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Missouri

Eli Drinkwitz to Josh Heupel after Tennessee win: 'We stand on business'

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•11/15/23•

BarkleyTruax

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz
(Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports) Nov 12, 2022; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz reacts to an officials call during the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium.

On Saturday, Missouri handed Tennessee its worst loss of the season by defeating the Vols 37-6 at home.

After the game, Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz — who was mic’ed up during the contest — had some choice words for Tennessee coach Josh Huepel during their postgame handshake.

“We stand on business, Josh!” the Mizzou head coach said to Heupel, via On3 on X.

The microphone did not pick up anything Heupel might have said back, but Drinkwitz moved on from Heupel so fast as if he was shaking hands with a walk-on placekicker. It’s unsure what provoked the Mizzou headman to say this — but the near four-score victory had Drinkwitz jacked up before heading to the locker room.

The win improved the Tigers to 8-2 on the season and will likely finish second in the SEC East behind Georgia. Looking ahead, matchups against Florida and Arkansas, which will likely see Mizzou as favorites in both games, will round out the Tigers’ regular season. That means a 10-win regular season and potential Sugar Bowl berth is theirs for the taking — but the Tigers also have everything to lose in the coming weeks.

Regarding it’s potential postseason hopes — Missouri climbed up five spots in the Week 11 College Football Playoff rankings from No. 14 all the way up to No. 9. The Tigers join the now No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs and No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide to round out the three SEC teams ranked inside the College Football Playoff top 10.

Eli Drinkwitz provides injury update on Ty’ron Hopper

While the victory over Tennessee was a win across the board in several different ways for the Tigers, it came at a cost, as a handful of players suffered injuries. One of those players was linebacker Ty’ron Hopper.

As Missouri prepares for their Week 12 matchup against the Florida Gators, their head coach, Eli Drinkwitz, provided an update on Hopper’s injury status.

“Tyron’s X-rays were clean; MRI was clean,” said Drinkwitz. “It is an ankle sprain. It was pretty swollen yesterday. He’s going to treat the mess out of it today. I’d say he’s questionable. So, we’ll see how he progresses this week.”

Hopper gingerly left the field in the second quarter of Missouri’s victory over Tennessee. After a brief visit to the team’s medical tent, the redshirt senior linebacker eventually headed back to the locker room and did not return to the game.

Read more from On3’s Justin Rudolph here.