Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz Previews the "Tremendous Challenge" of No. 1 Georgia
Shortly after the Missouri Tigers earned the No. 12 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings, Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz spoke on the weekly 'Tiger Talk' radio segment to preview the team's matchup against Georgia. Drinkwitz highlighted the many challenges that the back-to-back national champions present.
"We got a lot of work ahead of us," Drinkwitz said on Tuesday. "This is going to be a tremendous challenge. I think Coach (Kirby) Smart doesn't get nearly enough credit for the job that he's done at UGA and how much he's accomplished in his eight years there."
The last time that Missouri beat Georgia was in 2013, when the Tigers beat the Bulldogs 41-26 in Athens. Georgia's quarterback in that loss was Aaron Murray, who Drinkwitz mentioned when praising current Georgia quarterback Carson Beck.
"Carson Beck has been playing at a high level," Drinkwitz said. "He feels very comfortable within the scheme. He feels very confident in his arm, making good decisions, throwing the football to the right place. If you close your eyes and didn't know any better you might think that was Matthew Stafford or Aaron Murray back there ripping it because he's got an elite level arm and is very precise in what he does."
Beck will once again be without his favorite target this Saturday in Brock Bowers, who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury. Drinkwitz noted what Georgia will be missing in Bowers, while also acknowledging the other playmakers on the Bulldogs' offense.
"I hate it for him because he is an elite player and you never want to see anybody injured," Drinkwitz said. "Georgia has a plethora of talent and so, I think (offensive coordinator Mike) Bobo has done an excellent job at distributing his touches throughout the rest of those talented playmakers. You obviously don't replace a player like that and you miss him, but man they looked pretty salty without him."
The "salty" performance that Drinkwitz is referring to is Georgia's 43-20 win over Florida last weekend. Stepping up in Bowers' absence were wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Dominic Lovett, who combined for 10 receptions and 218 receiving yards. The dominant offensive performance was the most recent for the Georgia offense, which is currently averaging the third most offensive yards per game in 2023 (506.5). Defensively, Georgia's 272.1 yards allowed per game are the eighth lowest. Despite the intimidating opponent, Drinkwitz is treating this week's game plan no differently than any other week.
"The formula to win this is one is no different than it is to win any of the other ones. We gotta take care of the football on offense. We gotta establish the line of scrimmage, execute on third downs, and (in the) red zone. (On) defense, we gotta stop the run, hit the quarterback and then we gotta force takeaways and we gotta be great tacklers. So those formulas don't really change based off the opponent or the game."
Missouri (7-1) will travel to Athens to take on undefeated Georgia this Saturday for a 2:30 kickoff on CBS.
