COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football head coach Eliah Drinkwitz met with members of the media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference.
Mizzou welcomes No. 24 Boston College to Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium on Saturday for its third of four consecutive home games to begin the season. Fans are encouraged to wear gold. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network with kickoff slated for 11:45 a.m. CT. The contest can also be heard on the Tiger Radio Network from Mizzou Sports Properties and LEARFIELD through the varsity app.
Eliah Drinkwitz Missouri Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
“Excited for a great matchup with the 24th-ranked Boston College Eagles. I appreciate our fan base for selling out the game, and we’re definitely going to need them to make it a special environment and make it a loud environment. It’s going to be an awesome game of college football. I think it’s the only ranked game on Saturday, or the only game between two ranked opponents. And so we’re going to need to make sure that we set the crowd, and make sure that the crowd’s really good.
“We need all the advantages we can get. This is a really, really good football team. They’re battle-tested, obviously, with their road win versus Florida State. I think they’re very polished as a team. I think Coach [Bill] O’Brien has done a tremendous job with obviously, not only the transition from taking over for Coach [Jeff] Hafley, but also the program alignment. You can tell in all three phases, offense, defense, and special teams that they’re aligned in how they play the game. You can definitely see the imprint of Coach O’Brien on the offensive side of the ball with his development of Thomas Castellanos. You know, SVP [Scott Van Pelt] compared him to Kyler Murray, and I think that’s a very, very good comparison. We have him, you know, 73 percent completion percentage, he’s got six touchdowns and zero turnovers on the season, is a dynamic player with his feet, but I think he’s a very accurate passer. The play is never over with the ball in his hands, and he does a really good job of playing to play. I think they have a really good offensive line and a dominant line of scrimmage. You know, they’ve always been a really good offensive line. You know three years ago they had two 99-yard drives against us, dominating on the ground, and so we definitely have a tremendous amount of respect for the offensive line play that they have. They’ve got a really good group of wide receivers. They’ve added a transfer wide receiver that also has SEC experience in the return game with Jayden McGowan. We know him well from his time at Vanderbilt and have a lot of respect for him as a player and know that he has really game-breaking speed. They’ve gotten several players out of the transfer portal at the running back position. Obviously, we know who Treshaun Ward from our time competing against him at Kansas State, does a really good job catching the ball out of the backfield. So offensively, they’re very good, very dynamic, stay on schedule, create explosive plays, and the quarterback can create explosive plays with his feet as well as his arm. I think their offensive coordinator with his scheme design, does a really nice job, and again, when you’re talking about Coach O’Brien, you know whether it’s been in college football with what he did at Penn State or in the NFL, with what he accomplished. You know Deshaun Watson’s best years were with Coach O’Brien as his head coach and quarterbacks coach, and so I’ve got a lot of respect for how he approaches offensive football.
“Defensively, they’re led by a veteran defensive coordinator. Got a lot of time, both in the NFL and in various leagues in Tim Lewis. Very good at the line of scrimmage. They returned four starters on the defensive line and return their middle linebackers, so they’re strong in the middle. Very good at stopping the run, creating surge at the line of scrimmage. Their linebackers played really well downhill. They’re a very difficult matchup in the secondary, nothing’s easy back there. Play a lot of variations of coverage. So going to be a real challenge for our offense and defense. You know, we’re going to have to play better than we have had the past two weeks. We’re going to have to clean up penalties. Going to have to play fundamentally sound. We’re going to have to find ways to create explosives in the pass game, going to have to be a lot more physical at the line of scrimmage. We’re going to have to sustain blocks without holding so a lot of things that we can improve on, that we’re going have to improve on in order to compete in this game.”
(Ref.: On why the 2021 loss at Boston College has stuck with him)
“I just think at that moment, you know, that game was hard for a lot of different reasons. I didn’t think we played particularly well. There was a lot of noise around that game for comments that were made by me, you know, so I learned a hard lesson as a head coach there, and then, obviously, you know, the emotional swings of that game. We came back, tied it up. They scored in overtime. We throw a pick on the first play. You know, first time having to deal with the crowd rushing the field and, you know, trying to navigate your way off the field. So a lot to it, yeah.”
