The Missouri Tigers’ starting quarterback for Saturday’s game vs. Florida is... unclear
With just two regular-season games left on their schedule, the Missouri Tigers are one win from earning a trip to a bowl
The Tigers (5-5, 2-4 SEC) hope to clinch that crucial sixth victory against Florida (5-5, 2-5 SEC) in their last home game on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz’s spoke about his team’s evolving quarterback situation.
Through the first several weeks of the season, even when Connor Bazelak was struggling, Drinkwitz was firm in committing to him as the starter. But since the redshirt sophomore suffered a soft-tissue injury against Vanderbilt on Oct. 30, his status has been less solid.
Drinkwitz took Bazelak out of last week’s game against South Carolina in the fourth quarter after he threw his second interception of the day, electing to have redshirt freshman Brady Cook lead the offense instead. After the game, the head coach clearly wasn’t pleased with his starter’s decision making, which led to two touchdown drives for the Gamecocks.
Drinkwitz on Tuesday said he didn’t have a starting quarterback in mind for this weekend, prompting another week of uncertainty for the most important position on the field.
“No,” he said. “We’re gonna compete today in practice today and tomorrow and see where we’re at and see who gives us the best chance to win.”
Though he wouldn’t say who he was leaning toward, several of Drinkwitz’ remarks hinted at some displeasure with Bazelak’s recent performance.
“I mean, depends how you define progress and where you see it, and there’s all kinds of different ways that you can measure it,” Drinkwitz said when asked whether he’d seen Bazelak make progress from the start of the season to now.
The coach noted that he thought Bazelak had improved in his deep-ball accuracy, pointing to a 60-yard touchdown completion to freshman wide receiver Mookie Cooper against the Gamecocks.
But he also mentioned turnovers.
“There’s also been some plays that you just can’t have at the quarterback position,” Drinkwitz said. “And I mean, I’m not saying anything that we all don’t know and recognize.”
Bazelak has thrown 10 interceptions this season, including eight in five SEC games (he has thrown seven touchdowns in those contests).
“The worst thing that you can do on a football play is turn the ball over — that’s the worst you can do,” Drinkwitz said. “Taking a sack is bad, throwing an incompletion is bad, but it’s not the worst thing. ...
“(W)e have to be able to protect the ball, especially when our defense forces three turnovers. So I think there’s been a step forward, I think there’s been some things that we’ve got to continue to improve on.”
Whether Drinkwitz makes a quarterback change remains to be seen, but Bazelak’s status as a sure starter doesn’t seem so certain anymore.
