learn the lesson, leave the event, keep moving forward. Can't wallow in self pity. No one's coming to save us. Nobody feels sorry for us. Auburn sure don't give a damn about us losing the game. They would prefer that we sat here and answer questions about it, it keeps us from being distracted or focused on them."

On what the offense needs to do to get in rhythm more often:

"Practice. We got to practice it better. We got to make sure that the schemes that we're designing that our quarterbacks comfortable and our players understand the details of it. We obviously had a miscommunication between the wide receiver and the quarterback on the first interception, can't happen. And if that wasn't clearly coached throughout the week, then that's on me as the head football coach, so making sure that the scheme is clearly communicated, taught and practiced and we understand all the different variables. Football is an interesting game because you got 22 people on the field with free will, and so all the designs, best laid plans of mice and men, as soon as that ball's snapped, you got 22 people that can do whatever they actually want to do, and if they don't all work in sync, I mean, it's a complete clown show. If you got one guy that does something different, there's a lot of adjustment. And that one variable isn't just between the quarterback and the wide receiver. That variable can be between, 'Hey, the nickel does something different than you thought, or the defensive tackle drops.' I mean, it's a hell of a tough game, but it's real easy to do it after the fact. It's real easy to be an armchair quarterback. Unfortunately, we don't get redos or do overs. You just got to keep practicing."

On Jackson Arnold's performance so far this season, if it's different from playing him last year when he was with Oklahoma:

"I'll say this, what Jackson Arnold's gone through, it's been very impressive to watch him play and perform. He's doing a great job taking care of the football. He's got the second-longest streak in the SEC for attempts without throwing an interception. He's an incredibly tough runner. Does a great job escaping the pocket, pushing vertical.

It's a different scheme than what they were utilizing last year. I think there's a lot more comfort in watching him play. He understands, I think, they know what their offensive identity is. Again, they were on the road for two games. I think was a little bit tough, but those first three or four, I mean, he was really good, and I thought really good in the first half versus (Georgia), they got the tough break on the goal line, kind of changed momentum. But I think he's a really good player.

The way you defend him is a lot different, just because the scheme design is totally different. Last year, there were some holes of what they were doing schematically that we were able to kind of take advantage of. Those holes aren't the same."

On Auburn running back Damari Alston being dismissed from the team Monday:

"I got problems of my own. I'm not worried about anything going on with their team. I'm worried about the issues I got, which are, third downs and vertical throws and all the other stuff y'all pointed out to me today that I had no idea (sarcastically) I gotta go back to worry about."

On the fact that Missouri has given up nine fumbles so far this season:

"Unacceptable. Again, it goes back to we were one play away, but when you watch the game, man, like we didn't play our best, and that's on me. We had balls out on the ground all over the place. So we got to clean it up. We focus on it, but it's got to translate. Gotta translate. You can be as good as you want to be yards after contact and making the first guy miss, but if the ball comes out, you ain't touching it, so on the road, you can't turn the ball over."

On Keagen Trost's play so far:

"So far, so good."

On rumors about him or other staff members being candidates for head coach jobs at other programs:

"I got problems of my own. I think the No. 1 issue right now amongst college football is the noise that's associated with people's programs at all points of the season, whether good, bad or indifferent. There's no such thing as journalistic integrity on social media. There's just wild, outlandish reporting. I'll bet every sitting head coach has been listed as a candidate for some job so far, and as a team, as a coach, we got to ignore the noise and focus on the things that we can control, which is winning and losing football games.

Last week, it was really unfortunate that (offensive coordinator) Kirby (Moore)'s name got associated to something that was a complete lie. He never interviewed. Didn't talk to anybody at Arkansas. It's a bunch of bull crap put out there to try to create distractions and a narrative that then comes over after the fact after the game, and it's really disappointing this stuff happens. Because, again, Twitter ain't real, and it's just a bunch of bull crap thrown on message boards.

So how do I block it out? I ignore it. ... As far as my name associated with everything, that's awesome for the University of Missouri. It means we're doing something really good. Means that our administration has committed to excellence. It means all the investment that the people here have been made has resulted in our success. It's a tip of the hat to the University of Missouri. It has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with the players and the support staff. But I would encourage all the fans and everybody else, it's October 14, the only thing that matters for us is 1-0 this week, and anything outside of that is a distraction that you shouldn't even worry about, don't even let it cross your mind, because, man, I have no idea. You lose three games a row, you may get fired. So I wouldn't worry about it."

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