Eli Drinkwitz’s mind went back to 2023.
Week 2. Middle Tennessee State came to Columbia. The Tigers huffed and puffed … and survived a stinker. MTSU scored nine points in 50 seconds in the fourth quarter, setting up an anxious final six minutes for Mizzou with a one-score lead. In the end, Missouri survived.
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“It was a really difficult football game,” Drinkwitz recalled Saturday, following a game against an overmatched opponent that felt strikingly similar. “We were fortunate enough to get out of there with a win.”
What happened after that? Only the best season in recent MU history. The Tigers went on to walk off ranked Kansas State seven days later. And then won 10 regular season games. And beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
If history is going to rhyme, Mizzou has a lot of problems it must fix.
Fast.
A night littered with mistakes and miscues nearly cost Missouri one of the most shocking results of the Eli Drinkwitz era in Columbia, but the No. 22/20-ranked Tigers got over the line for a 27-17 win over Troy on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
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Mizzou put together a 24-0 second-quarter run that proved to be the difference. Beyond that, it was seldom pleasant viewing for the Power-conference host, which was favored by 27.5 points entering the game.
More: Missouri football score vs Troy | Tigers avoid upset, eke out win vs Troy
More: Missouri football QB Austin Simmons stats, grade from win over Troy
Grim enough for the following soundbites to come out of Drinkwitz’s postgame assessment.
“Bottom line, it’s awful defense,” he said about the two chunk play Troy touchdowns from the first half.
“They bled us,” the seventh-year Mizzou coach said about Troy’s ability to stay on schedule and sustain drives, allowing the Trojans to comfortably control the time of possession.
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“We didn’t have a great plan,” he said of the offense’s struggles, as QB Austin Simmons looked mortal after a spectacular start to his Mizzou career.
And, when a question arrived to try and address some of the positives from the Week 3 win …
“There are any?” he quipped.
Mizzou (3-0) skirted disaster. The Tigers will head to Mississippi State — a matchup of two undefeated teams that suddenly looks like it may be the most pivotal on Mizzou’s slate this season — with a lot to clean up and bad tape to watch.
But, the Tigers head to Starkville with a win — and the wins, no matter how hideous, all count.
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“It’s better than the alternative. They can’t take this off the record, so I feel good about that,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s just — there’s a lot of work to be done, and I don’t want anybody to think we’re sitting here satisfied in the locker room, jumping up and down. I mean, they’re disappointed. We’re all disappointed. We know that we can play better.”
There’s no hiding now, though.
The battering ram of the nine-game SEC schedule is in front of Mizzou.
So, what’s got to get cleaned up before Mizzou rolls into league action?
Let’s start with the offense, which lit the skies on fire in the first two weeks.
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Missouri went 2-of-11 on third downs. Simmons, who averaged 272 yards passing in a spectacular first couple of starts, went 10-of-19 passing for 91 yards and a touchdown.
After completing his first five passes of the night, he only managed back-to-back completions two more times for the remainder. Between the start of the second quarter and the postgame handshake, Simmons was 5-of-14 for 28 yards.
The Tigers had an offensive success rate of 26%, all while their rushing attack success rate was at a much more palatable 48%.
In short, the QB and the playcalling looked out of sync.
“We couldn’t find the completions that we needed to, and then there was just — we weren’t great. We weren’t great throwing and catching the football,” Drinkwitz said. “There was receivers falling down, receivers running routes too deep, quarterback throwing the ball too early, offensive holding, getting behind the sticks, inefficient runs on first down, inability to utilize play action to create separation in the second level of the defense.
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“So, a lot of things to fix.”
The defense was a mixed bag. The Tigers created turnovers on two straight plays for the second straight week, as Sione Laulea picked off a pass and Jason Dowell recovered a Langden Kitchen-forced fumble, both setting up MU touchdowns. Mizzou also held Troy scoreless after halftime.
There were also early mistakes that let the Trojans make the night uncomfortable.
On the second play of the game, safety Santana Banner lost the leverage on his assignment, and free safety Trajen Greco took a poor attack angle in coverage, letting Troy’s TK Keyes break away for a 76-yard touchdown.
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On the opposite end of the half, after Mizzou’s 24-0 run that seemed like it might squash the Trojans’ upset bid, Troy QB Goose Crowder took a shot down the right sideline, and the throw was slotted perfectly above Laulea in coverage and into Howard Kinchen’s stride. Greco, again, however, got caught out of position and taking a poor angle.
“The first one, they were in a stack formation. We had man-to-man coverage, we played outside leverage. They threw basically routes on air,” Drinkwitz said. Our free safety had a terrible angle. It’s supposed to be there to tackle it or get it down, and didn’t. And I mean, it’s awful. Bottom line, it’s awful defense.
“And then, at the end of the half, they threw vertical, and again we had no free safety help, and we weren’t able to get our eyes around, and we didn’t play through the hands to get the ball down. So, not good.”
That’s … not a glowing review of the back-end coverage.
The Tigers were also penalty prone, as nine flags moved the team back 90 yards over the course of the game — one less yard that Mizzou managed to throw for.
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Seven of the Tigers’ 11 drives ended in punts. When the final missed tackle numbers are tallied, it’s almost certainly not going to be a glowing review for Mizzou.
Mississippi State and an SEC road game under the lights is next.
That’s a matchup of undefeated teams. It’s an early test with a potentially season-altering reward on the line.
Mizzou, just like it did in 2023, has a lot to clean up before the real test arrives.
“There are a lot of positives in the game. Bottom line, we won the game, which is number one. Number two, there was a lot of fight within our team. We went on a 24-0 run when things weren’t great, so those things are positive, absolutely,” Drinkwitz said. “Special teams was really not where we needed it to be. We emphasized it all week, and those guys responded in a positive way. That was positive. The defense didn’t allow a score in the second half. That was positive. … Blake Craig made two field goals, which we really needed to see to make sure that we have confidence for protection. So that was really good.
“But there’s a lot of work to be done.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why did Missouri football struggle vs Troy in win? Let Eli Drinkwitz explain
