© Jay Biggerstaff, USA TODAY
Drinkwitz: Missouri Has 'A Lot of Room For Growth' Ahead of Kansas State
The Missouri Tigers did plenty of things right in their 52-24 victory over LA Tech to kick off the season. The Tigers defense was outstanding in some regards, allowing only eight rushing yards in the game. That makes them the best rushing defense in the country at the moment, statistically speaking anyway.
Still, head coach Eliah Drinkwitz knows that his squad has things to clean up before their trip to Kansas State this weekend.
"There's a lot of room for growth after watching the film, in all phases of the game," said Drinkwitz. "Specifically on special teams and punt coverage, (it) was not nearly good enough or efficient enough...Defensively, we've got to eliminate explosive plays. Great job stopping the run but we can't give up explosive plays for touchdowns."
The win over LA Tech was a landslide, but Drinkwitz is right. The Tigers gave up too many big plays to a not-so-great Bulldogs team, and that can't happen against Kansas State. While LA Tech ran a version of the air raid under their head coach Sonny Cumbie, Mizzou will face an entirely different test this week against the Wildcats' run-heavy offense and 2021 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, running back Deuce Vaughn.
Vaughn and K-State's offense are a force to be reckoned with, but Drinkwitz believes that it all starts on defense for the Wildcats. Kansas State's defense is a step up from LA Tech's and Missouri had their fair share of troubles against the Bulldogs as it was.
"Offensively we must eliminate turnovers and short-yardage execution. Two red zone turnovers were big and in short yardage," Drinkwitz said.. "We had two third and ones, and a fourth and one that [wasn't] converted. So, we've got to be more physical in the trenches. We've got to have a better attitude about that we've got to execute in those situations."
He then added, "[It's] going to be an extremely difficult test this week."
Mizzou's got the edge in the series record (60-32-5) and has won five of the last six, but the Wildcats got the better of them in their most recent matchup back in 2011. If the Tigers want to reestablish supremacy and make it six for seven, they'll have to correct those mental mistakes they made against LA Tech, and quickly.
Drinkwitz is aware but not worried. He believes in his team's ability to adapt.
"You know, mistakes are only fatal if you don't learn from them," said the Tigers coach.
We'll see if they've got those areas for improvement more finely tuned on Saturday Sept. 10 in Manhattan, KS at Bill Snyder Stadium when the Missouri Tigers take on the Kansas State Wildcats for their first game of the season.
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