New week, tough opponent lets Mizzou Tigers look ahead and forget about nightmare loss

The aftermath of an agonizing loss brings Missouri to a welcoming place.

Another game.

What better way to cleanse the bitter aftertaste of last Saturday’s 17-14 overtime loss at Auburn than to prepare for another opportunity?

OK, top-ranked Georgia as the next opponent is an unenviable task. But it’s also a way to focus on what needs to be done instead of what just happened.

So it is for Tigers running back Nathaniel Peat and kicker Harrison Mevis, who walked from the field more dejected than their teammates in the aftermath of Saturday’s forehead-slapping defeat.

Peat for losing a fumble at the 1-yard line as he was about to score the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Mevis for pushing a 26-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.

Neither player met with reporters after the game. Those who did, along with a stunned MU coach Eli Drinkwitz, didn’t have much to say.

At his weekly meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Drinkwitz said he’s had constructive conversations with both players since Saturday’s final whistle.

“We’re going to give him the ball again,” Drinkwitz said of Peat. “That’s what we’re going to do. There’s really not more to say about it. It was a mistake. We all learn from it We all grow from it. And we move on.. To err is human.”

The lesson for Peat that Drinkwitz said will be emphasized is not attempting to extend the ball across the goal line, unless it’s fourth down. Peat was attempting to shift the ball from his left to right hand and extend it for the touchdown. But he lost control before he scored or was hit by a defender.

“The risk is not worth the reward,” Drinkwitz said. “I’ve got to continue to make a bigger emphasis of that.”

Mevis’ miss was just as, if not more, startling. He entered the game having made 45 of 51 field goals in his three-year career and had made all 10 of his career attempts between 20-29 yards.

Mevis has made big kicks for Mizzou: a 32-yarder on the final snap to defeat Arkansas in 2020; a 56-yarder at Boston College in 2021 on the final play of regulation to force overtime.

“One play is never going to define any one individual,” Drinkwitz said. “We’ve got our confidence in him. And the next time he hits a game winner I’m going to have a smile on my face knowing we were part of that growth that allowed him to do that.”