PREGAMIN’ ARKANSAS

WELCOME BACK TO PREGAMIN’, HERE’S YOUR JAM OF THE WEEK

FIRE FINGERS VINCE, HE’S CRUSHING THAT TUNE

Rock M-ixology

I’m traveling for Thanksgiving this year, and I don’t have access to my home bar. I don’t feel bad about this, as it won’t be the last PREGAMIN’ of the season (we’ve got a bowl game to plan for) and fortunately Thanksgiving is not known as a particularly dry holiday. My in-laws were generous enough to break out some good stuff for me while I’m on the road, so instead of a recipe recommendation, I’ll be toasting y’all with a pour of Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends! Grateful for all of you who read our stuff no matter how little it has to do with Mizzou.

• Rumored Arkansas head coach in waiting Alex Golesh seems like he’s been building his whole career to be a Mizzou rival. He’s coached at Illinois (gag), Iowa State (lame), Tennessee (barf) and is now taking over the position as top hog. Rooting for your downfall, Alex!

• I’ve heard great things about Fayetteville and I must confess I have much more fondness for Arkansas as a state than the other kansas. But I must say, the city needs to get its tourism act together. If I’m going to your official tourist website to research what the city is known for, La Quinta Inn and Suites shouldn’t be popping up in the top 5 results.

• Arkansas’ proudest son, Bubba Bill Clinton, has been back in the headlines lately. Haven’t looked into why, might want to check that out at some point.

Let’s start with the big news: Eli Drinkwitz is sticking around. How big a deal is the new extension for Mizzou and Drink?

Josh Matejka, Deputy Site Manager: The shine probably comes off a little bit because of the middling success of this year, but this is still a great development for the program. Drinkwitz and Mizzou are a great fit for this era of college football, and having to start over would have been disastrous for the Tigers. Keeping their head man in place not only gives them consistency in a period of extreme turnover, it enables Drink to keep building something long-term in Columbia.

True Deck, Football Writer: This is THE DEAL. If you’re a Mizzou fan, you should be super stoked to be keeping Drinkwitz around. Although he hasn’t won all the big games, he’s shown consistency and has turned around the program.

Sammy Stava, Staff Writer: It’s huge. Drinkwitz staying at Mizzou is the best thing that could have happened to this program. Starting all over again with a new head coach would have been a brutal blow. With the high-level recruiting, on-field success (despite this year being a minor step back), and a good NIL situation — Missouri is currently in a great spot under Drink.

There’s nothing like tradition, so let’s stick with a classic Thanksgiving PREGAMIN’ prompt. If this year’s Mizzou team was a side dish, it’d be…

Josh Matejka: It’s the sweet potatoes for me. With the right seasonings and topping, it’s an elite side dish that bridges the divide between the savory and sweet. Put marshmallows on that jawn and it turns into a real cluster.

True Deck: I’ll go with stuffing. Solid side dish of both run offense and run defense (stuffing the line), but, it’s missing something…

Sammy Stava: Green beans. Good, but not great. Just not what you really want, but it’ll do.

Arkansas is having one of the most miserable seasons in modern college football history in that they’re not bad but they have an unmatched knack for losing close games. What do you think is behind that special skill?

Josh Matejka: You can’t have a defense that bad and expect to win games. Sam Pittman was great at accumulating and coaching talent on the ball, but his inability to put a cohesive defense together was his undoing. Maybe Alex Golesh finally figures it out in Fayetteville.

True Deck: I’d say it falls on the head coach. Obviously Sam Pittman showed an incredible ability to lose close all the time, but with the new hire of Alex Golesh, this could be a new team. A team that loses close all the time isn’t bad, they’re just a few plays away.

Sammy Stava: It’s coaching because they do have the talent on the offensive end to be a whole lot better than their record shows. Taylen Green is a dude, but the Hogs’ defense is just a disaster.

PICK ‘EM! Mizzou is just a -2.5 favorite in a game between two teams who are probably better than their record. Who comes away victorious?

Josh Matejka: Rivalry games are always kind of a crapshoot, but there’s a big match up problem for the Hogs at play this year: their run defense is cheeks and Mizzou has the country’s best running back. With their ability to establish the run opening up the whole offense, Mizzou should be able to score comfortably enough to support their elite defense (for once.) I’ll take Mizzou 34-23.

True Deck: Just because I think Alex Golesh might be a little more successful than Sam Pittman, Mizzou still owns Arkansas. I’ll take the Tigers to win, cover, and end the season on a high note. 34-14.

Sammy Stava: Don’t be surprised if Arkansas puts up some points and makes this interesting, but Mizzou will come in highly motivated after the Drinkwitz extension. 35-24 as the Tigers go up by two scores late.