Photo Credit: Arkansas Athletics / Missouri Athletics
Smash That “Follow” Button
The Arkansas football season comes to a merciful end in less than a week, with a familiar villain waiting at the end of the road.
As much as Razorback fans like to pretend they don’t despite Missouri football, you best believe deep down they do. The main driver of that hatred is head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, who has made a habit of spoiling folks’ Thanksgiving leftovers every year in the Battle Line Rivalry.
Arkansas, which hosts the Tigers on Saturday, has beaten Missouri just twice in the last 22 years. Missouri is 9-2 against the Hogs since joining the SEC, and Drinkwitz is 4-1 against Arkansas during his tenure.
Making matters worse is the fact that he’s a Natural State native. The 42-year-old graduated from Alma High and Arkansas Tech and started his coaching career on the Arkansas high school circuit. His first college coordinating job was at Arkansas State. It also can’t be forgotten just how close he was to becoming the Head Hog the last time Arkansas was conducting a coaching search.
That’s a mistake that will continue to haunt the Hogs for years. Drinkwitz is 45-28 in his sixth year at the helm, has never missed a bowl game, won double-digit games each of the last two seasons and is currently sitting at 7-4. Meanwhile, Arkansas is on course for its third 2-10 season in the last seven years.
Drinkwitz’s success at a historically mid-level Missouri program has made him a candidate for many of the best jobs on this year’s coaching carousel. Schools that don’t have rocks and construction zones in their end zone where stands should be.
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Drinkwitz is reportedly in the mix to take over Penn State, Auburn, Florida and LSU, the latter of which wants nothing to do with him, at least according to a former baseball star.
No Outside Food or Drinkwitz
Former LSU shortstop Ryan Theriot, a vocal critic of Arkansas’ Wehiwa Aloy after this summer’s College World Series, weighed in on the Tigers’ coaching search with a spicy take.
“Spending hours playing Madden in your mom’s basement against other weirdos doesn’t qualify you to be the head coach at LSU,” Theriot said last week on 104.5 ESPN’s After Further Review with Matt Moscona. “The visor you’re wearing isn’t fooling me one bit, bro. Take that thing off and you’re nothing more than a freshman walking the halls at Catholic High worried about when his next wedgie is coming.”
Theriot went on to wonder “who the hell” names their kid “Eliah” instead of “Elijah.” Drinkwitz’s first name translates to “my God is Yahweh” in Hebrew. It’s a Biblical name, just like the first name of Theriot’s co-host. That’s awkward.
Theriot was also far from impressed with the job Drinkwitz has done at Missouri, claiming he has “tricked everyone” and asking him to “please stay away from Baton Rouge.”
“Y’all schedule the nation’s worst non-conference teams to make everybody think you’re good. When it comes to decent teams, when you guys have to play them, y’all get smoked,” Theriot said. “Nobody wants to play you because they don’t care about playing against you.”
Not so fast, Mr. Theriot.
The Battle Line Rivalry
With only two wins to their name so far this season, you’d think the Razorbacks would be ready to mail it in on Saturday. Especially after a 15-point loss on the road against Texas. But that’s far from the case, Arkansas defensive tackle Cam Ball said after the Texas loss.
Indeed, Ball went a bit hyperbolic, saying that beating Mizzou “would mean the world to me. I’ll treat it like my Super Bowl, man,” The senior captain continued: “We have a lot of seniors in that locker room who deserve to go out with a bang.”
The former World Series champion is correct that Missouri has struggled against ranked teams, posting a 6-16 record under Drinkwitz with the latest loss coming on Saturday against Oklahoma. The Tigers have lost all four of their games against top 25 opponents this season.
But his success at a previously middling Missouri program is impressive even in its most uncharitable interpretation. To suggest otherwise is foolish. Despite Arkansas holding a 2-9 record, its team captain is still labeling Missouri as one of the biggest games of his life.
Dare I say it, that sort of sounds like a rivalry.
Drinkwitz gets a lot of stick from Arkansas fans for being a bit of a nerd. Maybe it’s his glasses or the timbre of his voice, or his press conferences donning Star Wars garb or intentionally mispronouncing Taylen Green’s name.
It’s not a label he shies away from, and he’s certainly instigated some hostilities with Arkansas fans with his past troll jobs. Drinkwitz said last year that it’s good that a lot of folks “don’t like me down in that state” because “it builds the rivalry.”
In all likelihood, the Tigers will come out of Razorback Stadium with a one-possession win. Or maybe it’ll be another bloodbath like the last time in Fayetteville.
One thing is for sure – Arkansas fans would be grateful if Drinkwitz ended up leaving Missouri, preferably to Penn State where he would be far, far away from his home state for the foreseeable future. Anything to make Black Friday (Saturday this year) a less dreadful annual experience.
It’s alright if Theriot wants to sound off like a high school bully on air. It’s not the first time Drinkwitz has heard those lines of attack, and it certainly won’t be the last – especially if he takes a new job higher on the totem pole.
Newsflash, though, Ryan – you’re giving Eliah exactly what he wants when you do that. If he takes a different job in the SEC, he’ll make a concerted effort to rub it in whenever he beats your glorious LSU Tigers. Just like he did with Razorback broadcaster Chuck Barrett.
As far as the Razorbacks, they’ll just have to hope another “almost” from this coaching cycle doesn’t come back to bite them in a year defined by almost always almost winning.
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Michael Main is a Fayetteville native who, like both of his older brothers, attended the University of Arkansas. Main graduated in 2025 with a double major in journalism and political science and a minor in legal studies. He spent his childhood following the Razorbacks closely and attending as many games as possible, witnessing iconic moments like the Michael Qualls put-back dunk, the Henry Heave and a number of field stormings. Main was a member of the Razorback Marching Band and Hogwild Pep Band, attending every home football and basketball game while he was a student and traveling to San Francisco, Providence, Tampa and elsewhere for postseason play. After freelancing for BoAS for a year and a half, the 22-year-old made the transition to a full-time role as senior writer following his graduation. In his free time, Main is likely spending time outdoors, enjoying the company of friends or feeding his obsession with Liverpool FC and European football as a whole.