COLUMBIA, Mo. — Two games into his first season at Missouri, Eli Drinkwitz made a crucial decision that might come to define the first arc of his time on the job.
The Tigers, already 0-1 in their COVID-adjusted Southeastern Conference schedule, trailed at Tennessee 14-0 on Oct. 3 last year. Quarterback Shawn Robinson, the preseason choice to operate Drinkwitz’s offense, struggled to move the ball past the line of scrimmage on the Tigers’ first two possessions. Connor Bazelak started the next series to open the second quarter — and hasn’t relinquished the starting job.
Drinkwitz’s decision to replace the more experienced Robinson with Bazelak, then a redshirt freshman, set the program on its current course, producing an offense that’s steadily improved with Bazelak at the controls.