Eli Drinkwitz talks offensive line and quarterbacks as Mizzou fall camp winds down

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (KMIZ)

The 2025 college football season hasn't even kicked off yet and Mizzou already has its first road test in the books. That came in the form of a road practice on the campus of Lindenwood University, on a muggy Saturday afternoon in St. Charles.

After a slow start on the road in 2024, which featured a 31-point trouncing in College Station to open up the road slate, head coach Eli Drinkwitz wanted to get his team out of their comfort zone early on.

"I wanted to see where we're at, you know. I wanted to see from a mentality standpoint, would we start fast? Did we have the right mindset? Did we come out ready to play? You know in a road game you can't ease into it. You look at our poor poor performances last year, three of them on the road, we were really, really slow and that can't happen. We have to start fast and that's something that you can learn now and apply it, instead of having to learn after you go on the road," Drinkwitz said. "Nobody knew who wasn't playing. You know, everybody thought we were coming out here and everybody was going, then we went back in the locker room and I just took people's helmets and i told them, 'hey, when you go on the road you always face adversity. You never know somebody's got to step up, so these guys that don't have helmets aren't playing today. Go figure it out.' You know, I was trying to create some adversity. I thought I thought I did a good job with that."

You can watch the full post-practice press conference in the video player below.

The Tigers did a whole lot more than just a walk-through of a game, on Saturday, though. Coach Drink said they got their third scrimmage of fall camp done, while letting the quarterbacks be full-go and letting some of the veterans take a rest day.

The competition to be Mizzou's starting quarterback is still raging on, as fall camp is set to end on Tuesday. Drinkwitz said he doesn't feel any time pressures on making a decision regarding his starter. He's said before that he will take it into the first game, if needed, until a starter reveals itself.

"Everybody else is pressed about week one, I'm not really pressed about that. I'm pressed on who's going to reveal themselves as the starting quarterback," he said. "I think they're both playing really well from a statistical standpoint...For me, it's about being a transformational leader, at this point, and who's going to lean into the team and get the most out of those guys. They're gonna kinda have to separate themselves from the quarterback battle and really get the most out of the guys they're playing with."

Pribula and Horn were both named team captains for the 2025 season, along with seven other players: offensive linemen Cayden Green and Connor Tollison, as well as defensive end Zion Young, safeties Daylan Carnell and Jalen Catalon and linebacker Khalil Jacobs. Receiver Logan Muckey was also voted as the special teams captain. Drinkwitz said nine captains is the most he's had in his career.

It's clear that there's strong leadership on MU's offensive line this season.

After the second scrimmage of fall camp, Coach Eli told media members that he and his staff would be tinkering with the offensive line a bit to find the right mixture of five guys. However, on Saturday, he had a message for those nervous with those changes coming so close to the season.

"All the worry about, 'oh man, we're moving guys,' man that's ridiculous. Don't worry about it. I promise you we know what we're doing with that. We'll be just fine, if that's the direction we go," Drinkwitz said.

With an off day coming on Sunday and one more practice on Monday, Drinkwitz said no decisions are absolutely final yet, but he feels very confident in the direction they're going with that group of five. During week three of camp, media members were able to catch a glimpse of some of those changes, which included moving left guard Cayden Green over to left tackle.

Once again, Drinkwitz hushed the concerns over that move.

"These players work all the time on their craft," he said. "I think you're right. You guys get to see a small portion and the portion you saw is wow, he's moving over to left tackle. Oh my gosh, they're pulling the rip cord, something's wrong. No, it's something that he's been doing all summer, it's something that he's worked towards, something that when he first got here, he did. He wasn't [originally] as comfortable, so we moved him to left guard and he played at a really, really high level. Now, he's comfortable and confident as a player."

Up and down the roster, Drinkwitz continued to rave about the depth he brought in over the course of the offseason. During scrimmages like Saturday's, he's gotten to see that depth on display as even younger guys like defensive end Daeden Hopkins, as well as wide receiver Donovan Olugbode have all made plays.

Up next - Mizzou will have an off day on Sunday, before returning for a practice on Monday. The Tigers will, then, wrap up fall camp on Tuesday afternoon.