No. 23 Mizzou gets set to honor seniors in final home game against Arkansas

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The No. 23 Mizzou football team has one more home game left in 2024 and it's bound to be an emotional one.

On Saturday, the Tigers will not only host Arkansas in the annual Battle Line Rivalry game, but will honor a standout group of 27 seniors, pregame. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz said that although the team does know a trophy is on the line, the most important thing about Saturday's game will be honoring the group walking onto Faurot Field for their last time as players.

"Rivalry week is important and the Battle Line Rivalry is important, but more importantly for us is playing for those guys and sending those guys out the right way," Drinkwitz said. "You know, the north end zone is going to look totally different from now on. As soon as we're done with that game, there are going to be massive renovations, so this is one of the last times that this group or any group is going to get a chance to play it for real with this set up. We want to make sure we put our best game on tape."

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

Junior wide receiver Luther Burden will also be walking on senior day. For much of the season, fans have run under the assumption that the St. Louis native may declare for the NFL Draft. Coach Drinkwitz said they have had conversations, but no decision on what his future holds is final yet.

"This is an opportunity for him to make a decision without thinking that he didn't get a chance to say goodbye to the fans," Drinkwitz said.

It's bound to be an emotional night in Columbia, as the group walking for senior day will get honored about 10 minutes prior to kickoff.

Coach Eli said this year's class is a special group, who have helped lift this Tiger program to new heights. It's filled with a mixture of kids who came to Mizzou out of high school, transferred in early in their careers or maybe even transferred in for their final year of college football. No matter the amount of time they spent in Columbia, he said they made their own impact.

Quarterback Brady Cook is one of five seniors who committed to the Tigers out of high school. For the St. Louis native, playing in the black and gold was a dream and it came true over the past five seasons.

"It's definitely going to be emotional...I could already feel that, you know, Sunday and Monday a little bit. It's just a little sad. You know, this is my last week here preparing for a game at home, preparing for regular season game. It'll be my last time running out of Faurot, so a lot of emotions for sure. But at the end of the day, we got to go win that game. You know, the real reward will be getting carried off by my teammates, picking out my rock. In order to do that, we got to win this game," he said.

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

Players like Cook and Burden came to Mizzou when it wasn't necessarily the most popular decision. They stayed through coaching transitions, uncertainty, losing season and more. But, each one of them pointed out that they weathered the storm and left and impact they can be proud of.

"I think the main thing is, you know, ending a winner. Ending a winner. When I committed here, came here and enrolled here, you know, there was a lot of uncertainty around the program...You know, I had a vision that I believed in. I could see it. I knew it was there and it took a lot of different lows and in different types of adversity to get there. I feel like, you know, we got win this one, win a bowl game and I feel like I can confidently say, you know, I left my legacy as a winner," Cook said.

Defensive end Johnny Walker Jr. said the between every senior in the locker room is strong, but especially the one between the players who have been there since the beginning.

"We're all brothers. We came in together," he said. "We came in during COVID, which was one of the hardest times in college football...Some people from the 2020 class aren't here, but the ones who stayed, we're brothers. Even ones who left are our brothers still. It's a deep connection that we all have with each other."

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

Each player in the 2024 graduating class embraced a different role, including Rock Bridge alum Will Norris.

The Columbia-native enrolled at Mizzou expecting to make an impact at linebacker. But, as is the motto of the team, he embraced the role they needed him in, as Norris carved out in important role on special teams through his five seasons.

"You know, a lot of people maybe weren't cool with that and left through the portal and stuff like that, but, that's something that meant a lot to me. Being a part of this team, going out there in the black and gold for the whole state, it was just something that meant a whole lot to me. I never really saw myself leaving. You know, maybe I didn't have the role that I expected, but, in our room we have a sign that says do your role, embrace your role and that's something I feel like I did. I was trying to be a connector in the locker room and build relationships with everybody and do just little things around here," Norris said.

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

Drinkwitz said grabbing a win on senior day against the Razorbacks will not be an easy task, but the team will look to get the win, so the seniors can be carried off with rocks from the 'M,' as they've done for others their entire career.

Mizzou and Arkansas will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30.