Looking at Alabama Football's Two Added Opponents, Part 1: Missouri

The Crimson Tide will face off against a new look Missouri Tigers squad under first-year coach Eliah Drinkwitz on Sept. 26

When the University of Alabama faces off in Columbia, Mi. against the Missouri Tigers on Sept. 26 to kick off the season, the Crimson Tide will be in for a surprise. 

First-year head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, the former App State coach who was hired by the Tigers last December, after the firing of Barry Odum, told local media on Tuesday that he will not be naming a starting quarterback leading up to its week one matchup against Alabama. 

“We ain’t telling nobody,” Drinkwitz said. “Everybody's gonna have to guess, and it's going to be used as an advantage for us. “The person who is going to play us first has no idea if they are going to scout Washington tape, UAB tape, TCU tape, App State tape, NC State tape. They do not know which quarterback to prepare for, whether to watch high school tape from that kid, they don’t know whether to watch the Arkansas game from last year, Georgia game from last year, TCU games from two years ago.

“I’m just creating a workload for somebody.”

So, you can already bet the Alabama graduate assistants and analysts are at work preparing for who the Tigers might throw out there.  

Missouri's quarterback battle is between redshirt junior Taylor Powell, TCU transfer Shawn Robinson, redshirt freshman Connor Bazelak, and true freshman Brady Cook. 

The two signal callers of note to look out for is Powell and Robinson.

Powell served as the primary backup to Drew Lock and Kelly Bryant in back-to-back seasons. He even started the Tigers' game against Georgia last season saw action in contests against Arkansas and Troy, throwing for 297 yards and one touchdown. 

On the other hand, Robinson played in seven games for TCU in 2018, throwing for 1,334 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions before missing the final five with a shoulder injury. He was forced to sit out the 2019 campaign due to transfer rules.

Whoever the quarterback is, will have two new wide outs to throw the ball to, Virginia Tech graduate transfer Damon Hazelton, who led the Hokies in receiving touchdowns over the last two seasons, and Angelo State grad transfer Keke Chism, who tallied up 1,800 yards and 12 touchdowns at the Division 2 level. 

Both of those pass catchers are projected to be starters this year.

The Tigers do return one of the best tailbacks in the SEC with senior Larry Rountree III, who has accounted for over 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in the last two seasons. 

On defense, Missouri will lean heavily on junior linebacker Nick Bolton, who will look to carry the momentum for his stellar sophomore campaign that saw 107.5 tackles, eight pass breakups, and two interceptions. 

Bolton is regarded as one of the top two returning linebackers in the SEC along with Alabama's Dylan Moses. 

One of the main matchups to watch early on in this meeting will be, can Missouri create an effective pass rush on the quarterback? 

As a whole, the Tigers only recorded 19 sacks in 2019, which was tied for 106th in the nation. Senior defensive lineman Kobie Whiteside tallied 6.5 of those sacks, and he is back for his senior season, but against a very experienced Crimson Tide offensive line, that is a tall task. 

The bottom line, for Missouri, is drawing a team like Alabama early on is probably the best course of action. Both programs will be working out some first-game jitters, and that could be one of the few reasons the Tigers keep it close.