A few days out from its bowl matchup against Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl, Missouri (6-6) will be conducting business as usual despite a number of player departures via the transfer portal and a more recent departure in the coaching ranks.
Quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan left for the Boise State offensive coordinator job and he will not be at Raymond James Stadium coaching the Tigers on Friday.
Hamdan took over playcalling duties for the Tigers starting in week 11 against Tennessee as was first reported by PowerMizzou.com. Despite the 66-24 loss to the Volunteers, the game marked a season-high in points for the Tigers versus a Power 5 team. They followed that up with 38 points in the 45-14 win over New Mexico State before setting a new season-high versus a Power 5 opponent with a 29-27 win over Arkansas in week 13.
Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz will re-assume the role as the lead play caller on offense and has been working with the quarterbacks in practice.
“Yeah, I love it and I’m excited to be back,” Drinkwitz said. “The game plan really didn’t change a whole lot just go back to run it and call on it and see what it looks like.”
Prior to Hamdan taking over, the team was averaging 23.11 points per game and 17.42 versus Power 5 opponents.
Quarterback Brady Cook may have been the biggest benefactor of Hamdan’s playcalling. During the three-game stretch, Cook looked to be the team’s best player by completing 55 of 86 passes for 714 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. He also added 315 rushing yards and a touchdown.
“Not a whole lot changes,” Cook said. “Obviously, I’m pretty bummed out. Coach Hamdan and I were really tight. He was a great coach for us, but at the end of the day it’s coach Drinkwitz’s system and he knows how to get us right in the quarterback room and he knows how to call the offense.”
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When to expect a quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator
While the players have had a chance to recoup and heal up since the team’s last game on Black Friday, Drinkwitz and his coaching staff have stayed busy. In between dealing with the transfer portal and Hamdan’s departure, Drinkwitz has been making visits to recruits all over the country which hasn’t really let him be able to digest the season which he sees as somewhat of a positive.
“I haven’t had any time to reflect on the season and I think that’s good and bad,” Drinkwitz said. “I think that allows us to 一 once this game is over 一put the season away, celebrate Christmas with the family and figure out what do we need to do moving forward to continue to improve and that’ll really be the charge once this game is done.”
However, once this game is over Drinkwitz said that is when he can direct some of his focus to replace Hamdan and maybe add an offensive coordinator.
“I know right now my focus is all gas,” Drinkwitz said. “I’m trying to win this football game and so nothing that I can do right now is going to help us do that. So, after the game, I’ll kind of sit down and figure out what direction we need to go in for that position and what we’re looking for offensively moving forward.”
Drinkwitz received a contract extension the morning of the team’s week 10 game versus Kentucky which came with an additional $1.2 million to spend on assistant coaches.
Role players will see the field, but Cook has the QB spot
There will be a number of players who have typically had lesser roles on the team getting more playing time on Friday, but Jack Abraham and Sam Horn will likely not be among that group. Drinkwitz dismissed the notion of Cook splitting snaps with the pair of backups.
“Yeah, this is Brady’s game,” Drinkwitz said.
While Cook will get most if not every single rep in the bowl game there will be a decent amount of reps that are available at wide receiver with All-Southeastern Conference second-team selection Dominic Lovett in the transfer portal. Drinkwitz said that Mekhi Miller and the returning Barrett Banister will man the slot and that he will keep Luther Burden III on the outside, a move that many feel Burden could and will make next season.
“It’s a great opportunity for Miller and Demaryion “Peanut” Houston looks to get a lot more looks and Barrett is working his way back to be healthy and ready to go,” Drinkwitz said. “I also appreciate the NCAA ruling that allows for Ja’Marion Wayne and DJ Wesolak to play in this game without losing a redshirt. We’re looking for Tavorus Jones to get some opportunities and on the defensive side of the ball, the Walker brothers (Arden and Johnny) will be the bookends for us. At safety, Isaac Thompson and Tyler Hibbler having took the lion’s share of the reps with the second group and I look forward to those guys getting in the game too.”
Wake Forest Defense
Much has been made about Wake Forest’s top 10 passing offense and top 20 scoring offense, but that praise hasn’t been directed toward its 95th-ranked defense that allows 410.6 yards per game. That doesn’t mean the team doesn’t do anything well though, the Demon Deacons are actually a good run defense which is something the Tigers have had struggles with offensively throughout the season.
Come Friday, Drinkwitz said that the team will have to be able to win in the trenches and be successful in the run game.
“I think the strength of their defense is in the box,” Drinkwitz said. “They do a really good job of stopping the run and keeping the ball in front of them. It’s going to be a challenge for us to control the line of scrimmage on both sides.”
Wake Forest enters the game tied for 44th in the FBS in run defense allowing 137.6 yards per game while Missouri enters the game with the 62nd-ranked rushing offense averaging 158.7 yards per game.
The Tigers have said time and time again that they have to be able to run the ball to open up the pass and that may be even more important this week due to the aforementioned loss of Lovett and the number of inexperienced players who will receive snaps in the wide receiver unit.