Football Opens 2023 Thursday Night vs. South Dakota

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football embarks on its 133rd campaign under the lights of Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023 against South Dakota. The Tigers, in their fourth season under Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz, will open on home turf for the fourth-straight season and sixth out of seven overall. The game against the Coyotes kicks off at 7 p.m. CT and airs on SEC Network and the Tiger Radio Network.

MISSOURI TIGERS
Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz
Record at Mizzou 17-19 (Fourth Year)
Overall Record 29-20 (Fifth Year)

SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES
Head Coach Bob Nielson
Record at School 32-42 (Eighth Year)
Overall Record 218-122-1 (31st Year)

GAME INFORMATION
Facility Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field
Capacity 62,621
TV SEC Network / ESPN+
Radio 1580 AM / 105.1 FM / SiriusXM 138 or 191
Online The Varsity Network: “Search Mizzou”
Series Record First Meeting
In Columbia First Meeting
Last Meeting First Meeting

ON THE AIR
TV: SEC Network
• Play-by-Play: Clay Matvick
• Analyst: Aaron Murray
• Reporter: Ashley ShahAhmadi
• Online: WatchESPN.com
• Mobile App: ESPN

RADIO: TIGER RADIO NETWORK
• Play-by-Play: Mike Kelly
• Analyst: Howard Richards
• Sideline Reporter: Chris Gervino
• Host: Matt Michaels
• Engineer: Jeremy Washington
• Local: 1580 AM / 105.1 FM
• Satellite: SiriusXM 138 or 191 and on the SXM App
• App: Mizzou Tigers / The Varsity Network: “Search Mizzou”

YOUTH OF THE NATION
SEC Network’s traveling pregame show, SEC Nation Presented by Dr Pepper, will visit Faurot Field for the fifth time and first time since Sept. 7, 2019. Hosted by Marty Smith, Roman Harper, Jordan Rodgers and Tim Tebow, the show covers Southeastern Conference football from the biggest matchup of the week throughout the season. The show will air from 6-7 p.m. CT on SECN from the northwest corner of the field. The show came to Mizzou three other times since its debut season in 2014: Sept. 9, 2017 vs. South Carolina; Nov. 5, 2015 vs. Mississippi State; and Nov. 1, 2014 vs. Kentucky.

Watch SEC Nation Online Thursday!

THE SERIES

• Mizzou and South Dakota have never met on the gridiron before. 

THE COACHES

• ELIAH DRINKWITZ is in his fourth season as Mizzou’s head coach. He had led the Tigers to bowl appearances in each of his first three seasons, joining former head coach Warren Powers as the only two MU head coaches to achieve that feat. Additionally, only Powers won more games in his first two seasons at MU (1978-79, 15) than Drinkwitz (11). Prior to taking the Mizzou job, Drinkwitz was 12-1 as the head coach at Appalachian State in 2019. He had previous stops as the OC at NC State, Boise State and Arkansas State.
• BOB NIELSON is 32-42 in his eighth season at South Dakota and 218-122-1 in 30 years as a collegiate head coach.

STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS … 

• Mizzou won four of its last six games in 2022 and were the only team to play CFP National Champion Georgia to a one-score game in the regular season (L, 26-22). The Tiger have qualified for three-straight bowl games.
• Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz has led Mizzou to a bowl in each of his first three seasons, only the second coach in school history to do so along with the late Warren Powers (1978-84). 
• Mizzou finished the season No. 4 in the Southeastern Conference is total defense, giving up 337.1 yards per game. The Tigers were also fourth in rushing defense (127.2 mpg).
• Mizzou is 85-42-5 in season openers, winning 22 of its last 26, and 96-32-4 in home openers, taking 23-of-326.
• Mizzou’s 16 returning starters (8 offense, 8 defense) ranks second among SEC schools. 
• The 2023 roster features 32 players who have started at least four games in the collegiate career at the FBS level. 
• Mizzou has won 13-straight nonconference games at Memorial Stadium, dating to Oct. 21, 2017.
• Thirty-eight student-athletes on the team are from Missouri, including eight from the 573 area code, 19 from the St. Louis metropolitan region, nine from the Kansas City area and two from southwest Missouri.
• Additionally, Mizzou added 38 newcomers to its roster, including 23 true freshmen and 15 transfers.
• Eleven Tigers sit on the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List: DB Kris Abrams-Draine, LB Chad Bailey, DB JC Carlies, DB Joseph Charleston, OL Javon Foster, LB Ty’Ron Hopper, OL Cam’Ron Johnson, RB Nate Peat, DB Ennis Rakestraw Jr., DL Darius Robinson and WR Theo Wease Jr.
• OL Armand Membou earned a spot on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List, an annual spotlight of the most athletic players in CFB.
• USA Today named Truman’s Taxi – a 1950s-vintage Boone County fire truck used to deliver Truman the Tiger to the stadium on game days – as one of the best SEC traditions.