Missouri’s offense has stacked up a wild 14-game turnover streak, and head coach Eli Drinkwitz ain’t happy about it one bit. After the Border War win and heading into the Memorial Stadium 100th Anniversary Game against Troy, Drinkwitz laid out his frustrations and his plans for fixing the team’s biggest issues at Tiger Talk.
Taking the Blame (and Buying the Beers)
Drinkwitz might have kicked off the evening at Harpo’s by bringing back ‘Drinks on Drink,’ shelling out for a round for the bar, but he had a couple of rules for the freebies: “Don’t be trying to get any of that top shelf liquor; y’all don’t be drinking any of that. This is beer only. I’ll do wine, too, for some of the ladies.” That casual vibe quickly shifted when he started talking about areas for improvement from week two. He took full accountability for the two field goals that got blocked by the Jayhawks. He told everyone, “Bottom line, whatever happened happened twice. And if it happens once, shame on you; if it happens twice, they’ll say shame on me, right? So at the end of the day, it was my fault. I haven’t done a great enough job of making sure that it was taught in a clear and concise manner that our guys could execute it.” The good news? He said it was re-taught “today, and it was taught again yesterday… so we got that thing re-taught and put in, and we won’t have any more problems moving forward.” That’s the kind of leadership you want to see.
Unseen Leadership and Hard-Earned Connection
The coach was also super impressed with quarterback Austin Simmons’ leadership. Drinkwitz called out Simmons’ unique approach: “He daps every player up as they run onto the field, and that to me is something that’s unique; I haven’t seen that before.” It doesn’t stop there. Between series, Simmons “goes and taps up the defense and makes sure they are in the huddle during TV timeouts and getting ready to go. You know, that’s something I haven’t seen before since I’ve been here.” That kind of team-first attitude, where a quarterback worries about the entire squad, not just his offense, is “a true sign of leadership.” That connection is also growing on the field. Wide receiver Donovan Olugbode, who joined Drinkwitz at Tiger Talk alongside edge rusher Darris Smith, worked his tail off to get on the same page with Simmons. Drinkwitz admitted it “was not pretty” in the spring and even in fall camp, with “a lot of incompletions, a lot of balls that we just weren’t on the same page.” But those two put in “a lot of extra time working on it and trying to find the answers and finding the solutions, and getting more reps and getting more throws.” That work ethic is paying off, and Olugbode’s strong start has the coach already joking, “obviously if he keeps doing this, you know, at some point I’m going to be renegotiating a contract.”
“That Ain’t Good”: The Turnover Problem
Despite some bright spots, the offense has a massive problem: a 14-game turnover streak. When Drinkwitz declared, “That ain’t good,” you know he wasn’t kidding. He lit into his team today, pointing out they’ve already had “two fumbles. That’s more than we’ve had in a season before here.” While some interceptions might be unavoidable in football, multiple picks or fumbles are just unacceptable. This team needs to protect the ball, period. With the Troy game coming up, and with it being the 100th Anniversary Game for Memorial Stadium, all eyes will be on whether the Tigers can finally break that ugly turnover streak and prove those re-taught lessons on special teams actually stuck.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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