ARLINGTON — Until this season, the University of Missouri’s football team had not won 10 or more games in nearly a decade, yet head coach Eli Drinkwitz has quickly turned things around and begun to steer the program in the right direction.
After being picked to finish near the bottom of the SEC East in the preseason media poll, the Tigers took the country by surprise by rolling through their schedule, coming up with three wins over ranked teams, and only losing to LSU and Georgia while rising to the No.9 spot in the College Playoff Rankings.
A significant component of the Tigers’ sudden rise is their defense, finishing each of the last two seasons among the top 40 in college football after ranking 106th in 2021, the second year under its current coaching staff.
“There’s a lot of different things that go into success,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker told the media during a press conference on Wednesday.
“I think it starts with Coach Drinkwitz and how he’s created a culture. The second thing I would say is our leadership on the team. With the day and age of bringing in different guys from a portal standpoint or even early or even freshmen, they all adapted to who we were as a culture. I think we have really good players, and all of those things combined, to me, determined our success.”
Those players have seen their hard work pay off and lead to a New Year’s Six bowl game with a chance to reach the 11-win mark for the fourth time in program history after back-to-back 6-7 seasons.
Standing in their way are the vaunted Ohio State Buckeyes, who have become known for their machine-like offense that usually can score at will and put up 10 more points per game than the Missouri defense has allowed on average.
“They remind me honestly of some of the best offenses we’ve played this year when you look at the LSUs and the Georgias of the world,” Baker said. “There’s really no weakness … when you look at the receiving core as a whole, it’s probably one of the best, if not the best, in the entire country, so they all present different problems.”
But it isn’t just the receivers who could cause issues for Mizzou’s defense. Running back TreVeyon Henderson, whose numbers are down this year because of injuries, has proven to be an explosive runner and has over 2,600 yards and 32 touchdowns in his career.
“The biggest thing, first and foremost, is stopping the run,” Baker explained. “I think 32 [Henderson] is as good a back as I’ve seen on tape all year. He’s powerful, he’s fast, he’s dynamic out of the backfield, and they’ll split him out in empty and get a mismatch. … So, it’s a matchup nightmare. It really is. They’re extremely explosive, and they’re a very well-coached offense.”
The Tigers also have a top-25 offense that can help keep pace with the Buckeyes and keep the team in the game if the defense should struggle.
“It is going to come down to taking care of the ball, being explosive, establishing the run, scoring in the red zone, and executing on third downs,” Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore said.
No.9 Missouri (10-2) and No.7 Ohio State (11-1) will play in the 88th annual Cotton Bowl Classic at 7 p.m. CT on Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
