Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz understands national narratives about his team will come with the territory after Saturday’s game.

If No. 14-ranked Mizzou football (7-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) pulls off the unthinkable and beats No. 1 Georgia (8-0, 5-0) in its own stadium (the Tigers are 15.5-point underdogs this weekend, per Bet MGM), Drinkwitz sees the story being that Missouri will be expected to win the Southeastern Conference East division.

If the Tigers lose, he predicts prognosticators will signal the end of the Tigers’ season and “that there’s nothing left to play for because of what’s at stake in the game.”

He doesn’t agree with either of those.

The trick is ignoring them.

“Irregardless of the outcome of the game, the job of the media and social media is to create narratives. Our job is to ignore them and try to be 1-0,” Drinkwitz said. “And, you know, what's at stake in this game is no different than what was at stake when we played at Vandy, at Kentucky at home versus South Carolina. If you don't play well in those games or you lose those games then you lose any other opportunities.”

Of course, he’s talking about the Tigers’ trip to Athens, Georgia, to face the back-to-back defending national champions in a game between the two frontrunners for the SEC East title.

Instead, the mantra is the same as it ever was.

“To try to say that this one is bigger than those I think is not what 1-0 means,” Drinkwitz said.

He wryly conceded that a lot of that was coach speak.

That sentiment might have been a touch hasty, though.

After Drinkwitz was finished addressing the media during his weekly press conference Tuesday, Missouri’s senior players echoed almost exactly the same sentiments.

MU quarterback Brady Cook said the “game is gonna come when the game comes” and that the team’s day-to-day routine won’t change and ought to serve them well.

Defensive end Darius Robinson has seen a fair share of big games in his five years with the program.

Is this one — a bout with the nation’s best on their own turf — different?

“No, not at all. This is what we do is they recreate the process,” he said. … “It's just another game on the schedule.”

Running back Cody Schrader — who Tuesday morning was added to the Burlsworth Award midseason watch list for the nation’s best player who started as a walk-on — kept it simple, too.

“We keep the main thing the main thing,” Schrader said. “It doesn't matter who we play or who the opponent is — we prepare the same exact way.”

If the gravity of the Georgia game is carrying any extra weight, the Tigers are doing a good job playing it off.

Here’s what stands between the Tigers and breaking the Bulldogs’ 25-game winning streak.

Drinkwitz named all of their top-10 national rankings, which include scoring defense, total defense, rush defense, pass defense and third-down defense. Only red-zone defense didn’t make the cut, and there’s a good reason for that, in the coach’s eyes.

“You know why? Because nobody gets down to the red zone,” he said.

Drinkwitz expressed surprise that UGA coach Kirby Smart has never been nominated for a National Coach of the Year award. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo earned some praise from the MU head coach for his usage of his the Bulldogs’ numerous weapons in the absence of star tight end Brock Bowers. Drinkwitz said it looked like the Bulldogs were playing with former standout QBs Aaron Murray or Matthew Stafford rather than Carson Beck in his first year as the starter.

But none of that seems to be deterring the coach.

The potential for perceived expectations to soar or plummet based on a win or loss isn’t, either.

Drinkwitz conceded it’s impossible to ignore much of anything, comparing that to sticking your head in the sand.

Instead, he asked for consistency from his own team — to continue what has been working for the 7-1 Tigers.

“We need to focus not so much on the external challenges that this team poses, but we really need to focus on what we can control, which is our play our execution or fundamentals and execute the plan the very best that we can,” Drinkwitz said. “And we need to ignore the noise this week (and) focus on the things that we can control.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz, win or loss vs. Georgia, asks team to ignore narratives