(Ref.: On how the program has evolved since the last time Missouri played Boston College)
“I haven’t really thought about it, but I appreciate the question. I try to definitely stay in the moment and understand that it’s a special thing to be at Faurot Field in a sold-out crowd. I’ve actually acknowledged that to a couple of our coaches who’ve been with us the whole time that are on the sideline, whether you’re talking about Coach [Curtis] Luper or Coach [D.J.] Smith or Coach [Eric] Link, I’ve went up to them before the game and said, ‘man, we’ve come a long way since we first got here’. But I mean, at the end of the day, Boston College is a really good football team. They were a really good football team in 2021, and so it’ll be a really difficult matchup for us. It’ll be a really good football game.”
(Ref.: On Bill O’Brien’s impact within the Boston College’s offense)
“I think probably the biggest thing is just maturity at the quarterback position. I think the game slows down for you the more reps you get. Obviously, offensively, they’re taking a little bit more advantage of- I think they kind of just put him in a box, so to speak, last year, and said, ‘hey, we’re going to create, you know, a dynamic run game for you, and then play-action pass’. I think they’re treating him as he should be, which is a really good player at the quarterback position, and they don’t really define what he has to be. He’s growing in a lot of different ways. You know, last week they went empty quite a bit with him and let him throw the ball vertically down the field based off what the coverage was giving him, so that’s a lot of growth there. And then there hasn’t been a lot of quarterback design runs for him so far. Now I’m sure they’ve got them, but so far, it’s just been taking what the defense gives us, and they’re going to establish a line of scrimmage, which is always the quarterback’s best friend when you can be in advantageous third downs. So, I think again, Coach O’Brien has a philosophy and a system, and I think his offensive coordinator is doing a really good job calling plays.”
(Ref.: On best ways to defend against Boston College’s attack)
“Yeah. I mean, it’s really difficult to kind of dictate what you’re going to have to do from a coverage standpoint. I mean, you can try to play man-to-man and spy him, but you’ve got to make sure your spy is good enough to tackle him, or you can play zone and, you know, when you play zone, you’re going to typically be down a man in the box, so then they’re able to, you know, define the run game the way they want to. So, it’s definitely a chess match. I don’t think you can go in and say, we’re going to do just this one thing, or we’re going to just do this thing and hope that that works. I think you’re going to have to have multiple, you know, options and see which one kind of plays”
(Ref.: On the growth in defensive players)
“Well, I think it’s player-driven. I think that’s the most important part of it is, you know, the resurgence on the defensive side of the ball has always been player-driven. I think whether it’s, you know, you look at, you know, even three years ago, when it started to turn you’ve got a lot of those same guys here. You know, you had players like Darius Robinson and obviously JC [Jaylon Carlies], Ennis [Ennis Rakestraw] and KAD [Kris Abrams], those guys at the beginning of it and continuing to build on that standard. And now those guys are gone, and you still have Kristian Williams and Joseph Charleston. You got Johnny Walker Jr., you got Tristan Newson, you got Drey [Dreyden] Norwood, you’ve got Marvin Burks Jr., and Tre’Vez [Johnson], who’ve all seen what the standard is, and then you add new guys to it, who understand I’ve got to play up to a standard that’s not driven by coaches or whatever. It’s driven by the men in this room. I’m not going to let these guys down in order for me to play. I’ve got to play at a level that they demand. And I think that’s where it starts. Obviously, you’ve always got to combine great standards and players with great schemes and I think Coach [Corey] Batoon has done an excellent job figuring out what our defensive players can do well. They play with great effort and they play within a scheme, and then we’ve added competitive depth, and so there’s not a big variance between, you know, what y’all call starters and backups, we just call it first wave and second wave. The first wave of our defense. I mean, I think our leading tackler actually is, if Champs’ [Corey Flagg Jr.] not our leading tackler he’s in the top three, and he doesn’t even run out there first, but he’s a really, really good player. And so we’ve got waves of players, whether you’re talking to defensive tackle, defensive end, linebacker, corner, so there’s not really much fall off.”
(Ref.: On the growth of Johnny Walker Jr.)
