COLUMBIA, Mo. — Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz — who, come to think of it, sometimes has the look of an English professor — discussed modern linguistics on Sunday:
“There are so many different things in the English language and the culture of how people talk. You know, the other day one of the guys said ‘bet’ to me, and I was like, ‘On what?’”
Football players say the darndest things.
If you didn’t know, young people say “bet” to make a confirmation about something. Another thing they say — “dog” as a compliment, insomuch as: “He’s a dog” or “he’s got that dog in him.” Well, those are fitting descriptors with camp opening Monday after players reported Sunday. See, for years here, Mizzou was an underdog. But after an 11-2 campaign, it’s fair to suggest (as I am) that Mizzou will crack the College Football Playoff’s expanded 12-team field. But to be as good as, say, Georgia’s Dawgs, Missouri must have a bunch of dogs.
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“When I think of ‘dog,’ I think of a competitor, an elite competitor,” Drinkwitz said. “I think of somebody who shows up every day and puts in (the work). I think of Michael Jordan — when his best was needed, he was always at his best. I think of Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, Barry Bonds. I think of Peyton Manning, Nick Bolton, Cam Newton — you know, guys that when the game was on the line, you knew they were going to perform at their highest levels. And they were consistent in their preparation.
“So in my mind, it’s somebody whose mindset was different than everybody else. And it just wasn’t about their natural talent. ... It was the toughness they brought.”
The Southeastern Conference is a dog-eat-dog league. Middle-tier teams are as good as top-tier teams from some other conferences. Oh, and then consider Texas and Oklahoma were just tossed into the SEC mix. But I’m optimistic about the 2024 Tigers because of their personalities as much as their personnel.
“There are a lot of dogs,” quarterback Brady Cook said Sunday. “A lot of dogs.”
Receiver Luther Burden III is one. It was on these pages two years ago that a teammate said of the then-freshman: “He’s going to try to dominate. I feel like that’s what separates him — just that dog mentality.”
And now, the Ƶ native is on the All-SEC preseason first team. Indeed, Burden has this unflappable confidence that he is the best — and even feels slighted when a college football video game ranks him as only one of the best.
And fellow receiver Theo Wease Jr. is wonderfully unafraid. He’s made catching balls in tight spots an art form. The former Oklahoma receiver works year-round on what he calls his “grip strengthening.” He literally refines his forearms and even fingers to grip passes better. He’s a dog.
On defense, tackle Kristian Williams has it in him. He’s human havoc. And in the secondary, you’ve got Joseph Charleston (second-most tackles on the Tigers in ’23) and the pass-deflecting Daylan Carnell.
“We all know what it takes to get where we want to go — and there’s a certain standard,” Carnell said Sunday. “And to get there, you’ve got to have that dog in you. Everybody carries that with them. And they know what they’ve got to do.”
And then there is Cook, who is so much of a dog, he confidently and unashamedly admits it.
“I think it’s kind of like that ‘it’ factor,” the signal-caller said. “You can see it in different athletes. I think I see a lot of that in myself and just the way I go about thinking about the game, preparing for a game — and just the way I play.”
“Yeah,” Burden confirmed, “he has that dog in him. And I’ve seen the dog grow since I got here. I can’t wait to see what he does this year.”
At Sunday’s media availability, I asked numerous Tigers to describe their favorite memory of Cook. One player talked about simply trying to hang out with him as much as possible — trying to soak up as much of Cook’s character as he can. Another brought up the famous fourth-and-19 throw against Florida. But multiple teammates brought up how Cook plays with pain. In both games against Kansas State — the sloppy loss in 2022 and the comeback win in 2023 — Cook battled through injuries. That’s that dog stuff, right there.
“It showed,” Wease said, “how much he loves the team.”
The Ƶ native Cook, who is at his dream school, explained that “for people who have that dog in them, when the lights turn on, the ball is spotted and the ref blows the whistle, it just happens. You’re not thinking about anything. You’ll do anything it takes to score to win — you know, sacrifice your body. And that’s just kind of like that mojo of the ‘it’ factor and having that dog in you.”
Of course, other SEC teams have dogs, too — maybe more among the Georgia Bulldogs than the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but every opponent will have at least a couple of play-makers or play-disrupters. But Missouri’s dogs aren’t just excellent. They’re also experienced executors. Juniors, seniors.
Dogs who have done it. Combine that with a favorable schedule — no Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana State or Tennessee — and this sure seems like a team that can earn a playoff spot.
“And,” Burden said, “I feel like we have so many underdogs who can go crazy at any moment. I just can’t wait to see it.”
Neither can so many fans who watched in previous seasons as lesser Tiger teams were out-dogged.