Everything Eli Drinkwitz Said to Preview South Carolina

The Missouri Tigers may have a challenge on their hands in Week 4 of the season. The Tigers are facing South Carolina, a squad they lost to on the road last season.

Led by quarterback LaNorris Sellers, wide receiver Nyckoles Harbor and edge rusher Dylan Stewart, the Tigers may have their hands full stopping all of Shane Beamer's weapons.

Here's everything Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said about their upcoming challenge against South Carolina.

Opening Statement

“Just want to start by saying again how much I appreciate our fans and the environment they created Saturday. I know it was a challenge with the adjustment of game time and heat, but was really appreciative of them being here. I thought we played well Saturday. The tape looked as good as I thought it was going to. So there's a lot of positives. There’s a lot of guys who played. There's things to correct, which is always good too. So we worked on that yesterday, and now we're on to South Carolina. I appreciate our fans response selling out this game. I believe it's our 16th in a row. There was one previous, I think, since 2016, so that's a heck of a deal for our fan base. Just appreciate their commitment to us in creating an environment at Faurot Field that can be very intimidating.

South Carolina is a very good football team. They have a lot of momentum right now in their program from last year to now, with the way they ended that season. Their quarterback (LaNorris Sellers) is an excellent player, All-SEC preseason, a Heisman front-runner, an absolutely great player. We know firsthand with the way he played against us last year. Got really good players in the offensive positions. I think Nyck Harbor again, played excellent against us last year as a dynamic return player, has elite speed, size, has grown as a wideout. Got (a) really good line of scrimmage, All-American at the tackle position from last year. And then the running back (Rashul Faison), seventh year playing college football, is a really explosive player, really good player. Changes their scheme offensively. So got our hands full there defensively.

I think (defensive coordinator) Clayton White does an unbelievable job. They lost some guys last year, but when you watch the tape, you don't really notice it. I think they've replaced them, not only with good players, but they wear a lot of the same numbers, which is a little bit of a challenge. They're led by Dylan Stewart, the All-American defensive end, who is as good a defensive end as there is in this league. Elite combination of speed, power, physicality, really plays at a high level. I think their other defense band, Bryan Thomas Jr, is a very physical player, does a really good job. They replaced their two interior guys, which I thought last year was as strong as it was in the SEC and these guys are really good. Obviously, [Fred] Johnson was the defensive player the week, week nationally, I think Week 1, he's an excellent player. They've got several guys coming back off injury secondary, so they appear to be getting healthy. So really difficult scheme in the way they play on defense, and then obviously special teams, coach [Shane] Beamer does an excellent job there. They always create an advantage. The return units are elite. Their punt returner has three touchdowns in three games, more than the SEC combined. So and they always try to create an advantage in that phase, whether it's through fake punts, fake field goals, most recently, return opportunities, they had a big return, big reverse against us last year that led to their drive to win the game. So it's a really big challenge in all three phases. Going to be a really big challenge for our team.

On who he expects to start at quarterback for South Carolina

I anticipate LaNorris (Sellers) to play.

On whether he pays attention to SEC availability reports

“Not gonna step into Lane (Kiffin)'s business here, so I'm not going in there. It's not really for us. It wasn't created for the coaches. It was created for transparency because of other industries that are tied to college football. And so I would say you'd have to ask those guys.”

On Luke Doty

“Regarding the quarterback situation, Luke Doty has played quarterback, another guy that has played a lot of college football. We played against him before. I think I remember recruiting Luke out of Myrtle Beach High School when I was at NC State. Really good player, but I don't think their scheme is going to change any. He's not LaNorris, but he's a very good, capable player. So for us, there's not two stylistic differences in the way that quarterback position is going to be played. So for us, we're going to anticipate that LaNorris will play, and then we'll adjust if he does not.”

On the difficulties of stopping LaNorris Sellers

“He's listed as a pre-season all-SEC, first team quarterback for a reason. That was telling. He's a cut above, he's got a unique build and frame. He's really strong, hard to tackle in the pocket, hard to wrap up, makes incredible decisions and plays when the play is broken down. I think that's always a challenge, especially when you're playing defense. If you're in man, and he breaks the pocket and he's going to take off and run. If you're playing zone, it's hard to keep a zone cover when your focal point is moved. So how does that zone move with it? So it's an extremely difficult challenge. He is an elite player.”

