Eli Drinkwitz shredded for play-calling decisions in Gator Bowl loss
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No Kirby Moore? Slight problem.
Mizzou missed its offensive coordinator on Saturday night. A 13-7 loss to Virginia in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl featured a hard-to-stomach offensive display from the Tigers, who closed out their season with a fifth loss in their final 8 games.
Mizzou’s defense did its job, limiting Virginia to 3.9 yards per play in the game and allowing just 1 touchdown. But the offense was largely ineffective with coach Eli Drinkwitz calling plays.
Freshman quarterback Matt Zollers completed 12 of his 22 passes for just 101 yards and no touchdowns. He was picked off on Mizzou’s third play of the second half. The Tigers failed to gain a single first down on their next 2 drives. Then they turned it over on downs on their final 2 possessions.
Mizzou had 11 possessions in the game, and 6 of them failed to produce a single first down. The Tigers had a trio of 3-and-outs. They also had a drive that began at the Virginia 25 that produced a single yard and ended with a missed field goal.
The Tigers went just 3-for-12 on third down and 0-for-3 on fourth down.
Both Zollers and Drinkwitz drew plenty of criticism for the offensive performance. Moving into 2026, some fans want to see Drinkwitz pursue a portal quarterback. Others simply don’t want to see the head coach calling plays again.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
