Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz and safety Daylan Carnell called out student reporter Zach Sweet for predicting Kansas would beat the Tigers 30-27. Photo Credit: Columbia Missourian
By Sam Neumann on

Sometimes being wrong about a game prediction comes back to bite you. And sometimes it happens in front of everyone at a postgame press conference.

Zach Sweet, a beat writer for the Columbia Missourian and Mizzou student, learned that lesson the hard way Saturday night after the Tigers’ 42-31 comeback win over Kansas. Sweet had predicted Kansas would win 30-27, and both head coach Eli Drinkwitz and senior safety Daylan Carnell made sure he heard about it.

“I’m gonna start off by apologizing to all the Mizzou students, who I’m about to offend with this. I have Kansas winning this game, 30-27,” Sweet had said on the Tiger Kickoff Show. “There’s this thing called journalistic integrity, and I genuinely believe Kansas is going to win this game, or else I wouldn’t say it.”

Sweet explained that he thought Jalon Daniels’ experience would make the difference, that Kansas receivers would get open too often against Missouri’s defensive backs, and that the Jayhawks would win on a late field goal.

He was wrong on pretty much every count. Missouri came back from deficits of 21-6, 24-21, and 31-28 to win going away. The Tigers outgained Kansas 595-254 and dominated time of possession 40:27 to 19:33. Daniels threw a late interception to seal it.

So when Sweet showed up to the postgame press conference, Drinkwitz wasted no time addressing the elephant in the room.

“I’m just gonna say it: it was a really poor take that you had on picking Kansas to win,” Drinkwitz said. “So, with that, I’ll open it up for questions.”

Sweet owned up to it before asking his first question, but that didn’t stop the coach from doubling down.

“It was a pretty bad take,” Drinkwitz said. “You felt good about that take?”

Then Carnell, one of those defensive backs Sweet had questioned, offered his own message.

“That was a terrible take, and please don’t disrespect the backend no more,” Carnell said. “And stop cheering for KU. You’re a Missouri Tiger. Thank you.”

The “cheering for KU” accusation clearly stung Sweet, who felt the need to respond on social media afterward.

“My apologies, @daylancarnell. I’ll own it,” Sweet wrote. “One thing must be made clear, though. I promise you and anyone watching this that there was no cheering for KU. I’m a #Mizzou student, and I look forward to actually being able to cheer on the Tigers after this year.”

Carnell replied with some advice: “You live and you learn. Don’t make the same mistake twice.”

Look, this is a weird situation all around. Sweet was doing his job as a journalist by giving an honest prediction based on what he saw, even when it went against his school. That’s actually admirable, as too many student reporters are cheerleaders first and journalists second.

Drinkwitz and Carnell calling him out afterward was petty, but it was also pretty harmless. They didn’t attack his character or his ability as a reporter; they just said his prediction sucked. Which, to be fair, it did.

At least Sweet handled it well. He owned the bad prediction and didn’t get defensive about the criticism. That’s more mature than a lot of professional reporters would have been in the same situation.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann