Mizzou football prepares to rekindle old rivalry with Oklahoma

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The old grudge fest between Mizzou and Oklahoma football, which dates back to 1902, will return on Saturday night at Faurot Field.

For the first time since 2011, Mizzou and Oklahoma will meet on the gridiron, this time as SEC opponents. The Tigers held their weekly press conferences, on Tuesday, ahead of Saturday's game. When asked about the renewal of the rivalry, the team didn't over-hype the match up too much.

"We're aware of it. Every time we introduce a team, we talk about how many times we played and what that season history is and we realize there's been a few matchups here in the past, whether it's Big Eight or Big 12, so we're aware of it," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said.

You can watch the full press conference with Drinkwitz in the video player below.

MU trails OU in the all-time series, 24-67-5. However, the Tigers have had their fair share of memorable wins over the Sooners, with the biggest coming nearly 14 years ago.

In 2010, the last time the Sooners visited Columbia, Hall of Fame head coach Gary Pinkel and his team hosted then-No. 1 Oklahoma at Faurot Field. The game had its highs and lows, but in the end Pinkel and company came out on top with a 36-27 victory over Oklahoma, which resulted in fans storming the field and tearing down the goal posts.

The 2024 edition of the matchup won't be a worthy of a field-storming, if the Tigers can get the win, as Oklahoma has faced some struggled in its first SEC season. The Sooners come into Saturday's game 5-4 overall and 1-4 in conference play this season.

"I have a lot of respect for the history of that program," Drinkwitz said. "Coach [Brent] Venables and his defensive prowess is really good. I think he's done a tremendous job of changing the identity of that program and team to be a defensive football team. They really swarm to the football, very aggressive, attacking style, make it very difficult on offenses. You know, offensively, it looks like they found their rhythm. They've made a change at the offensive coordinator position and you can see in the last two games continually getting better. Obviously, had a breakout game last weekend versus Maine. The quarterback's more and more comfortable, they've been able to establish the run and do a tremendous job there, so we'll absolutely have our hands full."

Mizzou's game against Oklahoma will mean a little bit more to a couple of Tigers, as both wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. and offensive lineman Cayden Green transferred to Mizzou from Norman.

Wease Jr. said he's excited to play against his former team, even more so now that he knows it's the renewal of an old rivalry.

"I kinda had something built up inside of me to play this game, but now I know it's rivalry, so it's built up even more," he said.

You can watch the full press conference with Wease Jr. in the video player below.

Offensive lineman Mitchell Walters, a St. Louis native, remembers watching Mizzou face Oklahoma when he was a kid.

"I've heard a lot of history, growing up here in Missouri. You know, the Oklahoma and Missouri rivalry was was a big thing," Walters said. "It's, cool to see that kind of rekindle here this weekend."

You can watch the full press conference with Walters in the video player below.

One of the big question marks for MU, headed into Saturdays' game, is the injury situation. Starting quarterback Brady Cook came out of the game against Alabama with an injury to his wrist. Meanwhile, wide receiver Mookie Cooper and running back Nate Noel did not play, altogether.

Drinkwitz said the official injury report will come out on Wednesday night, as usual, but added there has not been a decision made on who will start at quarterback, as Cook continues to work back from injury.

When the St. Louis native came out of the game against the Crimson Tide, after taking a shot to his wrist, he was already dealing with the original injury to his ankle that caused him to go to the hospital during the Auburn game.

"He's done everything in his power to prepare himself to play and you would expect nothing less than that from from him. It's been great energy in the building, you know, been attacking the rehab and attacking the game plan," Drinkwitz said.

If Mizzou does need to go with its backup quarter, Coach Eli said that he will still be sticking with Arizona State transfer Drew Pyne. That decision comes after Pyne had a rough outing against Alabama, going 6/12 for 42 yards and three interceptions.

"Hopefully it was a learning opportunity. I mean, we put him in some bad situations and we've got to protect better, we got to establish the run better and we can't turn the ball over," Drinkwitz said. "So, look, quarterback is not a position without errors. We've all had tough days at that position, but we have confidence in Drew. Drew's practiced well and our team's behind him, if that's what it needs to be. But, that's definitely not been decided yet."

Defensively, coordinator Corey Batoon will look to get a whole lot of pressure on Sooner quarterback Jackson Arnold, as Oklahoma has allowed the most sacks in the SEC in 2024.

Defensive lineman Kristian Williams said it's all about balance, in terms of not getting too aggressive in the pass rush and letting big plays go.

"Really just keep playing our standard of death row defense and just harass and confuse the quarterback," Williams said. "Stop the run and then not only that, but just take away the ball. So I mean, they are a great team. At the end of the day, we still can't deny that from them, so we just got to treat them as if they're the best opponent and the next opponent."

You can watch the full press conference with Wiliams in the video player below.

Mizzou and Oklahoma will kickoff at 6:45 p.m. at Faurot Field on Saturday, Nov. 9. in front of a sellout crowd.