Missouri Tigers football team turns its attention to this week’s opponent: UMass

Mizzou’s bid for a perfect football season was derailed in a 41-10 dismantling at Texas A&M last Saturday, but the Tigers are not dwelling on that loss.

“This week, I had a very clear and direct message with our team,” MU coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “One bad day doesn’t define our team ... or our season. Our response will.

“The focus for us, the rest of this week, is how do we improve and find a way to beat UMass?”

Drinkwitz’s mindset extended to the players, who share his “one foot in front of the other” mentality.

“I think I got over it pretty quick,” redshirt junior center Connor Tollison said. “After we got back to Columbia, (I’m) just moving on to the next game.”

UMass — Missouri’s next opponent — is 1-5. The Minutemen lost 34-3 on Sept. 14 to Buffalo — the same team the Tigers drubbed 38-0 on Sept. 7.

“(Beating UMass) is going to be a difficult challenge,” Drinkwitz said. “They’re better than their (1-5) record. We’re going to have our hands full.”

Cornerback depth chart shakeup

Starting junior cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. will compete to maintain his starting role for the Tigers — amid ongoing positional battles.

“I think Nick Deloach and Toriano have done a better job rotating and competing, and I think you’re going to see that more and more, because we need to compete to get the best out of our team,” Drinkwitz said.

Deloach — a redshirt freshman from Cahokia, Illinois — has seen incremental playing time in his second season with Missouri.

The former three-star cornerback has appeared in all five games for Mizzou this season, and he recorded a season-high two tackles against the Aggies on Saturday.

Mizzou faces another dual-threat QB

Redshirt senior Taisun Phommachanh, who will lead the UMass Minutemen in Week 7’s clash, is the fifth dual-threat quarterback MU will face this year.

He has thrown for more than 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns on 57.5% passing. He has also rushed 86 times for 253 yards and a touchdown.

“Phommachanh is playing his best football,” Drinkwitz said. “Accurate thrower, very good. I think he’s their leading rusher also. For us defensively, we’re going to have our hands full.”

UMass is Phommachan’s third college in six seasons. The quarterback appeared in 13 games over three seasons at Clemson and two games in his lone year at Georgia Tech.

The Bridgeport, Connecticut, native was rated as the No. 3 quarterback in the class of 2019 by 247Sports.

Missouri’s return to Massachusetts

Saturday’s contest will be the No. 21-ranked Tigers’ second contest in Massachusetts in the past four years. Missouri traveled to Chestnut Hill and fell 41-34 against Boston College in overtime on September 25, 2021.

That was Missouri’s first trip to Massachusetts in program history and, to that point, the only game MU had ever played against a team from the state. The Eagles returned to Missouri to complete the home-and-home series, falling 27-21 to the Tigers on Sept. 14.

The Tigers (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) look to even their all-time record in Massachusetts to 1-1 at 11 a.m. Saturday at McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Massachusetts.

“I’m excited to get an opportunity to go to Amherst,” Drinkwitz said. “It’ll be an opportunity for us to play in a stadium that’s unique from us, an opportunity to play in that area of the country that most of us have not been.

“And so I think it’ll be a cool experience and one that our players will find enjoyment and satisfaction in being able to take on that challenge.”

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