On wanting more out of Connor Tollison

“I think you got to always coach your best players the hardest. I think it sets the tone for everybody in that room that they know that if you're coaching the best players the hardest, and the standard for them is the same. I thought Connor had his best game this year. Our outside zone scheme is predicated on the center of being able to reach the front side shade or three, and he was able to do that all game, even when we got tired. That was a step in the right direction. Now we've got to consistently do it. Yesterday's meeting, I coached Dante McClellan, just like I coached Beau Pribula. There's mistakes on tape. You call it out, and there's no favorites, and there's no babying around the issues and that's, and that's the brotherhood we live in.”

On changes to South Carolina’s offensive scheme

“Obviously, (offensive coordinator Mike) Shula was there with him last year as an offensive analyst, and him and coach (Dowell) Loggains co-created the plans each week, and so there's a lot of carryover. Each play caller has their own flavor of how they call games and what specifically they're doing to implement the game plan. There is some subtle differences in the run scheme. There's more quarterback-driven runs, plus one runs, I would say, than there was probably last year. I think there's more drop-back concepts, and maybe that's just year two of growth with LaNorris and something that he's more comfortable with. But finding explosive, being creative, utilizing empty on that stuff that they did last year and did effectively versus us.”

On stopping slot blitzes

“There was three real times they (Louisiana) had pressure. The first one was an overload pressure. They got us in a five call, and then they blitzed the MIKE, and the safety dropped two players. We're kind of in a tough spot. They brought what would appear to be seven, and we only had six. For us, we're going to have to, we always want to be stronger at the middle. We'd have to have a squeeze technique there on the front side and try to throw the hot over the ball, the slot blitz off the boundary, out of empty, that's something we got to see. And that's actually the play that we coached, one of the plays that we coached up yesterday. They had three over two in an empty formation, and they had three over three to the field. That's never going to be the case. If it was just going to be zone, you would have four over three to the field. You could potentially still have three over two, but have three over three. Somebody's got to be pressured, so something for us to notice and get better at. And then the other pressure was a field pressure where our outfit was the flat and the hot, which is exactly the boat touchdown. So that's the risk-reward you're playing with, having hots. So things we can all be better at.”

On getting off to a fast start in the SEC

“As you elevate your program, we talk about being 1-0 every week, and the importance of a nameless, faceless opponent. Last week, I think, was the focus was not to allow our opponent to dictate our preparation or performance and I thought our guys really responded to that. Our guys understand the significance of playing in the SEC. They understand that the level of competition raises, the importance of all the little things rises. They understand the importance of being 1-0 this week, I don't really think we have to hammer that or say that. I think that's been the enhanced growth program over the last three years. You know, it's an SEC night game. We've only had three since 2021 all others in the league have had way more than that. It's an awesome opportunity for us to take advantage of that. And three ideas is the separations in the preparation put in this week, and the most important thing we can control is half toughness Tuesday, and I'm trying to play on emotions on Saturday.”

On rotation at the right guard spot.

"Yeah. That won’t change. "

On what he likes about the team’s identity so far

“We want to be a team that can stop the run, run the ball and cover kicks at a high level. We've seen that really, for the first three weeks. So we just need to continue that trajectory. There's situational things throughout the game that we talked about, execute and playing well under pressure that has shown up for us, that we just want to continue to grow in those areas. I think our team is aware of that, and three weeks is just that. It's a small sample size, so don't want to get too high or too low off of it. Just continue to move in that direction.”

On playing second-fewest defensive snaps in the country

“Fresh horses run faster races. I think we've done a good job of keeping guys fresh and hopefully that continues to show. None of that stuff will matter if we don't play really well Saturday night and play fresh and powerful, and that's what we got to try to do. I do think our coaching staff has done a pretty good job of rotating and getting younger guys looks so we feel confident those guys playing in key situations.”

