Eli Drinkwitz jokes about using ‘Dan Lanning’s approach’ of 12 defenders against Alabama

Eli Drinkwitz is widely known as a funny man in addition to his duties as head football coach at Missouri.

And during his weekly press conference, Drinkwitz provided more comic relief in answering a question about how his Tigers defense will slow down Alabama on Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

“We’re gonna try Dan Lanning’s approach and play 12 (men). Just see. Add an extra rusher. See if anybody notices,” the Mizzou coach quipped.

Drinkwitz got his latest bit of joking material from a defensive tactic used by Lanning, the head coach of No. 1 Oregon, who stopped Ohio State late in their Week 7 showdown game by using 12 players at one point. The whole ordeal manipulated the clock and helped the Ducks finish off the Buckeyes in a 32-31 victory in Eugene.

While Drinkwitz was only joking, or so we think he was, what Lanning pulled was a very controversial subject in the aftermath of that game. It led the NCAA to close the loophole by amending clock rules for the illegal substitution penalty late in the game.

Whatever real tactics with the regular 11 players that Drinkwitz uses against the Crimson Tide remains to be seen, with the 2 struggling teams set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on ABC. ESPN’s matchup predictor only gives Missouri a 17.6% chance to pull the upset in Tuscaloosa, so maybe Drinkwitz is on to something with the whole 12-player-defense thing.

Cory Nightingale

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.