Does Missouri Really Need to Sell Out Farout Field For Murray State?

By Rock Westfall

In what is expected to be one of the biggest seasons in Missouri Tiger history, head coach Eli Drinkwitz served a sour drink this week, demanding that fans sell out Faurot Field for the opener against the Murray State Racers on Thursday, August 29.

At a time when anticipation for Mizzou football is as high as it has been in 16 years, and after Tiger fans finally found that old feeling again after losing it during an absurd student strike in 2015 that imploded the football program, Drinkwitz made a foolish and unforced error.

As of August 14, all reserved seats were sold for the entire 2024 campaign. That is a profound comeback by Mizzou football, considering that they were offering the use of student dorms as hotel rooms in the aftermath of that 2015 strike. Yet with everything going in Mizzou’s favor, Drinkwitz stepped on a rake.

The incident also plays into the fears of historically paranoid Mizzou fans that things are going too well and that storm clouds are on the horizon. Indeed, Missouri football history is loaded with such Tiger tales.

Drink Appears Oblivious to Reality

“Our challenge is, we need to sell out this first game,” Drinkwitz said. “We're a top-11 program in the country coming off a Cotton Bowl win, and in my opinion if we don't sell out the first game then that shows me that we're not where we want to be as a fanbase yet. OK, that’s just the reality of it.”

“Don't sit on the sideline and wait, ‘well, it's got to be this game.’ No, no it doesn’t. Come watch this team and be excited about this team and embrace this team,” the coach said. … “Don't get excited about the game in November after the bye week. Like, I don't know what that game's gonna look like.

“I know next week versus Murray State's the most important game we have, and we need to sell it out because we need to show the rest of the country that we're serious about our program.”

To the Missouri athletic department’s credit, they are offering four tickets combined with unlimited hot dogs, popcorn, and fountain drinks for $99. While that is an excellent effort, it ought to be. But it doesn't change the fact that the home opener is an absurdity.

As I pointed out here earlier this summer, college football should be ashamed of its Week 1 schedule, which is overloaded with mismatched paycheck games against FCS opponents. Mizzou is certainly complicit in that disgrace.

There is no doubt that if Mizzou had a legitimate FBS opponent, even from the Group of Five, the season opener would likely sell out, despite taking place on a Thursday night.

What Drinkwitz is asking of Mizzou fans is ridiculous. The program is highly dependent upon fan support from Kansas City on the western border of the state and St. Louis on the eastern border, both roughly two hours from Columbia. Attending the game would realistically require taking Friday off to recover from getting home past midnight and the additional likelihood of taking all or part of Thursday off to make the game on time. All for an FCS opponent that Mizzou should massacre.

Add in a sluggish economy still raging with inflation, high gas prices, family budgets being stretched to beyond the limit, and potential Labor Day weekend plans, the opener against a team with no brand appeal is, understandably, a bridge too far.

Is It 2008 Again?

The preseason hype for the 2024 season is reminiscent of 2008 when Mizzou was coming off a season for the ages. In 2007, Mizzou went 12-2, beat Kansas at Arrowhead for the Big 12 West Division title, made the cover of Sports Illustrated after climbing to Number One in the nation, and won the Cotton Bowl to finish fourth in the final AP rankings.

Following that epic campaign, there were expectations of a serious look at a national championship. But Mizzou let the headlines into their heads and went 10-4 after briefly ranking 3 ^rd in the early portion of the campaign. For veteran Mizzou fans, there are fears that 2024 could prove to be a similar letdown.

Entering this season, Mizzou is without six players who were selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Tigers hit the portal hard, adding 15 players, and produced a solid recruiting class ranked 20 ^th in the nation.

One of the biggest losses is superstar running back Cody Schrader, who apparently may be replaced by a committee of backs. Luther Burden III leads one of the nation’s best receiver groups. Still, unless Schrader’s production is replaced, there will be too heavy of a burden on Burden and his group, along with veteran mainstay QB Brady Cook .

The offensive line lost two starters and is unlikely to maintain last year’s production immediately. The loss of legendary clutch kicker Harrison Mevis could also be a significant issue, although redshirt freshman Blake Craig was among the highest-rated kicking prospects in 2023.

The stout 2023 defense lost coordinator Blake Baker to LSU. Also gone is Darius Robinson, a first-round NFL Draft pick, from the edge. Middle linebackers Chad Bailey and Ty’Ron Harper will not be easy to replace. More worrisome are the losses sustained at cornerback, led by NFL Draft picks Ennis Rakestraw and Kris Abrams-Draine.

All told, Drinkwitz has enough to focus on.

Let’s not forget that the ball bounced Mizzou’s way in 2023. Drinkwitz bungled clock management at the end of the Kansas State game, only to be bailed out by a 61-yard field goal by Mevis at the gun. Had Mevis not delivered his bomb, the entire season could have turned out much differently.

In 2023, Mizzou had close calls against K-State, a bad G5 Middle Tennessee State program, and a mediocre Florida team that had the Tigers on the ropes late.

Still, it was a tremendous season that saw the fans reconnect in a big way, with sellouts in the final five home games. The stench of 2015 and the wilderness years have ended. Thus, any negativity is counter-productive with so much goodwill finally in the bank.

Missouri is the Show Me State for a reason. Drinkwitz would do well to focus on the season ahead and avoid a 2008-type letdown.