Missouri wore the same black helmets from its Homecoming bout with Vanderbilt, switching out the sailor tiger decal for the oval tiger, with black jerseys and yellow pants. Military Appreciation Day decals graced the backs of the helmets, honoring the U. S. Air Force, the Navy, the Army, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and the Space Force.
“That’s really the expression of our freedom is our ability to vote and to give our direction for what we believe the future of our country should be about,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said Tuesday.
“Which again goes back to what we first started here in 2020, ‘Mizzou For Change,’ and our push to register to vote and use our words in a positive way.”
On Drinkwitz’s radio show, “Tiger Talk,” he broke down Missouri’s process of selecting uniform combinations each week.
“Probably the most stressful decision I have,” Drinkwitz chuckled.
Drinkwitz throws together his idea with director of athletic equipment operations Mike Kurowski then passes it along to running backs coach Curtis Looper. From there, Luper gathers the seniors and captains to finalize a decision for Saturday.
The first consideration depends on the helmets and the jerseys of the opposition. Sometimes it’s as simple as wearing all white on the road against South Carolina or as complicated as this week with 18 suggestions, Drinkwitz said.
“We have to have that contrast for our quarterback,” Luper said. “If they are wearing white helmets, then we are not. If they are wearing dark helmets, then we are not.”
Luper, in military uniform, opened Missouri’s announcement video for a consecutive year. The veteran served four years as an air-traffic controller, starting in the fall of 1998.
“We’ll have a few surprises for the Mizzou fans,” Luper said.
The Tigers also celebrated Ag Day Saturday at Memorial Stadium as well as the life of Remington Williams, a former student representative for the UM System Board of Curators who died in a car crash in June. Missouri’s coaching staff wore wrist bands in Williams’ memory.