Missouri Tigers College Football Pregame Quote, 12/23/2023

KEVIN TRAINOR: Coach [Eliah] Drinkwitz, Theo [Wease Jr.], welcome to North Texas. It’s great to have you here for the 88th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Hope the trip in went well.

Coach, we’re going to start with you. Some opening comments about coming to the 88th Classic.

MISSOURI HEAD COACH ELIAH DRINKWITZ: Yeah. Obviously, I want to extend a thank you to the Cotton Bowl staff and all the people that made our entrance very warm and welcoming. Obviously it’s a big-time bowl game when the police escort has the block M and the Mizzou colors. So, very excited about the opportunity.

I know our team is appreciative of all the hospitality that’s going to be displayed this week. But more importantly, we are excited about playing this game. Obviously a quality opponent in Ohio State and Coach [Ryan] Day. Know that they will be a tremendous challenge for us, and we look forward to preparing for that challenge throughout the week.

KEVIN TRAINOR: Theo Wease Jr., welcome back to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Welcome back to North Texas. Just a few comments about coming home to play this game.

WR THEO WEASE JR.: It’s a blessing to be back in the home state, to be able to perform in front of my family because, you know, Missouri is not that close to Texas. So I get a chance to actually come out. And it’s going to be fun. We’ve got a great matchup. I think we’re going to be well-prepared for it.

Q. Eli, what does it mean to the program to be able to play in a bowl of this stature against an opponent like Ohio State?

COACH DRINKWITZ: I think it’s a great opportunity for us. Our players earned this opportunity this year with the way they performed. And to have the national stage against a blueblood opponent is a great opportunity for our program to continue to build the brand that we want to be and the brand that we want to become.

Q. Theo, talk about how you’ve impacted this program. Obviously you played in this game when you were here with Oklahoma, but how that experience is going to help you in this experience with these teammates in this game.

WR THEO WEASE JR.: I believe I was just another leader that was added to the locker room, a great brotherhood. They brought me in. They showed me the ropes, and we just stuck together. I really give all the credit to the team. Like, I am my own person, of course. I am my own leader, of course, and I brought something different to the team. But it was the brotherhood that really just made everything fall into place.

COACH DRINKWITZ: Can I speak to that real quick? I think Theo brought a maturity to the receiver room and a work ethic. I think the other thing that Theo has done an outstanding job of is showing how important practice is. We talk about practice execution equals game-day reality. It didn’t matter if it was in spring football or fall camp, Theo practices every rep like it’s the most important rep.

And that type of mentality rubbed off on the rest of the offense and the rest of our team. Every time we were doing one-on-one Theo was getting reps versus KAD [Kris Abrams-Draine] versus Ennis [Rakestraw Jr.] and trying to get better. And those guys didn’t want to go against anybody else.

And then you started to see, okay, Luther [Burden III] knew at that point, All right, I got to practice at this level. [Logan] Mookie [Cooper] practicing at that level, Brady [Cook] practicing at that level, and I think everybody just realized that we could raise our level of competitive spirit.

And I think that is what Theo’s greatest attribute, in my opinion, is what he brought. That is a direct reflection of his leadership and the result of him coming here.

Q. Talk about the practices and his influence on practice prep for the game so far. And speak to how practice has gone in preparation for the game.

COACH DRINKWITZ: It has been fast and furious. Obviously, we’ve spent ‚Äì as soon as the game was announced, we actually ‚Äì coaches spent a couple of weeks on the road recruiting. We tried to stay as sharp as we possibly could while doing finals, while having a recruiting weekend.

We went through a full game-week prep and then we gave our guys a break. They’ve been home to celebrate Christmas with their families the last two days, and we are all meeting up here.

Today would be like a typical Sunday for us. So we’ll meet up, turn everybody loose tonight. And then tomorrow we’ll begin a normal game-week prep and try to sharpen ourselves and get ready to play.

Q. We won’t know for at least a couple hours how many opt-outs, if any, Ohio State has. What are your thoughts on that? In terms of would you like to play Ohio State if they were at full strength or close to it? Or are you like, it’s okay if Marvin Harrison doesn’t play in this game?

COACH DRINKWITZ: Yeah, that hasn’t been any part of our conversation or concern. We are focused about our team and our opportunity here.

We are going to have a couple of players that couldn’t quite get back from an injury standpoint. Ennis Rakestraw [Jr.] Chad Bailey and Ty’Ron Hopper will not participate in the game this week.

But that’s part of it. We didn’t have any opt-outs. Our brotherhood is wanting to play this one final game, this one opportunity together, and we’re excited to do that.

But, again, it’s ‚Äì we’re not really focused on the opponent. We’re focused on our team and what our mission and goal is this year.

Q. Eli, on Wednesday you talked about core value number 4, enjoying the journey. Just how excited are you for your group to get to experience this big stage, and then especially for the guys that decided to come back for another year?

COACH DRINKWITZ: I mean, that’s why I embraced the old cowboy hat. Enjoy the journey. Coming down to Texas, home of the Cowboys.

This has been an awesome season. It has been a tremendous year for us from loving each other, playing for each other, competing against each other.

