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Eli Drinkwitz shares 3rd down concerns: ‘What is our identity?’
By Rolando Rosa
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Eli Drinkwitz and undefeated Missouri are now in the AP poll at No. 23 heading into its SEC opener at Vanderbilt. However, the head coach still is striving for improvement, particularly on defense.
Missouri is coming off a 34-27 victory vs. Memphis. Yet, Missouri gave up 7 conversions on 3rd down in the Week 4 matchup. The week before in a 30-27 win vs. Kansas State, Missouri allowed 8 3rd down conversions.
During a recent press conference, Drinkwitz explains what’s been leading to these breakdowns.
“There’s a variety of issues but it comes down to us executing our assignments. Coaches making the assignments more clear so that we can play with less confusing and more aggression. We’ve got to stay in our rush lanes,” Drinkwitz said. “We’ve got to cover better in man-to-man. When we mix up coverages and get to the zone cover, we’ve got to make sure we’re matching in our zones.”
Drinkwitz adds it’s important for Missouri to establish their approach on 3rd downs and not relent from it.
“The challenge for us is to figure out what is our identity going to be on 3rd down and stick to it. Not be as much of a hodgepodge kind of pick ’em,” Drinkwitz said. “Let’s figure out what we’re going to be good at and get good at it.”
Missouri at Vanderbilt is slated for a 4 p.m. EST kickoff on Saturday and will be televised on the SEC Network.
Rolando Rosa brings his experience covering college football to Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @RolandoRosa3.