Head coach Eli Drinkwitz on Mizzou's 51-0 win over Murray State in season opener

Yeah, first, I just wanna say how um remarkable the crowd was today. I mean, unbelievable from the start of the game, the students being out there and being loud and then everybody being in their seats. I mean, we kicked off. It was, I mean, it reminded me of, of what it was last year. So it was an awesome job by the crowd and you could just tell our players, I mean, with that fast start fed off the energy of the crowd. And uh so I wanna thank the students, I wanna thank the fans for being in the seats uh and making this opening game, uh pretty special. S ID just told me, uh K just told me that it was the sixth time or the sixth largest crowd. Yeah, and, and for the home opener, uh first time we've held a team to under 100 yards since 2019. Uh So, you know, Corey Beto, can't say how good of a job he did tonight. And then, you know, at halftime, I really challenged our players when we're gonna sub people out to play to a standard. Um and, and, and not get complacent. And was really, really proud of those guys. Got a lot of different people in the game, man that last drive. Um I think other than Philip o'shea, it was all freshmen on the field and man, that is gonna be one heck of a defense in the future, really proud of those guys and uh thought they came in and played to a standard, so really appreciative of them. Um So with that, I'll open it up for questions and took a four play. So now, I mean, they had some stuff, they started with some unbalanced formations, but um again, that's just the hats off to Corey and his staff for having our guys that prepared. Um And really just answering the bell, you know, we, we kind of figured that uh there wasn't gonna be a ton of drop back pass and so we, we, we were kind of expecting some of the screen and inside zone and some sweep stuff and, and I thought we played with Great Edges Coy flag. I thought played really fast today. He, he jumped out on film. Marvin Burks jumped out, you know, just live making tackles. So really pleased with the way the defense played tonight. Yeah, I mean, I thought they just came out, uh you know, after the onside kick and, and executed, um, you know, we left a few plays out there that we're going to be coming back in and, and, and working on, but you know, I thought, you know, we protected the quarterback really well, tonight, I don't think he had any, uh, protection issues and, and, uh, you know, we were fairly efficient. I know in the first half, I think we were 5 to 7 for third down. So, um, you know, overall it was a pretty good night tonight from your starting offensive line. Yeah, I mean, um, yeah, I thought so. I thought we were able to run the ball, you know, we just missed on a couple of shot plays that, that we, we're gonna have to connect on and move in the future. But, uh, overall, I thought those guys played pretty well. We'll have to watch the tape, you know, we had a couple of penalties there. But, uh, yeah, for the most part, I thought they did what we expected them to do. Yeah. How about that? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I thought the first, best play was the fourth down. I mean, obviously the stuff, a quarterback sneak like that, um, was pretty impressive and then to come back that very next drive and, and Torreano to make the play, he, he's been doing a really good job in camp. He's really been competitive and challenging routes and, and, uh, for him to be up there and make that play to today was pretty awesome. I know it was really special for him. I think he surprised himself because he didn't have a celebration to go to so we'll have to work on that. Ok. Is that, look at his athleticism? I mean, that's a tough play to make, but they just separate and almost stiff arm to complete the touchdown and that, that almost looked like a receiver. Yeah, we, we got plenty of wide receivers, so we'll, we'll keep him over there at the DB position. But no, I mean, he's a heck of an athlete. He's a great player. Um, we're fortunate that he, you know, was able to come back and, and, uh, you know, I think all the new guys today, Chris mcclelland, you know, has the sack, fumble, forced fumble, you know, champ has a bunch of good tackles, you know, Z uh, Zion has the pressure when Torreano makes the interception. Torreano made plays. Um, so to see the new guys integrate themselves the way that they have and for us to play at a high level, I thought, you know, offensively to Marcus Bryant, Cayden Green, you know, I think that all those guys, uh, it was, it was good to see that. What was your, what's your incident thought on how you ran the ball specifically, the, the first two guys. N Marcus. Well, exactly what I kind of expected with Marcus Carroll. He's gonna be really tough to tackle when he gets his pads downhill. I it's gonna be a tough out, uh, and, and, you know, you're gonna have to really bring a sack lunch to keep hitting him. Um, I thought Nate Noel had some really good cuts. He's got some quickness. I think there's one that his feet got kind of got caught up that we're gonna wish we had back. But for the most part I thought those guys played, uh, well off of each other. I think both of them had a lot of yards catching, receiving too and they had four and I know, um, uh, Marcus had a couple too, so I was impressed with their ability to catch the ball. And Brett went to the locker room appears once in the first half. Any sense of what happened? Yeah, we're just gonna be smart with them in the second half. So I, I think they'll be fine, uh, wasn't, wasn't alarmed by anything afterwards. Yeah, practice. Yeah, just go back to practice. Um, obviously, I think part of that is, uh, adrenaline, you know, and