Eli Drinkwitz knows the program was meddling with mediocrity.
But those dismal days are just about done, as no matter how the remainder of the season goes, the Mizzou football coach sees a newfound national respect for his Tigers.
“We’ve kind of been stuck there in that middle, and now obviously this year we’re not,” Drinkwitz said. “And obviously we’ve got to finish — we’ve got to finish the season. But there’s a new respectability to our program, whether it’s on the recruiting trail or on the football field.”
Missouri’s next two games, beginning with Florida on Saturday evening on Faurot Field, carry the most important postseason implications seen in Columbia in nearly a decade.
Win out, and Missouri will have its first 10-win regular season since 2014. Win out, and the Tigers will finish second in the Southeastern Conference East division — a marked improvement on their middling past few seasons.
Win out, and the Tigers will have the kind of resume that, seemingly out of thin air, could earn a selection to a New Year’s Six Bowl. The Tigers were ranked No. 9 — a program high — by the College Football Playoff committee Tuesday night.
From left, Missouri running back Cody Schrader, head coach Eli Drinkwitz and quarterback Brady Cook talk with CBS after a college football game at Faurot Field on Nov. 11, 2023, in Columbia, Mo.
But winning out is the key.
“I don’t want people to think that we’re relaxing,” senior defensive end Darius Robinson said. ”Like I said, we could easily in two weeks from now be like, ‘what happened the past two weeks,” and we only won eight games. But I think the intensity and the fire is still there. … Even though we do have more comfort, we still want to win out, and that’s the goal.”
That begins with the Gators.
Florida comes to Missouri with a pretty cut-and-dry picture…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/restored-roar-mizzou-football-faces-103432130.html
Author : Columbia Daily Tribune
Publish date : 2023-11-16 10:34:32
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