Eli Drinkwitz says Alabama 'still is the gold standard of football' ahead of Mizzou visiting Bryant-Denny Stadium

Eli Drinkwitz wasn’t going to provide outright bulletin board material speaking on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Wednesday, but he did indulge in some good old “rat poison,” as Nick Saban put it. Ahead of a trip to play at Alabama for his Missouri team, Drinkwitz heaped on the praise.

And this is despite Alabama being a 5-2 team with a 2-2 conference record, an unusual position for the program of late. Drinkwitz isn’t letting a pair of losses change his opinion of the Crimson Tide: They’re still the measuring stick.

“Awesome environment. Something that, when you choose to come to Mizzou or play in the SEC, you want to play in front of these awesome venues and to play Alabama, which still is the gold standard of football,” Drinkwitz said. “They’re incredibly talented. They’ve got talent at every level. First round quarterback, first round wide receiver, first round offensive linemen. First round defensive players. So it’s going to be an incredible challenge for our football team.”

Drinkwitz continued with his praise of Alabama, downplaying the cries that the Crimson Tide are in crisis.

Yes, Alabama has two losses, but Drinkwitz noted they both came on the road by a single score. The margin between the 5-2 mark and a 7-0 campaign is not a particularly big one.

A play here or there could have the entire image of the Alabama program shown in a very different light. And that’s the team — the one that rolled Georgia in the first half — that Drinkwitz is expecting to show up on Saturday, and he’s preparing as such.

“I think there’s a lot of overreaction about what they’re at right now,” Drinkwitz said. “People aren’t used to them being where they’re at. But they’ve lose two football games by one scores. You’re talking about three plays would be the total difference in the season. So, I think there’s a really good football team down there in Tuscaloosa with really good football coaches and they’re three plays away from having a totally different feel and so, we’re going to have our hands full.