Eli Drinkwitz explains why Missouri football kicked twice on red zone 4th downs
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NORMAN, Okla. — Missouri football’s red-area trips were rare.
Rare and rough.
Missouri football only made it inside the Oklahoma two times in its 17-6 loss to the College Football Playoff-hopefulSooners on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium. Both of those prime scoring opportunities came in the second quarter. The Tigers brought their field goal unit out both times and came away with three total points.
But before true freshman Robert Meyer had one attempt blocked and NAIA transfer Oliver Robbins scored the other, the Tigers (7-4, 3-4 SEC) had calls to make.
On both occasions, Mizzou faced fourth-and-3.
On both occasions, the Tigers elected not to go for it.
There were different reasons for kicking on each occasion, Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz said postgame.
The first one was because of too much familiarity.
Before Meyer’s field goal try was missed, the Tigers ran the ball two times with a fresh set of downs for short gains to get to the Oklahoma 20-yard line, and Pribula threw a 3-yard pass to make it fourth-and-short. The Tigers took a timeout and initially sent the offense back onto the field.
When the Oklahoma (9-2, 5-2) sideline saw that, the Sooners elected to spend a timeout to prepare. That changed Mizzou’s plans.
Meyer and the field goal unit ran out. It was blocked, as Drinkwitz said the operation time was “too slow,” and Mizzou’s lead remained 3-0.
So, why the switch-up, from offense to special teams?
“When they called the timeout,” Drinkwitz said, “we felt like we had shown too much of that play, and so opted — at that point it's the best to just take the points. Obviously, operation time was way too slow (on the field goal).”
The play he said Mizzou “showed too much” of actually popped up again late in the game, when Kevin Coleman Jr. dropped a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter, also on a fourth-down play.
The head coach felt Mizzou had already used it too much, and the Sooners would have them figured out with the additional time of the second timeout.
That, ultimately, flipped Saturday’s game. The ensuing five minutes, between the midpoint of the half and the two-minute timeout, were a calamity for the Columbia squad.
Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and wide receiver Isaiah Sategna connected on an 87-yard touchdown pass, catching the Mizzou secondary with its eyes in the wrong place and flipping the game on its head after a sluggish start from the Sooners.
Mizzou ended up in fourth-and-31 on the next series, and Connor Weselman’s punt traveled only 31 yards to give OU a short field. The Sooners took advantage with 7 more to make it 14-3, which, as it turned out, was more than enough to put Missouri away.
The Tigers had chances to get back into the rock fight of a game. Right after Oklahoma’s second touchdown, in fact.
Mizzou got all the way to goal-to-go territory in a two-minute drill, but Oklahoma held three straight runs from the 7-yard line to just four yards of forward momentum.
Fourth-and-3, again.
Decision-time, again.
With one timeout remaining, Drinkwitz spent it at the 18-second mark — a curious decision, especially with what followed.
The Tigers sent the specialists out again, this time with Robbins as the kicker instead of Meyer.
“We had planned on going two plays right there (on third and fourth down), but we thought we were going to at least get half on the third-down call. We actually lost a yard,” Drinkwitz said. “So, it looked more like fourth-and-goal from the four (4-yard line). … A field goal makes it a one-possession game. I felt like I didn't want to not have any momentum going into half.”
Robbins made the 21-yarder, which marked the last points Mizzou scored Saturday.
But that marked three points from two scoring chances. The Tigers lost by 11 points. Two touchdowns and PATs would have at least tied the score up.
Mizzou needed to be efficient at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The Tigers returned starting quarterback Beau Pribula from an ankle dislocation that he sustained just four weeks ago. His first opponent was one of the most disruptive and dominant defenses anywhere in the country.
Chances were always likely to be scarce. The name of the game in Norman was to do more with less. That never happened.
There’s a larger issue here: The Tigers’ stagnant offense and disastrous special teams.
Mizzou’s special teams rank No. 113 among 136 FBS teams, per ESPN’s SP+ metric. Starting placekicker Blake was ruled out for the season with a torn ACL after picking up the injury in a Week 1 win over Central Arkansas.
Drinkwitz said after the game that the Tigers had “zero rhythm” and “zero creativity” in the offensive playcalling.
That all meshed Saturday in Norman.
The result? Six total points. Loss No. 4.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why Missouri football chose to kick twice on red zone fourth downs
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