‘Put your feelings in a box’: No. 7 Mizzou focuses on taking accountability, heading into SEC play
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou football team may be 3-0 and the seventh-ranked team team in the nation to start the 2024 season, but head coach Eli Drinkwitz still sees a lot of room for improvement, headed into week four's matchup with Vanderbilt.
As the Tigers open up the SEC slate, Coach Drinkwitz said he challenged his guys to put their feelings in a box.
"Don't come into this team room and think we're gonna celebrate and party based off of the film because that's not going to be it," he said. "We're going to challenge each other in here. The lack of discipline is the result of a lack of accountability and there's going to be accountability."
You can watch the full press conference with Drinkwitz in the video player below.
One of the big items that MU will be taking accountability for is penalties. The Tiger offense stacked up eight penalties for 78 yards in the win against Boston College, on Saturday. Two of those penalties came from star wide receiver Luther Burden, who was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct and an unnecessary roughness.
"They caught me on tape getting on Luther between the third and fourth quarter. He deserved every bitt of that he understood it. I mean, he looked me right in the eye and said 'yes, sir.' Just like [Monday], when we addressed it, he understood. Selfish penalties cannot happen. The team's mission is way more important than anybody's individual hurt feelings," Drinkwitz said.
During Tuesday's press conferences, you heard quarterback Brady Cook take responsibility. He said that his offense has not even scratched the surface of how good they can be and it starts with him and getting better reps in practice.
Out of the 30 passes that Cook threw on Saturday, only three were for 20 yards or more. Mizzou wants to see those more explosive plays come together.
"Obviously, we haven't had as many explosive plays as we should and it starts with me. I think it really starts in practice," Cook said. "Tuesday and Wednesday we need to get better reps on explosive pass plays and make sure we're repping these at full speed and getting our timing right and getting extra reps after practice. We can't just assume we're gonna show up on Saturday and hit these explosive passes."
You can watch the full press conference with Cook in the video player below.
Cook added that offensive coordinator Kirby Moore said he wants to give the offense more opportunities on first and second downs.
Defensively, coordinator Corey Batoon and company will look to carry the momentum from the first three weeks of non-conference action into SEC play.
Although the defense did allow the first points of the season against Boston College in week three, the Tigers stifled the Eagles' run game, especially quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who is known for his mobility.
Vanderbilt will come to Columbia with another mobile quarterback: Diego Pavia. However, Coach Drinkwitz said he will present a little bit of a different challenge.
"Diego's a different style runner than Castellanos," he said. "He's more physical, downhill, kind of has the old okie dokie on his option stuff. He will lower his shoulder and take on defenders, so it's different but then there's some schematic things that are similar."
Defensive lineman Kristian Williams said his unit loves contact and gets excited about hosting a quarterback that does too.
"Just being a trench mob affiliate, you got to love stuff like that," William said. "You love contact at the end of the day, that's what defensive lineman do each and every play, so I mean you never shy away from contact."
You can watch the full press conference with Williams in the video player below.
Mizzou is taking confidence from how they won Saturday's Top-25 showdown at Faurot Field. Despite a slow start, MU responded to the first adversity that its faced this season and mounted a comeback win.
A lot of momentum came off of the foot of kicker Blake Craig, who sent the Tigers into the locker room with a 17-14 lead at halftime courtesy of a career-best 56-yard boot. Drinkwitz said that gave the team the jolt they needed at the break.
As a result of that kick, Craig was named the SEC Special Teams Play of the Week and the Lou Groza Award Star of the Week. But, through it all, 'Craig the Leg' is remaining humble.
"I think it's very good for not only my confidence, but I think it's really good for the team's confidence," he said. "Obviously, I want to do everything I can every single game to score points for the team and that's just my main goal going into every game is to help the team win."
You can watch the full press conference with Williams in the video player below.
Up next - No. 7 Mizzou will host Vanderbilt on Saturday, Sept. 21. Kickoff is set for 3:15 p.m.