Our coaching staff and players all working together, we’ve had a whole heck of a lot of fun. And we’re going to celebrate that this week, but we want to finish the right way with this bowl game.

Q. Coach, there’s obviously a lot of excitement in the program, especially with the Cotton Bowl, but also in the NFL a little bit, former Missouri Tiger Drew Lock. One of the plays of the year in the NFL, the game-winning touchdown to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, ironically an Ohio State guy. I know you didn’t coach Drew specifically here at Mizzou. But just talk about your reaction to that play and then kind of what it means for the program to have a moment like that for a Mizzou player.

COACH DRINKWITZ: Yeah, I think we have a lot of great representations of Mizzou in the NFL. And obviously, Drew did an excellent job of making the play when the opportunity presented itself. His cousin Tommy [Lock] plays for us. He’s in the quarterback room. And I know we were all excited.

And hopefully, it’s not the only time that Missouri and Ohio State hook up to do some good this week. I know we have got some partnerships with the children’s hospital and other community service outreaches with the 88th Cotton Bowl Classic and look forward to doing that.

But really proud of Drew and his stick-to-itiveness and continuing to earn his place in the NFL.

Q. You have advanced to bowl games in your first season as a head coach. Is there anything that hypes you about playing such a big opponent like Ohio State?

COACH DRINKWITZ: No. I think all of them are great opportunities for us to continue our season. They are a reward for the season that we’ve earned. This one just happens to be a bigger stage and a bigger opportunity.

So I know our players and our fans are excited; but for us, it’s all about being 1-0 this week.

Q. Coach, 10-2, no opt-outs, “something to prove” has been the motto all year. How important is this game to kind of wrap around the whole season and finish what you started in terms of building and the future?

COACH DRINKWITZ: Yeah, I mean, every game that we play in is big. That’s the 1-0 mindset. That’s the 1¬≠0 mentality. So we’re not really trying to frame any other way than that.

Obviously, it’s a great opportunity for us to play on ESPN and a national audience. But for us, in order to be 1-0, there’s a lot of things that have to take place, starting with our fundamentals this week, our practice habits, the way we conduct ourselves this week.

So that’s really what our focus is. I’m not trying to make it ‚Äì and I don’t think our team’s trying to make it bigger than that.

Q. Theo, speak to the fact that you actually were here three years ago. And so you are unique in that you’re coming back and getting a chance to play in the Cotton Bowl again. Your memories from playing here three years ago in the Cotton Bowl. Obviously it was COVID. It was a different time, for sure. But just your thoughts about playing in the Cotton Bowl again.

WR THEO WEASE JR.: It’s always a blessing playing in Jerry’s World (AT&T Stadium). I grew up calling it Jerry’s World because we played some state championships there and whatnot. But yeah, no, it’s always a blessing playing in Jerry’s World, and I’m glad I get to play with my brothers in there one last time.

Q. Mookie Cooper started his career at Ohio State. Obviously he is a big part of your guys’ offense. What has he brought to your program?

COACH DRINKWITZ: Mookie has been a great teammate, a great player, a big-time contributor for us this year. Has made a lot of really important plays for us. He’s an unselfish player.

I think about on Theo’s [Wease Jr.] big catch and run versus Florida in the fourth quarter, Mookie is one of the first guys down there blocking down the field or playing forward, as we talk about. He’s a selfless player. And very appreciative of the contributions that he’s made, not only on the field but off the field with his leadership and his great teammate and glad that he chose to come back home.

WR THEO WEASE JR.: Mookie is ‚Äì he’s definitely just ‚Äì his whole mindset is just how determined he is. He’s just being great and making everyone else around him better. It’s contagious. It feeds off on everybody.

Just when I first got here, Mookie was kind of the first person that I linked up with, got close with, and we set out some goals for the receiver room. Yeah, Mookie – as much as I have been leading the room, Mookie has been right there with me.

Q. I chatted earlier this week with your high school coach Terry Campbell. The first thing he said, he wants to remind you to BAM, “be a man.”

WR THEO WEASE JR.: Be a man.

Q. And also said that – really talking your work ethic. What can you take that he taught you and you learned right down the street at Allen High School that made you a better football player and a better person overall?

WR THEO WEASE JR.: Coach Campbell, he definitely emphasized discipline a lot in high school. And I feel like that discipline helps with anything in life. So I feel like when I learned that from him, that carried and helped me all throughout to where I am today.

Q. Theo, as somebody who has a lot of experience playing at AT&T Stadium and playing in the Cotton Bowl itself, just what advice have you given to your teammates over the past week to help them prepare for this game?

WR THEO WEASE JR.: Just to keep the main thing the main thing. We definitely earned to be at this level with all our hard work and everything we put in on this season. But yeah, just to keep the main thing the main thing. Try not to look up at the big 200,000-inch screen and just focus on being 1-0.

But definitely, be present in the moment and take it all in and enjoy it.

KEVIN TRAINOR: Gentlemen, again, thank you so much. Welcome to North Texas. It’s great to have you here. Thanks, everyone.