“Well, I mean physically he’s continuing to get better. You know, he’s a guy that came in at 205 pounds, and now he’s 255 and continuously rushes the passer well. Whether it was the previous defensive line coach or current d-line coach, he’s taken different techniques and styles learned, you know, and added more tools in his toolbox from each one of those guys. I think obviously, being voted captain, he’s taken on a leadership role. I think he’s done a really good job with Will [Williams Nwaneri] and with Jalen [Marshall], you know, taking those guys under their wings and making sure that they understand developing is a process in becoming the player that you want to be. And then, I remember in the spring, there was a couple of days where we weren’t playing very well on defense, and he had a players-only meeting, you know, just to remind them it wasn’t about the coaches. It’s about us in this room, and about how hard we play and the effort we play with. So, I think those are some things.”
(Ref.: On using Johnny Walker Jr. and Joe Moore together in certain scenarios)
“Yeah, in fact, on our third down prowler package we actually put Joe and Johnny in there at the same time. I think that’s Coach [Brian] Early and Coach [Corey] Batoon trying to put our – you have best players, but then you have players who are better at specific things. You have to figure out what they’re good at and then use them in those strengths. And I think Coach Early and Coach Batoon figured out real quickly that, hey, these two guys have really good pass rush moves and really do a good job containing the quarterback in their pass rush. And so, that allows us to do a lot of different things within the prowler package. So I think that’s been an advantageous deal. As far as the boundary position, those guys have athleticism, flexibility. Typically, your field ends are going to be a little bit bigger, a little bit more stout. And so that’s why Zion [Young] and Eddie [Kelly Jr.] and Jahkai [Lang] play in that area.”
(Ref.: On how pleased he’s been so far on the offensive side of the ball)
“Yeah. I mean, I think that’s a sign of growth and maturity from all of us on the offensive side of the ball. We all want it now. Instant gratification. We all want explosive plays. You’d rather be on SportsCenter for that than, you know, three yards in a cloud of dust or five-yard hitches. But the reality of what we’re figuring out is that teams don’t really want to give up explosive plays versus our wide receiver core, so we have to be willing to make them defend us in a different manner. And I think our offensive staff in the first two games has done a really good job of figuring out what the defensive plan against us was, and then even having to come up with stuff that maybe wasn’t in the game plan that we know defeats this or defeats that. Coach [Kirby] Moore does an excellent job on the offensive side of the ball with his group and being able to communicate with the quarterback, able to calm those guys down. I think, you know, there’s a little bit of an impatience with the offense at times. You know, it’s 3-0 at the end of the first and we’ve missed a field goal, and we’re not really where we want to be, but I think he did a really good job of settling them down on first drive of the second quarter, and getting them in the end zone, and then just calming them down, like guys, it’s going to be a little bit of a grind. It’s going to be a little bit of a grind it out style for us right now, and we can’t be afraid of it.”
(Ref.: On lessons learned from playing Jayden Daniels in 2023 in preparation for Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos)
“Wow. You brought up some bad memories there. Yeah. I mean, absolutely. In fact, there was a conversation with me and Joe Moore in Monday’s practice about, a lesson that we learned. There was a third and seven, when we had to lead in the fourth quarter and we talked all week about level rushing quarterback. You can’t rush past the quarterback, especially with a guy who can take off, so there’s a lot of different things that occurred in that game. You know, there’s a lot of new players here, but some of the guys who played last year can obviously understand some of the mistakes that we made. Obviously, the game plans are totally different, it’s a different style offense on both sides. Boston College huddles, which they did show no huddle last week, but Boston College typically huddles and plays a little bit more out of a 12 personnel. I mean, LSU played 11 fast as you can go, so there are some differences there. The things that we’ve tried to do is obviously Champ [Corey Flagg Jr.] and Eddie [Kelly Jr.] played against the quarterback last year, and so tried to take from them, ‘okay, what did y’all think about them? What were some things that he did from a player standpoint that you can let the rest of us know so we can get a little bit of an early scouting report.’ Both were consistent in saying that he’s as fast as any quarterback they’ve ever played against. He does a really good job of extending plays and if you don’t have a specific plan for containing him, then it’s going to be a long day.”