On scoring on opening drives

“Starting fast is always important, establishes the tone and lets everybody settle into a rhythm, whether it's offensively or defensively. I don't know if there's a specific formula. Obviously, Kirby [Moore] and the offensive staff have done a really good job designing plays and having a scheme ready to go and attack. Our guys have done a really good job executing those plays. All this stuff and all those stats are great when you look back on them, but that doesn't mean anything this week, so we got to start that process of working this week on that.”

On how Kirby Moore prepares the offense well

“Coach Moore is an outstanding preparer. The amount of hours that he puts in watching tape, understanding defensive schemes, having answers for the coverages and the fronts and the pressures, knowing the place that we want to attack them with, and then having the answers for that. He's got an army of people that he trusts, not just our coaches on the field, but his analyst crew that work in the engine room. There's a lot of continuity there. There's an understanding of what we're all looking for, what we're all seeing. They speak the same language. There's great communication throughout the week. There's a good sample size of ideas. Nobody's just adding on. They kind of understand, what is Kirby looking for? What do our players do well? And this could fit. And then I think the biggest thing it's low ego, high output. If he doesn't like it, he doesn't like it, and we're all good with that. We all understand it. At the end of the day, he’s the one calling plays. So he's done a really good job.”

On recruiting Kevin Coleman Jr. to Missouri

“Obviously, the recruiting pitch changed quite a bit this time. But I think the biggest thing he's brought to us is maturity in that room. I think losing Theo [Wease Jr.] and Luther [Burden] last year, you lost a lot of production and maturity and being able to add Kevin, who's a dynamic playmaker, but also a guy who has brought that room together on and off the field, I think they do a really good job spending time together. He's got a drive to prove himself at this level with this team for his state, which has been fun to watch.”

On what he’s liked about Josiah Trotter so far

“Physical downhill player who does a great job preparing throughout the week so that he can play fast.”

On the challenges that Dylan Stewart presents

“Dylan creates a tremendous amount of pressure on you because of his ability to play the run. Most people in these kind of situations would say they want to play to read game with him, but he does an unbelievable job on his mesh charge. He's vertical. Plays hard at the quarterback, does a really good job of getting around blocks, can sustain and hold a c-gap when it's against the tight end, obviously, is really difficult to handle one-on-one. It’s a challenge.

I bet Clayton would love for us to tell you exactly how we're going to play this game. We're not going to so I think that's the cat and mouse game schematically. But there's also a measure of, just you got to play the game. There's certain things that we do that we got to be able to do. Doesn't matter if it's whoever's over there, we got to be able to execute it. We're going to be the team that we want to be. So there'll be a little bit of this is what we got to do, to neutralize or attempt to neutralize him. He's going to make plays, he's going to make tackles, he's going to run you down from the backside. He's going to defeat a block on the front side and make a play. Just got to try to minimize the impact he has overall.”

On the growth of Ahmad Hardy

“Just proud of Ahmad. Really from when we went to Harmons, Jamaica and got a chance to spend more time with him and see his work ethic and kind of who he is, with his personality, and then obviously the TikTok’s or whatever, him riding a horse, and then just his his connection with our team has been really cool to watch.

The first couple of carries, I'll be honest, Week 1, I was like, 'Ooh, I haven't seen this player before,'; because that wasn't kind of how he was all camp and what we saw on tape. Then I think once he just settled into playing football and not really worrying about all the other stuff, and just running the way he's built, God's given him the ability to run. He's really been special. His ability to break tackles reminds me very much of Cody [Schrader] and at times, Tyler Badie, but he's got an explosiveness to him that's more similar to Tyler. It's really been remarkable.

I can't say enough about the job that (running backs) coach (Curtis) Luper’s done. Obviously, when you have Tyler Badie rush for 257 versus Vanderbilt and Cody Schrader have 300-something all-purpose yards against Tennessee, and then Ahmad Hardy rush for 250. That's pretty special performances out of running backs that he's coached. That's not to take anything away from other guys that we've had. You know, Larry Roundtree was pretty sporty, and Nate Noel and Marcus [Carroll] had some really good stuff for us last year, so, but we're really pleased with where he’s at and we're going to need his best this week. They got a really, really good defense. They're really stingy against the run. He got two great linebackers, two interior players that buddy it up with their movements, and he's going to have to be his own blocker at times, so he's going to have to rush hard again and see if we can't get a couple of first downs right.”

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