Eli Drinkwitz confirmed on Tuesday that center Connor Tollison would miss the rest of the season because of a leg injury.

Missouri’s head coach knows what a rock Tollison was for the Tigers, and he knows it’ll be tough sledding the rest of the way having to play without the junior. Drinkwitz said Tollison is “as good a center as we’ve had here.”

Tollison was injured during the 2nd half of last Saturday night’s home victory over Oklahoma. The key offensive lineman had to leave the field and couldn’t put any weight on one of his legs.

Tollison’s season-ending injury is also a blow because he’s been so durable for Missouri, having started 34 games at center for the Tigers. Tollison is a big-time prospect for next spring’s NFL Draft, so he just might have played his final game in Columbia. The extent of Tollison’s injury and his potential recovery time is not certain at this point.

Tollison was replaced in the game by redshirt senior Drake Heismeyer, who earned Drinkwitz’s praise on Saturday for his play in relief of Tollison. Missouri outlasted Oklahoma in a wild 30-23 comeback victory to improve to 7-2.

The Tigers head to South Carolina on Saturday for a showdown with the Gamecocks at 4:15 p.m. ET on SEC Network.