Missouri ‘confident enough’ they know who will be in QB

Eli Drinkwitz was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Boise State (2015) and North Carolina State (2016-2018) earlier in his career.

He was quickly hired as a head coach at Appalachian State. His career arc continued to climb after a 12-1 year in his only season with the Mountaineers. The SEC called on Drinkwitz to rule Missouri.

His bio Mizzou touts him as one of the best attacking minds in college football. His Zoom press briefing on Tuesday evening did nothing to dissuade this label.

Drinkwitz, 37, was calm. Funny sometimes. Sarcastic even. In the right places.

This was evident as soon as the defeated Mizzou group of journalists tried to understand how the single positive test for COVID-19 and the follow-up to the subsequent contract affected a specific group of positions of his team as the clash of Saturday (fingers crossed for all) still scheduled for Georgia. .

“I’m able to do that,” Drinkwitz said when asked if he could specify which side of the ball or which position was affected by this positive test and the resulting scribing. “But I’m not going to do it.”

In between, he unraveled a mystery that confused the tribe of beaten Georgia journalists this fall. Drinkwitz has revealed the identity of the Bulldog 2020 offense.

It was a Drinkwitz Code / DaVinci Code type thing. While discussing the number of QBs his Tigers will have to prepare for on Saturday. Stetson Bennett IV? D’Wan Mathis? JT Daniels? Carson Beck?

“They have yet to operate within the framework of what their offensive weapons are,” he said. “They are determined to set the run, the shots and spread the ball on the third down.”

Here is. The proverbial head coach Webster’s definition of the Georgia offense. Superimposed in the middle of a media session with at least one “Anchorman” reference.

He stressed that his staff would not fall into a “smokescreen” about the UGA preparing three or four quarters to face their 2-3 Tigers.

“I very much doubt they are going to run four quarters and expect to be ready for a game week,” said Drinkwitz. “It’s hard enough to prepare a quarterback for a game. So I think it’s probably more of a smokescreen.

“I’m pretty confident that we know who is going to play and then how it’s going to go,” said Drinkwitz. “So I’m not worried that we’re going to be practicing four quarters throughout the week. I mean if you did that, how would you prepare for the third try? How could they get enough reps for the third downs in the red zone to be ready? “

It will also include the wasted time of training preparing for QBs with contrasting skills like JT Daniels and D’Wan Mathis.

“I think each offense has a unique identity based on what it is capable of performing,” he said. “So let’s say you’re going to say he’s either going to play D’Wan Mathis or JT Daniels or they’re going to stay with Stetson Bennett IV, right?” That’s really the conversation we’re having, right? Well, the attack on Stetson Bennett and JT Daniels is pretty similar.

“We saw what D’Wan Mathis did in two half games. So it’s not like they’re going to go out there and run the triple option because D’Wan Mathis is in the game.

Drinkwitz was a cum laude manga and student body president at Arkansas Tech.

No one asked him what Americans learned next time about absentee voting or even holes in the mass distribution supply chain for the possible coronavirus vaccine.

It was about planning a football game for the UGA on Saturday. I hope. May be.

“It’s not rocket science,” he added. “They still have the same 10 guys around them. If you don’t match up the staff, they’re going to go into staff “ 23 ” and sweep on the first play of the game and take 75 yards. Anyone playing a quarterback still has the same offensive structure and DNA that they showed in the first five games. One happens to be a little different and provides a different threat. But I don’t think all of a sudden you’re going to see Georgia offensively use the spread option or all of a sudden you’re going to see them in an “air raid” system if another quarterback is there.

Drinkwitz then smiles as if he has a cheat code to slow Bo Jackson down in an old-fashioned Tecmo Bowl game.

“Maybe they do,” he said, raising his hands. “Crud. Impressive. We will adjust. We are in 2020. “

He said this not because he felt very daring. It was just a matter of Missouri knowing they will have to adjust so they don’t have another pocket of players against UGA. This course of events also dominated the preparation for Alabama and LSU earlier this season.

“We’ll go back to the first three weeks of the season when we’ve had these guys,” he said. “I think we had several for ‘Bama. We had several for Tennessee and several for LSU.

Missouri will be without second-year LB Chad Bailey in red shirt, first-year OL Dylan Spencer and red-shirted senior defensive lineman Markell Utsey in the first period against Georgia. This stems from their suspensions for the role in the first half brawl in their last game against Florida.

Missouri lost the same number of COVID-19 specific players in defensive tackles and wide receivers before claiming their 45-41 home victory over LSU.

Match planning: against UGA minus Jordan Davis and Richard LeCounte

How does it feel to have to move the ball over Georgia without Jordan Davis and Richard LeCounte III? He seemed happy to discuss the turn of events for this game.

“You have two first-round picks in the draft,” said Drinkwitz. “You have erasers in there. [Richard LeCounte] is an incredible player. I mean you’re looking at Tennessee [film] and they’re running upside down and you look at him and you’re like “Wow, this is gonna have a big game” and he follows the ball across the field. “

“He made two incredible interceptions against Arkansas and Alabama. He has a talent for football. It can adapt to the descent. He can play security for free. He can compete with any of the guys that Alabama threw in playing man to man. It gives you incredible flexibility to call your defense.

Drinkwitz followed up with a review of Jordan Davis that should feature in his NFL Draft biography.

“Number 99 is an incredible space eater,” said Drinkwitz. “You can play ‘cheat’ boxes, that is, you can play a five-and-a-half-man box or a six-man box knowing that he can swap anyone you want twice. put there. This guy is a whole different ball game.

Remember when Smart lamented being “sneaky” this week to open his Monday presser? Missouri has seen it all too.

The Tigers will also benefit from not having to deal with sophomore safety Lewis Cine (concussion protocol) on Saturday as well.

“These two guys are gone, crudits, I mean [number] 16 is also physical free security, ”said Drinkwitz. “He’s playing cut and weak security. He plays as well as anyone. I mean he knocked over one of Auburn’s guards while he was trying to shoot. This guy is also good for safety and these two guys are as good as they are in the league.

“It’s different when they’re not there,” he said. “They are good players. They have very good players behind them. I just don’t know if they have the same experience.

It seemed the mystery behind Georgia’s staff at the defensive back and safety loomed larger in his thoughts this week than the quarterback’s rotating first and second team reps.

“That’s why they call us ‘coach’ and that’s to solve problems,” he said. “We have to find out. I don’t think anyone will give me a free pass because we have six or seven, eight, 12 people with COVID. It doesn’t matter. They don’t give anyone free passes. You must prepare to go. Understand it. “