Why Eli Drinkwitz expected Mizzou to be aggressive vs. KU — and how it paid off
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mizzou converted 4 of 5 fourth downs, scoring 2 touchdowns on crucial plays.
- Coach Drinkwitz leaned on aggression to offset a new kicker and early deficit.
- Kansas opted for conservative play calls late, missing opportunities to respond.
It was fourth-and-1, as the Missouri Tigers fought to respond to a fourth-quarter touchdown that gave the Kansas Jayhawks a 31-28 edge.
Should the Tigers have attempted a field goal, they could have tied the game. But coach Eli Drinkwitz wanted to take another approach.
That approach made a difference in a memorable 42-31 Border War victory for Mizzou.
Drinkwitz’s Tigers had already experienced fourth-down success on that very same drive. Quarterback Beau Pribula found Kevin Coleman Jr. to move the chains on fourth-and-7. So why not maintain the aggression?
Pribula connected with tight end Brett Norfleet on the critical fourth-down situation. Norfleet was wide open and took it all the way for a go-ahead touchdown with just over four minutes left.
“We’ve got to stay out of third and fourth down,” Pribula said. “That’s a situation we put ourselves in. ... We’ve got to stay out of that situation, but execution was mandatory. We needed that.”
In short, the Norfleet touchdown perfectly encapsulated the role of fourth-down aggression in this game.
Mizzou went 4-for-5 on fourth down Saturday, with Pribula throwing touchdown passes on two of them. Pribula kickstarted the Tigers’ comeback in the second quarter, completing a touchdown pass on fourth-and-2 at the Kansas 3-yard line to Coleman.
Pribula went 30-for-39 passing for 334 yards with three touchdowns. Coleman caught 10 passes for 126 yards and a score. Norfleet had the other two receiving touchdowns.
“Big-time players make big-time catches in big-time games,” Drinkwitz said of Coleman. “That’s what we needed of him. ... Kevin’s made big-time plays every school he’s ever been at, so there was zero doubt when we got him that that’s what we were going to need him to do.”
The Tigers had another reason to push the envelope Saturday. They were breaking in a new kicker, freshman Robert Meyer, after the season-ending ACL injury to Blake Craig last week.
“There were a couple of fourth-down situations we knew we had to be prepared for,” Drinkwitz said. “I didn’t want to put Robbie out there and test his confidence early. I wanted him to get going. So we knew when the first-down stick was going to be 25 or higher, we’d need to be going for it.”
Drinkwitz also noted that trailing 21-6 early, he thought it was the right move for the Tigers to be aggressive.
“I felt like our defense would have been able to hold them and get the ball back if you didn’t get it,” Drinkwitz continued. “As far as the execution, we have ‘rhythm, attack, execute’ as our offensive philosophy, and we define execution as playing well under pressure. And that’s what you have to do to win football games.”
As Mizzou battled to tie the score in the second quarter, the Tigers were faced with yet another fourth-down situation: this time a fourth-and-10. Drinkwitz trusted Pribula, who found freshman receiver Donovan Olugbo for 14 yards.
“It was a huge momentum swing,” Drinkwitz said. “Fourth down, we were in the red area. We needed it. He made a one-handed catch.
On the opposite side of the gridiron, Kansas didn’t exercise the same amount of aggression, attempting to run out the clock late in the first half and not attempting a fourth-and-7 trailing late in the fourth quarter.
KU coach Lance Leipold acknowledged there could be some criticism of that approach postgame.
The knockout punch came after that fourth-down KU punt. Jamal Roberts, who ran for 143 yards, ripped off a 63-yard touchdown run. That gave Mizzou a 42-31 lead with 1:49 to play.
“I think that probably the coolest thing was, it wasn’t our players folding in the moment that was causing us to have issues,” Drinkwitz said. “It was our players making big plays in the moment that was awesome. It elevated this.”
