Mizzou football continues hunt for first SEC road win, with one last away game

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Following a heartbreaking loss at South Carolina over the weekend, the Mizzou football team will hope to crack the code to finding a win on the road in the Southeastern Conference with a trip to Starkville, Mississippi on Saturday.

You can watch extended highlights from Tuesday's practice in the video player below.

Despite head coach Eli Drinkwitz and company's dazzling, 6-0 record at Faurot Field in 2024, the Tigers have not been able to find that same success on the road in the SEC. The Tigers have lost a combined 109-40 in three big trips to College Station, Tuscaloosa and Columbia East.

Sitting at 7-3 on the season, Coach Drinkwitz said, during his weekly press conference, that it's important to learn from those losses, but not dwell on them.

"I think there's a competitive character. You know, winning and losing has to matter to you, but you have to be quick to move on. Learn the lesson, leave the event," Drinkwitz said. "I think that's something that our guys have embraced is learning the lessons from the games, but you can't let them drag you down. You know, we've got enough competitive character on this team, we've got enough upperclassmen that know you can't dwell on the past. You just got to continue to move forward."

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

Mizzou will move forward with one last away game at 2-8 Mississippi State over the weekend.

It's been a bit since the two teams met on the gridiron, however, it will not be the first time the Tigers and the Bulldogs have met with Coach Drink at the helm in CoMo. Back in 2020, Drinkwitz's first season as head coach, MU travelled to MSU and lost 51-32.

"I think we can't get distracted by their record. They're actually a really good SEC team. They have a good front and linebackers and secondary," center Drake Heismeyer said. "Last time we played them... we went down there and I think we got also distracted by the record and then we ended up getting, you know, beat on a little bit. But, they do everything well. I mean they're a really good SEC team. So I think we can't really get caught up in the fact that, you know, they haven't won that many games. They're a good team. Any SEC team is going to be good."

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

The Tigers will enter another SEC game pretty banged up on the injury-front, as most teams in college football are at this point in the season. Despite those injuries, quarterback Brady Cook and running back Nate Noel continue to grind through the season.

Coach Drinkwitz said Cook, who made his long-awaited return in the loss to South Carolina, is still dealing with multiple injuries that are not fully healed yet.

"I think it's been a mental challenge for him to stay positive and have a lot of uncertainty and unknown, but try to do the very best he can every day, to try to get as healthy as he can for his teammates and for himself," Coach Eli said. "I think for him to make that throw, he did the Luther was pretty impressive. He can't quite snap his wrist the way he needs to, which is why some of the balls get left short. Specifically the first third down to Theo, but he's a battler. He makes no excuses."

Drinkwitz said that each and every guy that is battling through injury this season is sending a couple of clear messages to the team: resiliency and playing for each other.

"Even when I came on my visit, to the Florida game, last year and just being in the locker room with them at halftime and seeing what they were doing and just just seeing the brotherhood and how they stayed together and just were able to pull through that win," safety Trejen Greco said. "With the Auburn Oklahoma game, it was the same thing. They just never fall. They always have each other's back and they just go out and execute."

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

Although Mizzou played, arguably, its grittiest performance on the road in 2024, at South Carolina, the result didn't end up with a mark in the 'W column.

Upon reflection on the rivalry loss to the Gamecocks, Coach Drinkwitz said that both sides of the ball just needed one more play to win that game. The offense needed to execute on third down in the red zone. They needed one more stop on the reverse and kickoff coverage. Of course, the defense needed one more play, as well, as it allowed South Carolina to drive 70 yards in 47 seconds to win the game.

"If you win or lose, you still got to go back and work the next day," linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez said. "So it's always the constant of getting better and better and better, no matter the outcome."

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

Up next - Mizzou and Mississippi State will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 23.