What Mizzou’s Eli Drinkwitz is saying as Cotton Bowl nears: ‘Been a tremendous year’
The Missouri Tigers have one more challenge as they try to cap off their best season in years at the Cotton Bowl on Friday.
Eli Drinkwitz’s Tigers finished in the top 10 of both the AP Top 25 and College Football Playoff Rankings, peaking at No. 9 in both polls. That marked the highest AP ranking for the program since 2013 and highest CFP ranking since its inception in 2014
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us,” Drinkwitz said at a press conference last Friday. “Our players have earned this opportunity this year with the way they performed, and to have the national stage against a blue-blood opponent is a great opportunity for our program to continue to build the brand that we want to be.”
The Missouri Tigers have already secured their first winning season under Drinkwitz, going 10-2 (6-2 SEC). But Drinkwitz is still on the hunt for his first bowl win since taking over in 2020.
It won’t be easy.
Looking through the history books, the Tigers’ highest-ranked bowl win came against the No. 2 AP-ranked Navy Midshipmen in the 1960 Orange Bowl. Since then, the Tigers have faced just two top-10 opponents in a bowl game: No. 2 Penn State in the 1970 Orange Bowl and No. 7 BYU in the 1983 Holiday Bowl, both MU losses.
Friday marks the biggest stage the Tigers have played on in a long time — possibly decades. And the MU roster has been bolstered without any opt-outs, plus players in the portal available to participate if they so choose.
“Our brotherhood is wanting to play this one final game, this one opportunity together, and we’re excited to do that,” Drinkwitz said. “But again, we’re not really focused on the opponent, we’re focused on our team and what our mission and goal is this year.”
In the midst of the Tigers’ stellar season, MU has had its fair share of stars lead the way. That starts with quarterback Brady Cook, who MU offensive coordinator Kirby Moore highlighted while speaking to reporters in Arlington, Texas.
“Work ethic, second to none,” Moore said. “(He manages) the things that we ask him to do at the line of scrimmage, taking care of the ball and really being the starting point in terms of having command of the offense.”
Cook, who finished the regular season with 3,189 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns (eight rushing) and only six interceptions, often turned to star wideout Luther Burden III for big plays.
Burden totaled 1,197 receiving yards this season, ranking 10th in the country and third in the SEC. He made 83 receptions, ranking second in the SEC, had had eight receiving touchdowns, tied for third in the conference.
“He’s everywhere,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles told reporters. “He’s as talented a guy as we have faced. He’s a guy — you’d better know where he is at all times. And he’s in so many different places, so it makes it challenging.”
Another top weapon for the Tigers has been RB Cody Schrader. Adding in his 1,489 rushing yards, nearly 200 more in the receiving game and 13 touchdowns, he and Burden accounted for nearly 2,900 yards from scrimmage with 21 total touchdowns.
“It makes things really difficult,” Knowles said of Schrader. “Great runner downhill, hits the hole fast, can make you pay. ... You don’t want to open yourself up for the easy runs because he’s a great back and he’ll take advantage.”
There are more questions on the other side.
The Cotton Bowl will provide the nation a first look at potential Ohio State QB1 Devin Brown. The backup to Kyle McCord this season, Brown has seen action in just seven games across two years at Ohio State.
But McCord is off to Syracuse, and thus the Gilbert, Arizona, native will quarterback the offense and audition for a future starting role.
“We mostly looked at what he’s done this year,” MU defensive coordinator Blake Baker said. “And then you kind of blend that with what they already do, and maybe (they’ll) do some things differently ... based off his skill set.”
Ohio State certainly has plenty of talented players around him.
The Buckeyes’ leading wideout is likely top-10 NFL Draft selection Marvin Harrison Jr., who totaled 1,211 receiving yards on 67 catches this season with 15 total touchdowns. However, his status remains unclear as a potential opt-out.
Even without Harrison, Baker finds the Ohio State pass catchers, including Emeka Egbuka and Cade Stover, remind him of “some of the best offenses” the Tigers have seen this season, like with LSU and Georgia.
“There’s really no weakness,” Baker said. “But when you look at their receiving core as a whole, it’s probably one of the best, if not the best, in the entire country.”
So how does Missouri counter that? Creating havoc plays and turnovers, something Baker has emphasized all season.
“I think getting the ball back to our offense,” Baker said on the importance of havoc rate. “We have a very explosive offense. At the end of the day, it’s who scores the most points, right? So you’re taking a possession away from the opponent and then give our offense a chance to put more points on the board.”
He continued.
“But it’s also huge for momentum,” Baker said. “I think college football, there’s so much momentum swings throughout the game, and a lot of times that ends up determining the game.”
Kickoff for this game awaits in a matter of hours. Regardless of the result, Drinkwitz views 2023 as “an awesome season” for the Tigers.
A win on Friday would make it all the sweeter.
“It’s been a tremendous year for us, playing for each other, competing against each other, our coaching staff and players all working together, and we’ve had a whole heck of a lot of fun,” Drinkwitz said. “We’re going to celebrate that this week, but we want to finish the right way with this bowl game.”
