Mizzou football not hiding anything as fast-paced MTSU comes to Columbia

Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz said his team isn’t keeping secrets.

That was almost instantly true Tuesday, as the final — quote on quote — mystery surrounding Missouri’s offense for the 2023 season was unmasked.

Drinkwitz confirmed Tuesday some news that seemed to be a long time coming, naming Brady Cook as the Tigers’ starting quarterback. Redshirt freshman Sam Horn, Drinkwitz added, will continue to get reps as the Tigers continue to try and develop the football and baseball enigma, but this is Cook’s show, starting with Middle Tennessee State at 6 p.m. Saturday in Columbia. A win over the Blue Raiders would give Missouri its first 2-0 start to a season since 2018 and the first of the Drinkwitz era.

But Drinkwitz’s response to a question from PowerMizzou’s Gabe DeArmond asking if the Tigers had shown their hand wasn’t about the quarterback situation.

That offseason fracas has been covered and pontificated and debated ad nauseam.

No, this was about whether Missouri’s season-opening win over South Dakota revealed all of the Tigers’ offensive schematics, and what viewers might expect to see moving forward.

“We only let the things that occurred during the game dictate the game, but we didn't save anything, we didn't hide anything,” Drinkwitz said. … “You carry everything you need to win the game.”

That may be true. It may be misdirection.

Whatever the case, Drinkwitz likes what he saw from an offense that went 60% on third down — “that’s pretty stinking good,” he said during his weekly radio show Tiger Talk on Tuesday — 80% in the red zone and a starting QB that completed 81% of his passes.

And whether the Tigers’ efficient — if not jaw-dropping — showing against South Dakota was modus operandi or not, they may be forced into something slightly different this week.

The Tigers are keeping a close eye on MTSU defensive coordinator Scott Shafer’s blitz packages and multiple fronts.

How are they going to counter that?

Starting at the beginning — an encore to the positive start to the campaign from the unit that perhaps needed to show it most.

Missouri’s offensive line was much improved.

Drinkwitz paid homage to the performances of tackle Javon Foster, guard Xavier Delgado and center Connor Tollison for “grading out the highest” on the line. He liked Armand Membou and debutant Cam’Ron Johnson’s consistency.

Though penalties persisted — but never killed drives like they did last season — Missouri’s offensive line offered reasons to be optimistic in Week 1.

“Overall as a unit, I was really proud of the way they handled themselves in the run game,” Drinkwitz said.

Speaking of: The two-headed attack of Cody Schrader and Nathaniel Peat, whose jobs may change the most from Week 1 to Week 2, also earned the coach’s commendation.

“I think maybe last year there was a competition factor, ‘I want it to be, I want it to be me,’ and I don't sense that this year. I sense it as a thunder-and-lightning complement. … I think they understand both sides are going to get their opportunities and I think they're playing off of each other in a positive way.”

But MTSU has a tendency to load the box and send blitzes. That’ll require MU's tailbacks to block in blitz pickup far more frequently, Drinkwitz said. Whether that changes the game plan and disrupts the five receptions Schrader and Peat were able to combine for in the passing game or the 190 yards they racked up on the ground is worth keeping an eye on.

It’s on Drinkwitz’s radar.

“I think this is going to be the most important blitz pickup week that we've had as a running back group probably in the four years that I've been here,” he said.

For good reason.

Middle Tennessee has a history of spoiling the party in Columbia.

The last time coach Rick Stockstil’s Blue Raiders played on Faurot Field, they pillaged the Tigers’ defense for 51 points and brought a premature end to MU’s 2016 homecoming celebrations with an upset win. And they earned $1,100,000 for the privilege.

That was before Drinkwitz’s time, but it’s fresh on the coach’s mind.

The Tigers are watching out for the combination of Stockstill and offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart’s soft spot for keeping the tempo high and air raid philosophy, which didn’t have all that much fun in a Week 1 blowout by Alabama, but has Drinkwitz wary.

“They’re coming to win the game. They’re coming to score points. They’re coming to give their offense as many cracks at it as they can, and defensively they're going to tie into that philosophy by being aggressive to get the ball back and blitz and force turnovers,” Drinkwitz said. “So we’ve got our hands full, and I know that our team is preparing to play the right way, and we’ve got to have the mindset to play the right way.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou football not hiding anything as fast-paced MTSU comes to Columbia