Missouri is staring down a major challenge this weekend, and Eli Drinkwitz isn’t pretending otherwise.
With Texas set to visit Columbia in the 2026 season, the Tigers are preparing for a Longhorns team Drinkwitz described Tuesday as loaded across the board. The Missouri coach pointed to the combination of talent, scheme and depth that makes Texas such a difficult matchup on both sides of the ball.
“Texas has a tremendous amount of talent at all levels. They’re a top 10 team. They have an unbelievable defensive talent, defensive team, defensive scheme, defensive coaches,” Drinkwitz said.
That defensive front and second level are the first problem Missouri has to solve. Drinkwitz said Texas brings “elite pass rushers,” “elite run stoppers” and “elite linebackers,” along with the kind of depth that keeps the pressure on no matter who is on the field.
“They’ve got elite pass rushers, they’ve got elite run stoppers, elite linebackers, and they’re a really good football team. They have a ton of competitive depth. So whoever plays, you don’t really notice a difference in what they’re trying to do,” Drinkwitz said.
He also singled out defensive coordinator Will Muschamp’s approach, saying the system is built to help linebackers play fast and aggressive.
“I think Coach Muschamp’s system has always been very linebacker friendly because of his aggressive style and downhill nature. Those guys don’t think a lot, they just react,” Drinkwitz said.
Texas presents just as much of a problem on offense, where Steve Sarkisian’s system has Drinkwitz’s respect. The Missouri coach said he has followed Sarkisian’s work for years because of the way his offenses create explosive plays.
“Have a ton of respect for Coach Sarkisian and the style of offense that he runs. He’s a guy that, as long as he’s been doing offense, whether it was at Washington, USC, he was a guy that I would always watch,” Drinkwitz said.
At quarterback, Arch Manning gives Texas another layer of difficulty. Drinkwitz said Missouri can’t rely on one simple answer to slow him down, because Manning can hurt a defense in more than one way.
“You can’t just say we’re going to pressure him all game,” Drinkwitz said. “You can’t just play drop coverage because he does a great job with scrambling.”
For Missouri, Saturday is shaping up as a true measuring-stick game. The Tigers will have to be sharp on both sides of the ball if they want to handle a Texas team Drinkwitz clearly views as one of the toughest on the schedule.
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