Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz scolds players mid-interview for stealing Kansas band’s drum
The Border War got heated after the whistle, and Eli Drinkwitz wanted no part of whatever his players were about to do.
Eli Drinkwitz had just finished the biggest statement win of Missouri’s young season, and he could not even get through a postgame interview before something else demanded his attention. The Tigers beat Kansas 38-21 on Friday night at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, their first win in Lawrence since 2001 and their fifth straight in the renewed Border War, but the scene immediately after the final whistle turned chaotic.
Speaking with Fox’s Josh Sims on the field, Drinkwitz was mid-answer praising his team’s resilience when he spotted trouble behind him. “Our guys didn’t flinch. It’s a big time win and really proud of my…” he began, before cutting himself off entirely. “I got to go make sure we don’t have anything stupid happen here,” Drinkwitz said, abandoning the interview and heading toward the commotion.
A brief scuffle had broken out between Missouri and Kansas players, and Drinkwitz was heard yelling off-camera at someone to stop planting a Missouri flag on the Kansas field. The moment capped a rivalry week that had already turned unusually personal, largely because of a Civil War-themed hype video Kansas released before kickoff that Drinkwitz made clear he found distasteful.
“I was disappointed in the rivalry, the turn that it took today. I thought that was uncalled for,” Drinkwitz said in his postgame news conference, adding that he was embarrassed for the Jayhawks over the video. “I’m just glad that this whole right versus wrong bullcrap that was started just got settled on a football field, because it’s a football game.”
On the field, Austin Simmons delivered the answer Missouri needed in his second start since transferring from Ole Miss. The quarterback completed 19 of 29 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover for the second straight game, including a 13-yard strike to tight end Brett Norfleet on a fourth-and-9 late in the fourth quarter that pushed the lead to 17.
Missouri returns home to host Troy on Saturday, Sept. 19, while Kansas travels to London to face Arizona State in a Big 12 matchup in Week 3.
Eli Drinkwitz had just finished the biggest statement win of Missouri’s young season, and he could not even get through a postgame interview before something else demanded his attention. The Tigers beat Kansas 38-21 on Friday night at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, their first win in Lawrence since 2001 and their fifth straight in the renewed Border War, but the scene immediately after the final whistle turned chaotic.