What Eli Drinkwitz, Kirby Smart Said After Missouri's Loss at Georgia

The Missouri Tigers fell to 7-2 after a 30-21 loss against No. 2 Georgia on Saturday. Here's what both schools' head coaches had to say following the game.
What Eli Drinkwitz, Kirby Smart Said After Missouri's Loss at Georgia
What Eli Drinkwitz, Kirby Smart Said After Missouri's Loss at Georgia /
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The Missouri Tigers suffered their second loss of the season against the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens on Saturday afternoon. 

The Tigers had a fighting chance for a majority of the game until two late interceptions from Brady Cook allowed the Bulldogs to seal a 30-21 victory. Missouri now falls to 7-2, and will be 2.5 games behind Georgia in the SEC East standings with three games remaining in the season.

Here's what Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart had to say after the game. 

Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri head coach

Opening statement:

"Hard fought football game, really proud of my football team. Thought they gave us everything they had, we just came up short. Game kind of flipped on that defensive pass interference call on third down and they were able to capture some momentum there in the third quarter. Proud of our guys for being able to get back, get the touchdown, get two, cut it to three. But ultimately having two turnovers at the end was the difference."

On the locker room's mood:

"There's a lot of hurt guys in that room, put a lot into this one, and, we knew it would be a four-quarter fight. Just disappointing to be so close, but so far away at the same time. So we'll, we'll take 24 hours and figure out what it was. But there's still a lot of football left, there's still a lot of football to play and, we got three really tough football teams left, so there's nobody's gonna feel sorry for us and we have to pick ourselves up and get back to work.

On red zone and third down shortcomings:

"Their first touchdown (was) on a four point play, was the third down, threw a screen that scored. We, first drive of the second half went down and end up kicking a field goal right there instead of scoring a touchdown. So ultimately, those things, we were 5 of 13, they were 6 to 13 on third down. So I think that kinda all says it."

On Brady Cook's performance:

"He got us to the fourth quarter obviously and, and was very tough and gritty just like he always is. And I know he's, he's gonna beat himself up, he doesn't need to. That's what happens when you play quarterback and go on the road. He did everything he could to give us a chance to win. Obviously, we gotta see what happened on the turnovers but not disappointed at all."

On Cody Schrader's performance:

"What else can you say about Cody Schrader? 112 yards rushing. I mean, unbelievable. He's just a fighter and a heck of a player."

On team's outlook for rest of season:

"You gotta go battle, and that's what we did. And, there's no guarantee of outcomes in the battle. You gotta go out there and give it everything you got, you gotta put everything you have into it, you gotta put your whole heart into it and our team does that they put everything they got into it. Our coaches, everybody. But, when the game's over, you got to pick up the pieces until the final game of the year. So we're disappointed because we put ourselves in a position to contend for the SEC East, which is, you know, the goal that we had in place. And that's really not gonna be in our control any longer. And so we got to refocus on what our new goals are and that'll be the challenge for me and our staff and our captains to refocus our energy on what we can accomplish this season."

On the unexplained pass interference review:

"The thing about our league is that, there's not really any explanations and then there's no explanations to y'all from them. So, I mean, you can ask me all you want. I can't really say anything but, better question is to ask them because I thought it's, whether or not it's conclusive evidence, I can't see any conclusive evidence where the ball is. But apparently, in Birmingham they found conclusive evidence. So I don't know, I guess you'll have to write a letter to somebody there and see if they'll answer it."

Kirby Smart, Georgia Head Coach

Opening statement:

"I'm proud of our players. I think we built a group of men and a team that knew how to play with resiliency, with composure. Really, we talked all week about having discipline to execute in corrupt times and they did that, they had this one. I thought our first three points came on them jumping offsides and our kids were disciplined enough to stay on-sides and we stole a drive there. [I have to] give Missouri a lot of credit, I think that Eli [Drinkwitz] does a great job. Man, that team's hard to play. He played against us here three years ago and they have tremendous skill, and great size on the defensive line. So, our kids played really hard, the difference in the game was probably kicking game this time and [Peyton] Woodring coming through and ... returns, some critical red area stops and that's what games come down to. You know, he actually said it during the week, 'third down or red area, we look back on this being major, critical spots,' and they played well in red area spots, defensively, and we played well in red area, defensively. Great team, great game. That's what the SEC is all about. Our reward is that we get to do it again next week. So, that's what life in the SEC is."

On the interception of Nazir Stackhouse:

"Huge. Biggest play of the game. It was slow motion, we took it to the end of the ... with a piano on his back. He just said he took it out and knew he was going to score and he didn't realize how far he had to run, he was out of breath about half way. Jalon Walker did a great job, just a great example of having discipline to not block someone or clip someone on the back and he did a great job there."

On Peyton Woodring's career long and coming through with the kick: 

"Yeah, it shows we have a lot of faith in him, a lot of trust in him. I think the toughest call I had all night was going 4 for 5, you know there are a lot of analytics that will tell you not to kick that field goal, but a six-point-differential just tells them that they get four downs and you just invited them to have four. But I thought there was a chance we might have another chance at a field goal and 3 and 3 would have made 9. But, if we don't hit the field goal or we hit it and they go down to score, it's certainly a tough situation. You've got to have confidence in the rest of your team that they can stop them. We got about half of that third down back, and then there was your consideration there on fourth with five [yards] to go. But with Peyton [Woodring] and what he's been able to do, we kicked it."

On why they have been able to make the plays in tight games: 

"I believe in our system. We have built a culture of competitive edge in the fourth quarter. We believe that we are the best conditioned and that we are going to win the game in the fourth quarter, we are going to allow each other... you know I got goosebumps down my back when they went down there and scored and Sedrick Van Pran was yelling at the defense to 'run off the field, run off the field, we got your back, we got your back, we're going to be fine.' Missouri put together a really good drive and kind of drove it down our throat and hit us with a lot of pass-ball runs, and [Van Pran was telling the guys we were going to be fine and there was a lot of leadership out there. We have some really positive leadership."

On the locker room in tight games:

"Tight games are what your do in the SEC. The margin of victory, it is hard to win. Make sure these guys enjoy it because they realize how hard it is across the NFL, it is hard, man. You are going to get every teams best shot and our guys played a really good football team tonight. We practiced, [we were] really well prepared. I was really proud of how they played, I dont know if that answers your question, the locker room is great. They have been in these kind of battles."

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