‘Unblockable’ Zion Young sets tone for Mizzou defense with contagious energy
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Zion Young’s vocal energy galvanized Mizzou defense at Auburn.
- Young produced sacks, pressures and tackles for loss, ranking among national leaders.
- Coach Drinkwitz embraced Young’s edge, tolerating penalties to preserve impact.
If you caught the Mizzou-Auburn game the other day, you witnessed a raw and revealing glimpse of defensive end Zion Young’s vocal stylings … and the often-infectious impact.
As transmitted both through the SEC Network broadcast and an official’s mic during the coin toss into overtime, Young’s “let’s (expletive) go!” shout — among a torrent of inaudible words — reverberated through some 90,000 fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The declaration also surged through the team. Especially when he punctuated it with a 9-yard sack two plays later to help propel the Tigers to a 23-17 double-overtime victory along the way to earning SEC co-defensive lineman of the week honors.
“Positive, contagious energy,” MU coach Eli Drinkwitz called it Tuesday. “Love who Zion is as a competitor, love who he is as a teammate, love who he is as a captain.”
As for the salty language?
“There’s benefits and negatives to having microphones everywhere,” he said. “Like, this game is about people being ready to play. And he was obviously ready to play. And our guys fed off of it.
“And if you don’t like it, don’t listen.”
Best of luck tuning out Young.
On the field or off.
“He just talks 24/7,” linebacker Josiah Trotter said, smiling as he spoke of Young’s infectious impact. “I mean, if someone’s talking, it’s definitely Zion.”
Meanwhile, he’s built himself into someone to talk about.
As the 15th-ranked Tigers (6-1 overall, 2-1 SEC) prepare to travel to Nashville to take on No. 10 Vanderbilt (6-1, 2-1), the 6-foot-5, 262-pound senior is a pillar of a defense that stands fifth in the nation in yards allowed (243 per game) and seventh against the rush.
(That 587 total on the ground is just 52 more than the program record through seven games held by the 1961 team.)
If Mizzou is to win its first road game against a top-10 team since 2013 and stay in a prime position to make the 12-team College Football Playoff, the defense is going to have to contain an offense averaging 41.4 points a game (No. 8 in the nation).
Young will be vital to the cause. He’s 11th in the nation in tackles for loss with 9.5 and 23rd in sacks with five — including two against Auburn. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s also 10th nationally in quarterback hits with seven and 13th in total pressures with 28.
Or as a raspy Drinkwitz summed it up to the SEC Network coming off the field the other night, “You see Zion Young? He was unblockable! Unblockable, man.”
Because of the intense mindset that flashed through Jordan-Hare.
Drinkwitz and his staff recognized that all the way back when they tried to recruit him out of Westlake High School in Atlanta. It resonated anew when he entered the transfer portal in 2023 after two seasons at Michigan State.
Much as they might have admired his energy and charisma before he arrived at Mizzou, Young reinforced it almost immediately after he arrived. As the story goes, Young threw up three separate times in his first workout.
Each time, Drinkwitz said, “he just came back and kept working. And you just knew he was going to be the right fit for our culture. And I think his leadership has grown.”
That sort of drive can come with a flip side: Against Alabama, Young incurred an early taunting penalty that punctured Mizzou’s initial momentum in what became a 27-24 loss.
But don’t tell Drinkwitz there’s a line to be harnessed or balanced. The very mention set him off when I asked him about it Tuesday.
Citing NFL coaching legend Bill Parcells, Drinkwitz suggested that being able to play with an edge reflects having that sort of edge overall.
And, well …
“He’s got an edge,” he said.
One Drinkwitz was so eager to encourage that he downplayed the penalty, which was among a number of pivotal lapses MU had against the Crimson Tide.
“I’m so tired of hearing about (how) that penalty cost us the game,” he said. “That was the second (defensive) play of the game. Didn’t cost us anything. Is it something that we’ve got to correct? Absolutely. Is it a self-inflicted wound? 100%.
“But that narrative needs to go in the trash can, because that didn’t cost us jack squat.”
Most to the point for a coach who spent so much time Tuesday critiquing his own coaching and team that you’d have thought they lost last week, it seems likely Young received some behind-the-scenes guidance about maintaining his composure.
And while I think there’s a broader discussion to be had about a fascinating dynamic for any athlete to work through, I get that there’s no benefit to Drinkwitz publicly criticizing Young for that play in itself.
Or to send any kind of message that stifles his defining disposition.
At SEC Media Days in the summer in Atlanta, where his stream-of-conscious answers included an imitation of Drinkwitz, Young talked about the impact of being the youngest of 10 children.
“I’m loud. Want to be heard. And over time (that) just became me,” he said, smiling and later adding, “I can’t act this. I can’t rehearse this. None of that. It’s me every day.”
His “authentic” self, as Trotter put it.
With an edge for Mizzou to feed off.
And for all to see and hear.