Eli Drinkwitz calls for morning beers before Kentucky-Mizzou's 11 AM kickoff

Saturday’s game in Columbia, Missouri drew an early start time when the Southeastern Conference filled out its schedule for the weekend. Kentucky Football‘s road contest at Mizzou was selected for the SEC Network’s noon time slot in the Eastern Standard Time Zone, meaning the Cats and Tigers will kick off at 11 AM local time out there in the eye of Central Time.

The morning start is advantageous to the visiting team in Blue, if we believe the shorter tailgating window will diminish the road atmosphere for the Wildcats. The home fans are likely to be much soberer and later arriving, thus much less enthusiastic and energetic at kickoff. Some might even skip the game entirely for the Holiday Shop Hop, Magic Tree Lighting.

“It’s a challenge for our fan base,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said of the early kick, calling on his team’s fans to make the morning sacrifice for a game day. He is of course talking about the ultimate sacrifice of putting life’s obligations aside for an entire Saturday to pop the top on an ice-cold morning beer before kickoff. Best served in the parking lot, a morning beer (or a bloody, mimosa, some bourbon, what have you) doesn’t always go down easily and it’s certainly not the most responsible thing to do during breakfast hours, but Drinkwitz says the Tigers will need the crowd to be alive in Faurot Field, especially on thirds downs against Kentucky’s offense.

“It’s hard to get loosened up that early in the morning,” said Drinkwitz. “You don’t probably want to crack your first beer until after 10:30. I get that. But everybody’s got to make sacrifices. It takes what it takes to get a win and we’re going to need the fans really going.”

Drinkwitz said the early start time does not faze him and his team will be ready to roll at 11. It is highly unlikely that he will take part in any morning beers.

The game will be Mizzou’s fifth 11 AM start this season.

In-game beers at Faurot Field

While we’re talking booze, if you’re going to Faurot Field this Saturday, Big Blue Nation needs you and your friends to combat Mizzou’s energy with Go-Big-Blue chants throughout the stadium. If you need any liquid encouragement, beer has been sold at Mizzou games since 2019 with a classic selection of Bud Light and Michelob Ultra plus some local options.