Everything Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz said after the South Carolina game

Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz spoke to the media following the Tigers’ road loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks. Here’s what Drinkwitz had to say following the 34-30 defeat:

Opening Statement

“Yeah, congratulations to Coach Beamer and his football team, they earned it right there on that last drive and hats off to them. Disappointing for our guys that we couldn’t find a way to win. Had opportunities both in the first half and the second half and just didn’t execute well enough when we needed to in order to win the game.”

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On the offense’s second-half performance

“Really proud of them, proud of both sides of the ball. I mean, the fourth down stops by the defense to get us back in, go on a little run right there, both sides of the ball did what they needed to do, we just came up short.”

“In the second half, defensively we couldn’t get off the field right there on the last drive. In the first half, we had multiple times, we were 0-6 on third down, three of those in the red zone, and that’s the difference in the game.”

On the team’s comebacks in recent weeks

“I just think there’s a relentlessness that our team plays with, believes in, just didn’t have enough tonight.”

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On the performance of the Missouri defensive front

“I thought they did some really good things, but our inability to get him (Sellers) on the ground on that last drive was bad.”

On Brady Cook’s performance

“Gutty performance, led his team down there, played well. Obviously we missed some third downs and that’s going to have to be something we have to assess, but I thought he did everything he could to give us a chance to win.”

On his message to the team post-game

“Don’t hang your heads, this is college football on the road versus a ranked team. Give yourself a chance to win. You didn’t get it done, you got two games left to go finish. So you can be disappointed, but we can’t be devastated, we’re not going to hang our heads.

On the goals for the senior class with two scheduled games and a bowl remaining

“We’ll just take it one game at a time. We gotta go back, regroup, figure out who’s healthy, who’s not, and go on the road to a fresh Mississippi State team, which is going to be a real challenge.”

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On the field goals in the redzone

“Ultimately, I think that’s the difference in the game. In the first half, we had the fourth down stop and we had the turnover and didn’t get any points off the turnover with the missed field goal and the three and out right there with the sack.”

“Our inability to convert third downs in the red zone in the first half was why we were behind and ultimately the difference in the score. If any of those are touchdowns, it’s a different game.”

On South Carolina’s chunk plays

“They were getting separation in man and we weren’t able to get to the quarterback. We’re going to have to reassess what we’re doing there.”

On if he had to ask for a measurement on the close fourth down stop

“No, so the explanation that I got was that a miscommunication on their sideline to give it a first down, and the guy on our sideline knew that is was not the mark needed to be measured. So it was just a miscommunication and that’s why they measured it.”

On the late go-ahead touchdown to Luther Burden III

“We had a different play called. They pressed, the quarterback adjusted it with the wide receiver. He had a great release, had a great football throw, and a one-handed catch for a touchdown. Disappointed that we wasted that.”

On Nate Noel’s performance and performance of the offensive line

“They were able to get Brady comfortable. We ended up giving the two sacks, but that was on the last drive and the last play of the first half. So quarterback had plenty of protection, we were able to keep their defensive ends off-balance. We did what we needed to, we just didn’t execute right there at the end to finish it. We didn’t execute on third downs in the red zone.”

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On the resilience of players like Noel and Cook who have been banged up

“They’re tough guys, man. This brotherhood’s not for soft people.”

On decision to receive the opening kickoff

“We wanted to take the ball and go down and score. And we did, but we needed to execute on that third down. We just felt like, have an opportunity to take control of the atmosphere.”

On the decision to go for two after first touchdown

“You’re down 15, and so you can either wait late and see how it goes, or you can go for two there and then figure out if it’s a two-possession game, which is what we did. Went for it, ends up allowing us to kick the field goal and then knowing we need a touchdown late.”

“It’s just a different way to play it. I felt like when we scored, I think there was maybe five minutes left to go in the third quarter and the game was kind of ‘they had one possession, we had one possession,’ so I kind of needed to force the issue on what was going to be the timing for the rest of the game.”

On level of happiness towards Brady Cook being able to play the whole game

“I’m proud of him for competing and demonstrating toughness for this football team.”

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