Eli Drinkwitz calls red zone play most important of game, Texas A&M immediately scores

Missouri found itself trailing Texas A&M 10-0 late in the first quarter, as the Aggies drove inside the 10-yard line and looked to add even more to their cushion.

Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz didn’t mince words between quarters when he spoke to the ABC broadcast crew, with his team facing a third-and-3 from the 6-yard line.

“We’ve got to focus on this play, not let external factors that we can’t control influence us,” Drinkwitz said. “The most important play of this game right now is going to come down to this third down.”

Unfortunately for Missouri, Texas A&M converted on a 5-yard gain by running back Amari Daniels, taking the ball down to the 1-yard line. The Tigers punched it in with Daniels one play later, extending the lead to 17-0.

Texas A&M was getting everything it wanted in the early going.

After taking a 17-0 lead, the Aggies sported a 176-54 lead in total yardage. Missouri quarterback Brady Cook looked rattled, especially after a few early calls went against the Tigers.

Missouri appeared to have one key conversion on a pass interference call against Will Lee, but instead officials picked up the flag. Then the Tigers had a 75-yard touchdown to Luther Burden wiped off the board due to an ineligible man downfield call.

Everything that could go wrong was going wrong through one quarter, threatening Missouri’s unbeaten 4-0 record.

But the defense was as big a problem as anything. Texas A&M was averaging 6.3 yards per play through the first quarter.

Drinkwitz opened up on what his defense needed to do going forward.

“We’ve got to tackle a lot better,” he said. “We’ve got to challenge routes.”