so just going back in and, and figuring out how do we, um, like, uh, account for the adrenaline in our throws, but they are the right reads. You know, there was one in the second half that was really on us as coaches, you know, um, Mookie has the big long run on third down and gets about 40 yards and then we go to a tempo call and he's the, the take and he was just out of gas. So that's really on us. But, uh, the other ones I mean, we'll, we'll learn from, we'll get there 7 to 7. Yeah, I'll have to go back and watch the tape. I, I was really glad that we finished off the half with the touchdown. Um, I just kind of challenged those guys. We weren't gonna kick a field goal there, so was pleased with their execution on that drive. Um, you know, we'll have to go back and, and see, I can't recall any issues that I was concerned about that, that play, I think he had no time outs and it's a quarterback run. Is that just a, hey, you're either gonna score or you go to half time. Yeah, we, we, it was the right hash. Um, and the ball was on about the 2.5 yard line. So I just told Kirby to call her a two point play right there and we're gonna treat it like a two point play. So, you know, we were either gonna execute and get in or we weren't. So, aside from some infractions up front, the ones and the twos, how would you characterize how the old line looks consistently at? Um, I'm gonna have to go back and watch it. I mean, I thought we had some good holes. I thought there was a couple of plays where if the ball gets handed off, you know, Brady throws, uh, the free access outlets that we would have had, you know, even more yardage. Um, obviously the the false starts, you know, false start right there on that fourth and goal can't happen. So, you know, there's always things that you gotta clean up. But, uh, I think we're where we wanted to be and, and now we just got to keep improving. I mean, the name of the game is how much better can you get. Um, and, and, you know, two years ago we had a big win and, and, and then kind of laid an egg the very next week because we, we thought we, we patted ourselves on the back, you know, for a week. So we're not gonna do that. We're gonna get in there and we're gonna, um, figure out how to improve and we're gonna attack it this week in practice. Yeah. Uh, the message is, this is a new team, it's a new thing and, and, uh, you know, we want to show that, you know, together we're stronger. So it, it was really just about this is, this is the way we're going to do it this year. So, really appreciate the seniors and the captains coming up with that and, and I thought it was pretty cool win 10 of 11. Uh, I thought he played an excellent half, um, made some really good decisions, showed toughness, didn't show a ton of athleticism on that quarterback run. But, um, that's not why he's here. Uh, no, I was really proud, you know, of Drew, um, to, to the way the season ended for him last year, uh, for him to come back and, and the way he's been just an awesome teammate, pushed Brady, um, but also complimented him and then for him to get a half of football in there, um, and, and was just making great reads, you know, putting the ball exactly where it needs to be. And, and so really impressed with him, what you say about what your summer was like. Well, I think, you know, our team, our team wanted to come out and show everybody that we're, this is a new team, you know, and this is a new thing and, and um, we're gonna have our own identity and, um, so I'm really proud of those guys for setting the standard. Um, but like I told them in the locker room, like this is just the start, you know, the goal was to be one and, oh, and uh we got to make one and no decisions this weekend and we got to come back ready to work, um Monday because from here, I mean, each game it's gonna get a little bit more challenging and so we got to meet those challenges, head on with improvement and improvement mindset. Yeah. Uh really, really impressed with Blake tonight. Um I thought he did a great job with the extra points, the Kickoffs, obviously, we had the one where he's trying to over kick. Um, but, you know, I thought he did a really, really nice job and, and, um, is just great for his confidence, Nick DeLoach. Um, I'd have to go back and watch the tape. Uh, you know, I know he had that one, key pass breakup on a third down. It looked like in the third quarter. Um, you know, and I thought he, he had a pretty good, uh, uh, perimeter play in the, uh, in the second quarter, But, you know, outside of that, I don't remember anything, which is probably good for DB. Yeah, we, we, we just got, you know, obviously we screwed up the end of half right there with Brady when the clock was running and he thought we were in the, in the communication, we were telling him you gotta go, gotta go and he thought we were making a, a check. And so that was what the communication was there. So, so we're gonna have to figure that out, uh, because in a critical situation that clock blender right there is, is massive. Realize that trick play from the second quarter gonna get, get an old quarter this season. What? There was a trick play? Oh, that's a bad deal too because, uh, we've been practicing that play for about 18 months and, uh, and K it's, it's called Bulldog because Fresno State Bulldogs, it's Kirby's play and he doesn't want to run it. So we've been go him like the whole off season, like you're never gonna call it. Why do we even have it on the call sheet? So he ends up calling it and then he fumbles it and he's, he's pissed at us right now. Let's just be honest about it. So, no, uh, we will never run that play again and, uh, too bad. It's a good play. Anything else for coach? Thank you. I appreciate y'all miz.