Mizzou tunes out outside noise, focuses on execution ahead of Kansas game
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou football team is preparing for a game of historic proportions, on Saturday, as the Kansas Jayhawks will descend upon Columbia for the first time since 2006. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz did the work on informing his team about just what this rivalry means to the state of Missouri in the offseason, but now his attention has turn to execution.
You can watch extended highlights of Mizzou's practice ahead of the Kansas game in the video player below.
"We understand. We know there's a trophy for it at the end of the game. Our goal every year to win our trophy games and this is a week that we got a trophy on the line. You have a tangible thing that you're playing for and in college football, you don't always have that after a game. Sometimes you just get an attaboy. There ain't no attaboy after this one. There's a there's a dadgum war drum and several other things out there. If you win it, you get it. If you don't, you don't. I don't care who you are, if you're a competitor and there's something on the line...if you're playing against a buddy at home and one-on-one if there's a Diet Coke on the line, you want to stinking win because it's painful if you don't," Drinkwitz said. "So, our guys understand that. That isn't the issue. The issue is, are we going to able to execute? Are we going to be so focused on the crowd...that we forget it ain't about that. It's about hands inside. It's about executing your assignments, about having eyes on your keys, it's about communicating the formation adjustment, It's about offensively making sure that we're all on the same page on identifying the fronts that they're going to be in."
You can watch the full press conference with Coach Drink in the video player below.
It's no secret that excitement has been building amongst the fanbases, as the Border War will return for the first time since 2011. The Tigers had former assistant coach Andy Hill, as well as a historian come in to talk to the team over the summer. Players said they learned a lot about why this rivalry means so much to each state.
However, the message from each player who took the podium at Tuesday's press conference remained clear: they are focused on consistency and playing Mizzou-style football.
"You love playing in big games, you know, that's why you play. You know, that's why you want to come to schools like Mizzou, to play in big-time atmospheres," quarterback Beau Pribula said. "Like you said, being a part of big-time games in the past, I think it's a lot of fun. But, at the same time, you've got to have the same process. The same process we had for Central Arkansas is the same one we'll have for KU."
You can watch the full press conference with Pribula in the video player below.
Drinkwitz spent time giving media members an injury update, following the season-opening win against Central Arkansas, as well. He said that quarterback Sam Horn will be out for 'an extended period of time," with a leg injury. He did not get into specifics of the injury or who long the Los Angeles Dodgers signee will be out for the 2025 season.
In addition to Horn, Mizzou also has another significant injury in kicker Blake Craig. Coach Eli announced that the redshirt sophomore tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season, after undergoing surgery on Tuesday.
As a result of those injuries, Drinkwitz brought in a couple of players to bolster the depth on his roster. Junior college transfer kicker Ryder Goodwin to the team, who will come to Columbia from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. In 2024, he went 5-for-9 on field goals, with the longest coming from 40 yards. Goodwin work into the kicking room with true freshman Robert Meyer, who made all of his extra points and booted four kickoffs, following Craig's injury on Thursday.
Coach Drinkwitz also brought back quarterback Brett Brown, who spent four seasons at Mizzou as a walk-on.
With the injury to Horn, true freshman Matt Zollers will serve as the backup quarterback and is now just one play away from seeing the field, if something were to happen to Pribula.
"I feel a lot of confidence in Matt, especially after him being able to go in and perform the way he did. I thought he handled it pretty well. I think, from a staffing standpoint, you know, I think our staff has done a really good job of growing Matt while also allowing Beau and and Sam to compete for the job," Drinkwitz said. "We really didn't hinder his reps or performance while we were doing that and we were actually very cognizant in fall camp and summer walkthroughs and during spring to make sure he was growing and developing reps. Make no mistake about it, Matt, as always, is the future for us at that quarterback position here, so we knew that he needed to continue to grow and develop."
The Jayhawks will roll into Columbia off of a pair of wins over Fresno State and Wagner to open up the 2025 season. Drinkwitz took to note that he has a lot of respect for Kansas head coach Lance Leipold and the transformational seasons he's had in Lawrence.
Defensively, Coach Eli is paying attention to the talent Kansas has in their front seven, specifically in defensive ends Dean Miller and Justice Finkley, as well as defensive tackle D.J. Withers.
"We got to focus on our technique and fundamentals, at the end of the day..I think, obviously, Dean Millers' really tall, he's got to burst off the edge, his length is a problem because in his one-arm stab, he's able to get on you before you can punch. If he's able to get that one-arm stab going, now he's got counter moves off of it. I think D.J. Withers is very explosive and twitchy. He's got a little bit more bull rush, in my opinion. He's excellent at pursuing the football and even if you are able to sit down his bull rush, his secondary move is really good. So, our guys are going to have to understand that it's not just a one punch fight. You're going to have to stay in good, proper position. You're going to have to work to a counter move and you're going to have to make sure you have great balance," Coach Drink said.
Mizzou will look to see more growth from its offensive line, from week one to week two, as the group still looks to find the right chemistry. In the wake of moving former left guard Cayden Green over the left tackle, the line gradually found its footing in the opener against Central Arkansas.
"You know left tackle, that's going to be part of the growth process. I was more concerned with the interior movement that we weren't able to get. There was a fourth down that we didn't get the movement that we needed to in the A-gap and we weren't able to secure the backside of the outside zone the way we need to in order for that play to be effective. That was more concerning to me than the pass protection. I vividly remember two years ago against Middle Tennessee, Javon Foster gives up a sack on a third down. That was pretty poor, but he's a dadgum good player and a draft pick."
Center Connor Tollison said the next step all comes down to communication.
"I think [our performance in week one] was a little slow, a little clunky. I think we've got to do a little bit better at communication between one another, but it's always that first game. You know, you've kind of got to get it out of the way and just improve on it this week and get better."
You can watch the full press conference with Tollison in the video player below.
Offensively, the Tigers are focused on stopping quarterback Jalon Daniels, who is playing in his sixth season of college football. Coach Drinkwitz said a guy with that much experience doesn't get rattled, which is big in a rivalry game like this.
In 2024, Daniels completed 171-of-300 passes for 2,454 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also rushing for six touchdowns on 93 attempts for 439 yards. His 2,454 yards were the seventh most in single-season school history. MU safety Jalen Catalon met Daniels last season, while he was the safety with UNLV in the 2024 season.
"He's a great player," Catalon said. "He's been in college, just like me, for a little while and he's done a lot of great things. He's the reason why Kansas had a lot of success, so I'm just looking forward to having a battle with him and just going after it. But, definitely I'm taking tendencies and things I've seen before, but I know every single year people develop and become better than they were last year. We just got to bring our A-game and be ready to go."
You can watch the full press conference with Catalon, as well as linebacker Nick Rodriguez in the video players below.
Mizzou will kickoff the renewed rivalry against Kansas at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Faurot Field.
