What Mizzou’s Eliah Drinkwitz liked, and didn’t like, from his Tigers in loss to Tide
The Missouri Tigers’ defense was beat in all phases Saturday in a 38-19 loss to No. 2 Alabama, but there was one area singled out as especially problematic by MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz:
Third downs.
The Tide, after all, finished an efficient 9 for 14 on third downs. The already potent Alabama offense extended drives because the Tigers’ defense couldn’t get off the field.
“That’s not good enough,” Drinkwitz said. “We talked about how that was going to be the key to running the game: how we did on third down. We started fast with the three-and-out. After that, we didn’t do enough.”
It’s an area linebacker Nick Bolton said the Tigers will need to work on throughout practice this week. He added that Drinkwitz prepared the team well, but execution was an issue for the defense.
Mizzou’s defense found significant success on opponents’ third downs last year. The Tigers were 21st in the nation in that statistical category, allowing offenses to convert just 33.1% of their third down chances. With the same scheme and returning contributors, this should be a point of optimism for a Mizzou defense that projected to be a team strength.
The coach’s post-game analysis wasn’t all negative. Drinkwitz liked the fight his defense showed in the second half, with MU allowing just 10 points after the break. The Tigers stood strong after a muffed punt to force the Tide into a field goal.
Drinkwitz said safety Martez Manuel, who had 3.5 tackles for loss, was an impact player.
“We pushed them to third-and-long a couple times and we didn’t get off the field on those,” Bolton said. “As a whole, we have to be better on third downs. On really on first downs and really when they go tempo, as a collective unit, we gotta get lined up, set up so we can be effective.”
The running game
Ever since Drinkwitz took over the MU job last December, he said the Tigers will need to feature a downhill running game for his offense to be successful. While Mizzou struggled to finish drives Saturday, Drinkwitz said he liked what he saw from his offensive line and running back Larry Rountree III.
“I saw a lot of fight,” Drinkwitz said of the offensive line. “I really did. I thought those guys answered the bell. I don’t think it was an issue of not being good enough at all. I thought our guys fought; I thought they opened up some holes.”
Drinkwitz said he didn’t present enough chances for the Mizzou run game in the first half, saying that was “on me as a play-caller.” The first-year coach, who’s also the team’s offensive coordinator, said he needed to get the ball in Rountree’s hands more.
It really was an impressive performance for the inexperienced MU line. The Tigers started former junior-college offensive lineman Zeke Powell at left tackle. He had been listed as a co-starter on the depth chart. Powell joined the Mizzou program just weeks before camp.
Rountree said he had a good meeting with the offensive linemen Friday, which was partly why he was so confident in his blockers ahead of him. The captain tailback played well, picking up 67 yards on 14 rushes, which averaged to about 4.8 yards per carry.
“There was no uncertainty — I knew what my O-line was going to do,” Rountree said. “I had no doubt that my O-line was going to block and pancake guys and do their jobs.”
Roster, coaching update
Tigers cornerback Jarvis Ware left the game early because of a knee injury. That pushed true freshman Ennis Rakestraw Jr. into taking more snaps than the coaching staff had wanted, Drinkwitz said. The coach added he met with Ware after the game, and while he didn’t anticipate the injury to be serious Ware was going to get an MRI Sunday.
Mizzou also saw a sixth player, safety Chris Shearin, opt out of the season. Shearin was listed as a backup at free safety behind Joshuah Bledsoe. The other five opt-outs for the season are wide receivers Maurice Massey and Cjay Boone, offensive linemen Thalen Robinson and Jack Buford and defensive lineman Chris Daniels.
The Tigers were also missing secondary coach Charlie Harbison, who’s primarily in charge of the strong safety position group. The team confirmed before the game that Harbison’s absense was due to COVID-19. Drinkwitz said he learned Harbison would miss the game early Friday morning when received got results from Thursday’s round of coronavirus testing.
Defensive quality control assistant Grant O’Brien took over Harbison’s coaching duties Saturday.