COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 Eli Drinkwitz is making an educated guess. He thinks he knows which quarterback Missouri will face against No. 25 Texas A&M this weekend.
His guess 鈥 which is bordering on an assumption, really 鈥 is that the Aggies (4-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) will trot out redshirt freshman Marcel Reed for Saturday鈥檚 game against the No. 9 Tigers (4-0, 1-0 SEC).
鈥淎t this point, I know on their depth chart it says the other kid鈥檚 the starting quarterback 鈥 but that鈥檚 just semantics in my opinion,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淭he guy鈥檚 3-0 as the starter. Whether he鈥檚 listed as questionable or whatever, I don鈥檛 see them going back.鈥
For reference, the 鈥渙ther kid鈥 is Conner Weigman, the third-year quarterback who began the season as Texas A&M鈥檚 starter. He was the Aggies鈥 QB during their season-opening loss to Notre Dame but hurt his shoulder during a beatdown of McNeese State.
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With Weigman sidelined due to a sprained AC joint in that shoulder, Reed took over and has now won games at Florida, at home against Bowling Green and in Arlington鈥檚 AT&T Stadium against Arkansas.
Weigman was ruled out as a game-time decision against the Razorbacks.
鈥淣ot trying to play games with that,鈥 Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just one of those things with the shoulder. He鈥檒l be a game-time decision again this week, and we鈥檒l see where it goes.鈥
Drinkwitz and Mizzou seem much more certain: The only scout team quarterback during the portion of the Tigers鈥 Tuesday practice that was open to the media was wearing Reed鈥檚 No. 10, not Weigman鈥檚 No. 15.
And while Drinkwitz鈥檚 projected confidence could be some gamesmanship in its own right, he framed it as advice to the Aggies.
Reed has 鈥渃learly become the focal point of what they鈥檙e doing offensively,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淐oach (Collin) Klein is very comfortable with him as the quarterback. His style of play reflects, in my opinion, what Coach Klein had in the past at (Kansas State).鈥
Klein is part of a new-look A&M staff with which Missouri is fairly familiar. He was, as Drinkwitz mentioned, the offensive coordinator at Kansas State for the past two seasons. The Tigers faced his Wildcats offenses in both of those seasons, allowing 40 points in 2022 loss and 27 points in a famous 2023 walk-off win.
MU defensive coordinator Corey Batoon was not with the Tigers at the time, though, so it鈥檚 not a perfect cross-match. Still, Mizzou has some schematic takeaways from what it saw with Klein鈥檚 K-State offenses.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e consistent with trying to run the football,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淗e understands that running the football is not just about creating explosives in the first quarter 鈥 it鈥檚 about adding up those carries so that the fourth quarter, they really take their toll on a defense.鈥
Running back Le鈥橵eon Moss leads the Aggies in total yardage, with 76 carries for 471 rush yards and three touchdowns. Reed is also part of the running game when he plays, with 42 rushing attempts for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Through the air, Reed has a 54.4% completion percentage and 585 passing yards. So far, he鈥檚 thrown six touchdowns but has yet to throw an interception. When he does throw, he tends to look deeper downfield 鈥 his 11.4-yard average depth of target is tied for the second deepest of SEC quarterbacks with at least 50 dropbacks so far this season.
Almost certainly correlated to that, Reed tends to take a while to throw the ball, needing an average of 3.12 seconds to make his throws. Oklahoma鈥檚 Michael Hawkins Jr. and Arkansas鈥 Taylen Green are the only SEC signal-callers with longer times.
How Mizzou鈥檚 pass rush attacks or contains Reed will be one of Saturday鈥檚 chess matches.
As Drinkwitz recently learned, his program has a familial connection to his expected opposition: Reed鈥檚 sister, Briah, is MU鈥檚 assistant director of on-campus recruiting 鈥 and 鈥渟he鈥檚 not allowed at practice this week,鈥 Drinkwitz joked.
Elko鈥檚 defense is likely to be the toughest such unit the Tigers have faced so far this season. There鈥檚 history to that coaching matchup, too.
Drinkwitz has a 1-3 record against Elko through their meetings at various stops. In 2016, Drinkwitz鈥檚 North Carolina State offense steamrolled Elko鈥檚 Wake Forest defense for a 33-16 win. Then in 2017, with Elko as Notre Dame鈥檚 defensive coordinator, the Irish held the Wolfpack to just 14 points. Elko was Texas A&M鈥檚 D-coordinator in 2018 when he again faced a Drinkwitz NC State offense in the Gator Bowl, a 52-13 Aggies win. Elko was still at A&M as the defensive coordinator when Drinkwitz and Mizzou lost to the Aggies 35-14 in 2021.
The math there adds up to just 41 points allowed by an Elko defense to a Drinkwitz offense in the two coaches鈥 past three clashes. Perhaps it鈥檚 to the Tigers鈥 favor that offensive coordinator Kirby Moore will be the one attacking Elko鈥檚 scheme this time.
鈥淟ike I told Kirby, it鈥檚 his opportunity to dial it up because I haven鈥檛 been too successful against it,鈥 Drinkwitz said.
The biggest threat to Moore and the Missouri offense will be A&M edge rusher Nic Scourton. The Purdue transfer racked up four tackles for a loss, two sacks a bass breakup and a vital forced fumble in the Aggies鈥 win over Arkansas. As a Boilermaker, Scourton led the Big Ten in sacks in 2023.
Now, he鈥檚 a likely first-round draft pick for his prowess as a power rusher off the edge.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a game-wrecker,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淪ingle-handedly won the game for 鈥檈m, in my opinion, versus Arkansas.鈥