(Ref.: On Linebackers Triston Newson and Corey Flagg Jr.)
“Well, our first thoughts when we saw him play in junior college and recruiting, you know, typically, we weren’t necessarily recruiting junior college players as much because the portal opened, but you know, he was a dynamic player at the linebacker position. I know Coach [D.J.] Smith got a live evaluation on him. He came in the spring and flashed, and I thought he did some really, really good stuff in the spring, but he was playing behind a really good player in Ty’Ron Hopper and didn’t really want to take him off the field. So I thought he did an excellent job of just trusting the process, not getting frustrated with his role, embracing his role, improving every day, and when the opportunity came after Hopper got dinged, man, he took full advantage of it, and I think he’s still taking advantage of it now. The difference is that he doesn’t have to feel the necessary need to play, you know, Hop was playing, of the 65 plays, Hop would play 54, 55 I think Tristan can play, you know, a nice 25 plays on defense and then add another 12 on special teams. I think one of the most impressive things about Champ [Corey Flagg Jr.] so far is that he starts on three teams or two teams for sure and rotates in on a third. So his ability to play defense at a high level, but also be able to help us on special teams, those have not necessarily shown up in the bigger stats yet, but they will over the course of these games as we play.”
(Ref.: On depth in the defensive backfield)
“No, we feel very good about our top four. Ja’Marion Wayne’s really been dinged up with this hamstring, he practiced yesterday. He looks to be, I mean, I hope that he really can go this week, I don’t know where to define that. It’s probably still questionable. But, that’s a guy who hasn’t been able to play and help us at the corner position. We have total confidence in Nicholas Deloach Jr. I think those numbers get over inflated because of the prowler package, we sub in six body types, but we sub in a corner, and we have to keep the two starting corners in, you know, we have total confidence in Nick Deloach, so much confidence I think he starts on three special teams also. So I think that’s where the reps are. But we know Chris [McClellan] can play, we know Marcus Clarke can play, we know Nick Deloach can play, we know Toriano [Pride Jr.] can play. We really need to get Ja’Marion Wayne going so we have that fifth. And I tell you what, man, we really, really like Cameron Keys and Jaren Sensabaugh. You know, those guys have done a really nice job in fall camp, and really have carved out, if they were closer in the depth chart, they would have carved out a spot for them on the special teams, but we just don’t want to use them in special teams if we, if we’re not going to be able to commit to them enough reps on team. You know, it’s one of those fine lines where you don’t want to use a player’s season if they’re not going to get, you know, 300, 350 reps on the year.”
(Ref.: On any concerns he might have with the field goal unit)
“No, I don’t get too concerned about 52 yards and 49 yard misses. You know, those aren’t layups. I was more concerned with our offenses’ inability to get them closer, you know. Missed execution right there on the two-minute drive. I mean, we were in a much easier field goal range, and didn’t execute that last play, threw it five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Tailback decides he’s going to go NCAA 25 on us and push like three of his own buttons, like spin, juke, spin, move left. So I was way more worried about that than our field goal kicker. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him. You know, it was a little bit windier going to the north, so that 52-yarder into the wind was going to be a tough task, as long as he’s solid inside the 25 in the end, then I’m good.”
(Ref.: On his concerns with the amount of penalties the team had on Saturday)
“Well, quite honestly, the alignment penalties are just embarrassing. I mean, as the head football coach, that’s on me. That’s undisciplined football, and for me to allow that to happen, we had an alignment penalty in the first game, and to have it again in the second game, that’s on me. So that’s got to get corrected and get taken off the tape. We took a five-minute period yesterday with just alignment to make sure we don’t have too many guys on the ball or not enough guys on the ball. So, you know, that’s got to get corrected. The holding penalties, we got to learn to let go when the balls out leverage us, when a defender is broken away, we cannot continue to engage with the jersey of the defender. There were three of those that were clear calls, easy, easy calls that are, you know, something that we have to correct and, you know, you appreciate guys playing with effort and energy, but they got to know when it’s crossing the line into a penalty. The other ones, we’ll be alright. We’ll figure that out.”
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