Greg McElroy says Missouri needs to make a bowl game 'at the very least'

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy believes the pressure is on Eli Drinkwitz as he enters his fourth season at Missouri. Since taking the role in 2020, Drinkwitz has yet to deliver a winning record and the Tigers have lost back-to-back bowl games the past two years.

That puts him among the coaches on the hot seat in 2023 and McElroy set the expectations for Drinkwitz to keep his job. On the Always College Football show, the ESPN analyst declared that the Mizzou coach must make a bowl game “at the very least.”

However, considering he has done as much each of the past two seasons, it seems likely he’d also have to win that game and possibly one or two more in the regular season to truly be safe.

“He’s 17-19 overall and does not have a winning year since taking over in 2020,” McElroy said. “It was a difficult situation that he stepped into. You walk in trying to change things during COVID, it’s almost impossible. But you think about where the SEC’s going. You bring in former rival Oklahoma. You bring in the Texas Longhorns. Missouri needs to win this year and they need to get at least an upset or two.

“They almost had one last year against Georgia. Maybe they get one this year against Florida at their place in November. Whatever the circumstances are, he needs a big win to be able to lean on. I think he needs to get back to a bowl game at the very least.”

Of the Tigers’ seven losses this past season, four came by a touchdown or less. That included a 26-22 loss to Georgia in which Mizzou jumped out to a 13-0 lead. They held onto that lead all the way up until four minutes left in the game, when the Bulldogs scored the go-ahead touchdown. In the Gasparilla Bowl against Wake Forest, the Tigers led 17-14 with under five minutes to go in the third quarter, but allowed a pair of touchdowns down the stretch to lose 27-17.

Missouri returns Luther Burden, who ranked as the No. 1 receiver in the 2022 class according to the On3 Industry Rating, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The Saint Louis native is the team’s leading return pass catcher with 45 receptions for 375 yards and a team-best six touchdowns as a true freshman.

The Tigers also brought in Oklahoma transfer receiver Theo Wease, the No. 47 transfer receiver according to On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings. At quarterback, they return starter Brady Cook, who threw for 2,739 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Mizzou also added Miami transfer Jake Garcia to give Cook some competition.

Defensively, the Tigers return eight starters from a team that allowed 8.7 points per game fewer this past season than it did in 2021. All those signs point to improvement, but with a tough SEC schedule that includes LSU, Georgia and Tennessee, nothing is guaranteed.

However, according to McElroy, if Drinkwitz wants to buy another year at Missouri, an upset in any of those games paired with a bowl victory would go a long way.