Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz, Connor Tollison, Daylan Carnell, and Beau Pribula all had media availability following the No. 14-ranked Tigers' 27-24 loss to No. 8 Alabama in Columbia on Saturday afternoon.
The No. 14 Tigers went toe-to-toe with one of the SEC’s bluebloods for four quarters before a final interception sealed their first loss of the season.
Frustration, disappointment, and a foresight to improve on the mistakes that cost Missouri a win in arguably their most anticipated game of the season.
"Heartbreak and disappointment,” Drinkwitz said when describing his emotions post-game. “We didn’t come here to play them close. We came here to win. We had too many mistakes in critical situations. That’s on me as the head coach."
On the fake punt decision
One of the game’s defining moments came in the fourth quarter, when Missouri tried a fake punt on its own 37-yard line and came up just short on a run by halfback Jamal Roberts. The result gave the Alabama offense quality field position at the 40-yard line of Mizzou with 7:02 remaining. Drinkwitz took full responsibility.
“It was my decision,” he said. “We had the look we wanted. They matched our personnel — they put their punt return defense out there. We thought we could get four yards. We snapped it to one of the best running backs in the country, and we came up a yard short.”
Too many critical mistakes’
Throughout his 10-minute postgame session, Drinkwitz returned repeatedly to a theme: Missouri’s own errors cost it the game.
“Third downs in the first half on defense, third downs the whole game on offense,” he said. “Fourth-down conversions — they were 3-for-3; we missed our fake punt. Those are the things that stick with you.”
Missouri went just 1-for-10 on third downs and committed several costly penalties, including a targeting call on safety Marvin Burks Jr. and a taunting and offiside penalty on Zion Young in the opening quarter.
Pribula takes ownership
Mizzou quarterback Beau Pribula, who finished 16-of-28 for 167 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions, was honest postgame when describing his game losing interception in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
“My first read on that last throw was the seam route,” he said of the game-ending interception. “I thought there was a window. Obviously there wasn’t. My job is to lead scoring drives, and I didn’t do that.”
Pribula admitted the offense struggled to find rhythm throughout.
“I think we just got into too many three-and-outs,” he said. “You’ve got to find completions early to get the offense into rhythm. I’ve got to do a better job finding those completions and staying on schedule.”
When asked why the Tigers couldn’t replicate their early success from the opening touchdown drive, Pribula pointed to Alabama’s adjustments — and Missouri’s inability to adapt fast enough.
“They’re a good defense,” he said. “Their linebackers cover a lot of ground. I probably should’ve taken more checkdowns earlier in the game instead of trying to force something downfield.”