Missouri got the win it wanted in the 122nd Border War, but the film left Eli Drinkwitz with a blunt reminder: the Tigers have work to do, and plenty of it.
The biggest alarm bell came on special teams, where Missouri had a rough day in Lawrence. Both of the Tigers’ first-half field-goal tries were blocked by Kansas, and the first one was blown up when a cluster of Jayhawks burst through the protection.
That kind of breakdown has been a sore spot before. Last season, Missouri connected on just five field goals from 40 yards or longer and finished second-to-last in the Southeastern Conference in punt average at 41.8 yards. But Drinkwitz said what happened against Kansas topped all of it.
“Probably the most embarrassed I've been and we've had some embarrassing special teams performances here,” Drinkwitz said.
Missouri moved on from longtime special teams coordinator Erik Link after last season, with John Papuchis now running the unit. Even with that change, the same problems showed up early this year. Drinkwitz took the blame directly.
"I'm going to put it on me,” Drinkwitz said of the responsibility of the struggles. “I'm in charge of that unit.
I'm in charge of all the special teams units, but whatever we were teaching and how we were teaching was not getting communicated to the players in a way that they understood it, because we had the same block happen twice in the same area and we got to do a better job and so we have reinstalled the protection, and we've made a few personnel changes on that. But at the end of the day, that's on me as the head coach because I didn't get it corrected from the UAPB game… We got it fixed later in the (Kansas) game, but that's too late."
Even with those issues, Missouri still beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 40 and Kansas by 21. The Tigers’ first two opponents were also a clear step below what’s coming next, starting with Troy before Missouri jumps into an eight-game SEC stretch.
Drinkwitz knows the margin for error changes fast.
“Football is a game - I think (Georgia coach) Kirby Smart said it yesterday - you're one week away from being humbled. And for us, that's really got to be the mindset. When you watch the tape, you got to look through a really critical lens and see that we're really one week away from being humbled if they continue to exploit things that we put on tape and don't have - from a coaching staff to a players (perspective) - have the wherewithal to get it fixed.”
The concerns didn’t stop with the kicking game. Missouri’s cornerbacks also had a shaky afternoon against Kansas receivers, both in coverage and when asked to tackle.
"We got to have more consistency out of that position,” Drinkwitz said. “I thought Jahlil (Florence) did an excellent job of making that interception but his tackling was faulty.
Clearly, could have had a fourth down stop early in the game if he does a better job tackling, he's leaving his feet too quick. Sione (Laulea) had an issue in man coverage on third down where the quarterback scrambled and he didn't stay attached to his man.
So we've got to get that off the tape.”
Florence, Laulea and the rest of the group didn’t give up a ton of completions, but that stat came with some help from Kansas quarterback Isaiah Marshall missing open downfield throws. Drinkwitz made it clear he doesn’t expect that kind of cushion to last, especially with more experienced quarterbacks ahead - including Troy’s Goose Crowder.
“(The cornerbacks) have the potential and they have the talent, but we're two weeks in, man. It's going to get a lot more challenging, let's just be real.
It's going to get a lot more challenging each and every week, and it was a good win because of the circumstances that we created, but it's going to get a lot more challenging. The quarterback this week is going to dial up our seams if we don't get those corrected and if we don't stay attached to man-to-man, he's going to eat us alive, so we have a lot of work to do there… It's gonna be a little bit more of a difficult challenge."
Missouri’s next chance to clean things up comes against Troy at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The game will also mark the stadium’s 100th anniversary and include recognition of the 1960 MU team, which was recently awarded the national championship from that season.
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