Eli Drinkwitz isn’t giving anything away in regards to his starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against Florida.
“Competition brings out the best in everybody, so we’re going to compete and see where it goes,” Missouri’s head coach said on Tuesday. “We’re going to compete today in practice, today and tomorrow. See where we’re at and who gives us the best chance to win.”
It’s the first time, though, that Drinkwitz has publicly allowed that there actually is a competition. There was uncertainty who would start for Mizzou in the 43-6 loss to Georgia and the 31-28 win over South Carolina, but in both of those cases the only real doubt was the health of Connor Bazelak, who is dealing with what he will only acknowledge as a leg injury suffered late in the Tigers’ win over Vanderbilt. Bazelak sat against the Bulldogs, but played the first 55 minutes against the Gamecocks. With 4:32 left and Missouri nursing a three-point lead, Drinkwitz opted for redshirt freshman Brady Cook on the final drive.
“He put him in because he needed someone to run and I wasn’t very mobile,” Bazelak said. “I wasn’t going to be able to do the things that Brady could do running last week so it was good.”
The decision was made following Bazelak’s second interception of the day, which set South Carolina up at the Missouri 14-yard line and allowed them to cut a ten-point deficit to a field goal.
“He told me when we went out on defense,” Cook said. “He said, ‘Hey, get warm, get loose, you’re going to get this last drive, four minute offense.’”
Cook executed it flawlessly, burning the last 4:32 on nine running plays.
“We all knew that Connor was still not 100% healthy so if we needed the quarterback run or we had a couple plays installed that I would go out for,” Cook said.
But neither after the game nor on Tuesday at his media day did Drinkwitz definitively say Bazelak was the starter. The incumbent didn’t even really acknowledge that there was a competition when he spoke with reporters on Wednesday answering with a simple “No” when asked if he senses any difference in his role or his approach this week.
“I’m healthy enough to play, but I think just the mobile part is a little bit limited and I think that’s why you saw him put Brady in at the end,” Bazelak said.
Likewise, Cook says his approach to practices this week will stay the same.
“There’s really no change,” he said. “I see it as a similar situation. A little bit of uncertainty. You just have to treat it like any other week. You just have to prepare and go into it like ‘I’m going to get an opportunity.’”
Outwardly there may be no change. Media can’t see any live periods in practice. In the limited Tuesday window of availability, both Cook and Bazelak were working with the first team at times in walk-through situations. Bazelak has started the last 16 games for which he has been healthy, but in his last five games against Power Five competition, he has thrown four touchdowns and nine interceptions. He has had zero or negative yards rushing in six of the nine games he has played and has a net of minus-12 rushing yards for the season.
“I mean, it depends how you define progress and where you see it,” Drinkwitz said when asked if he has seen progress from Bazelak in his second season as a starter. “And there's all kinds of different ways that you can measure it. There's certainly been some progress in some plays. I think the deep ball accuracy has been improved. I think we’ve been able to get shots down the field.
“There’s also been some plays that you just can’t have at the quarterback position. And I’m not saying anything that we all don’t know and recognize. The worst thing that you can do on a football play is turn the ball over. That's the worst you can do. Taking a sack is bad. Throwing an incompletion is bad. But it's not the worst thing. The worst thing to do is turning the football over.”
“I think some of them are just trying to press and force the ball, move the ball down the field,” Bazelak said of the interceptions. “I like throwing the ball down the field and pushing the ball so sometimes I like to do it a little too much and get myself in trouble.”
Bazelak's teammates say they've seen no change in the long-time starter's demeanor.
"He’s a competitor, number one," senior wide receiver Keke Chism said. "He’s a leader. Confident guy. Always goes out there with a chip on his shoulder with a mindset that he’s the guy for us. We’re behind him so that confidence hasn’t changed from our end."
Will experience win out? Has the recent turnover binge pushed Drinkwitz over the edge to make a change with Missouri a win away from bowl eligibility? Nobody is saying. Cook and Bazelak remain competitors and friends with both preparing to play when the Tigers at Gators kick off at three o’clock.
“Me and Brady are super close, we have a really good friendship and we support each other,” Bazelak said. “Whether he’s on the field or I’m on the field I don’t think it matters.
“We’ve been competing for a while,” Cook said. “We compete and make each other better and we’ve grown close from that. That’s not gonna change this week just because the competition may be a little bit more intense.”
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