‘Disappointed, but not devastated’: Mizzou football turns the page to Kentucky
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou football team is shifting its focus to a Week 7 matchup with the No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats, following MU's first loss of the season on Saturday. After falling to LSU, the Tigers are now 5-1 overall on the season.
You can watch extended highlights from Tuesday's Mizzou practice in the video player below.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz said that the best way to describe his team's mentality is 'disappointed, but not devastated.'
"That's the thing about this league, every week you're gonna go out there and you're gonna compete and you're gonna lay it on the line and that doesn't guarantee you the result you want. But, you gotta get yourself back up, you gotta pick yourself back up and you gotta put it back together again and you know, that's life," he said. "The real challenge is we gotta do our process better because we didn't get the result we want. We got to improve uh specifically in toughness Tuesday. We gotta be better on our Toughness Tuesday and in situational football, but it still doesn't guarantee us the result. We're gonna go lay it on the line and see what it is."
You can watch the full press conference with Drinkwitz, ahead of Saturday's game, in the video player below.
It'll be a tough environment for Coach Eli and company to lay it all on the line in. The Tigers will meet the Wildcats in a 6:30 p.m. kickoff at Kroger Field. Mizzou has not won a game in Lexington in 10 years. Drinkwitz said it is a tough environment to play in.
The matchup always feels like a game where you get a little extra from players. It's grown more and more into a rivalry of sorts over the years.
"I think this game is exciting because every time this game happens it's always like something crazy happens," defensive lineman Darius Robinson said. "I'm just excited because I know Kentucky on the road is live. They have a really nice environment."
You can watch the full press conference with Robinson, ahead of Saturday's game, in the video player below.
Something interesting did happen in the 2022 edition of the Mizzou/Kentucky game. Columbia-native linebacker Will Norris got called for a controversial roughing the punter call, which arguably changed the trajectory of a close ball game.
It was so controversial that the SEC even came up with a new rule in the offseason to address that call. Under the new rule there is no penalty if the kicker or punter is more than 5 yards behind his original spot on the field when the ball is kicked.
"I think it adds an edge to our prep. We know what happened last year and I think that's gonna add to the chip on our shoulder," quarterback Brady Cook said.
You can watch the full press conference with Cook, ahead of Saturday's game, in the video player below.
Mizzou and Kentucky will kick off at 6:30 p.m.
You can catch all the highlights and postgame reaction from the team on ABC 17 News on Saturday and Sunday.
