Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz refuses to make atmosphere at Jordan-Hare Stadium ‘bigger than it is’

After taking a tough loss to Penn State last Saturday, next up on the schedule for Auburn is a home date with the Missouri Tigers.

Missouri enters the game with a 2-1 record, with their lone loss being a 40-12 decision to Kansas State on Sept. 10 in Manhattan.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz told the media this week that he understands how special of an environment that he and his team will encounter at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday.

“It’s the passion of the fanbase,” Drinkwitz said. “That eagle comes down and lands, and that stadium gets going.”

Jordan-Hare Stadium holds over 37,000 more fans than Kansas State’s Bill Snyder Stadium, a stadium that Missouri did not play well in two weeks ago. How is Drinkwitz preparing his team for the atmosphere? He says that he expects his players to treat the game like any other away game on the schedule.

“I’m not gonna make (the atmosphere at Jordan-Hare Stadium) bigger than it is. It’s a road game, we have played in some road games before. It just happens to be a lot of these guys’ first time (at Jordan-Hare). We won’t make it bigger than that,”  Drinkwitz said. “Take what you learn from what you thought you did do well at K-State, the things that put us in a bad situation, and learn from that. Go out there and try it again. That is what it is.”

Auburn fans are known for making Jordan-Hare Stadium a challenge for road teams. Drinkwitz hopes to control the crowd by taking them out of the game early.

“We have got to do a really good job for us to try to take the energy out early. We can’t let them dictate the terms of the game. We really need to start fast.”

Auburn and Missouri are set to battle for the fourth time in history and for the first time ever at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT and can be seen on ESPN.

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Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire