2025 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 6: Missouri

The Crimson Tide will play in front of a full house in Columbia for the first time since 2012 this season. BamaCentral takes a deeper look.

Oct 26, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) scrambles for a first down against the Missouri Tigers during the second half at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-Imagn Images / Butch Dill-Imagn Images

The Alabama Crimson Tide heads to Columbia for its sixth game of the season looking to avoid a classic "trap game" scenario. Sandwiched in between matchups with Vanderbilt and Tennessee, the Missouri Tigers look to make their mark on the 2025 college football season by capping off a six-game home stand with an upset victory.

Alabama hasn't been to Faurot Field since COVID-19 significantly altered the 2020 season, making this season's trip the first time the Crimson Tide will play in front of a full house in Columbia since 2012.

Both programs feature new starting quarterbacks as Brady Cook and Jalen Milroe have both moved into the NFL but with five games under their belt each side will have a good idea of what their new signal-caller can do.

Can Missouri take advantage of an early kickoff time and possibly fly under Alabama's radar to pull off a monumental upset?

Let's take a look at the Tigers as Alabama kickoff is 71 days away.

Offense:

Missouri's offense is full of question marks at its skill positions, beginning with the most important position, quarterback. Will Eli Drinkwitz lean on Penn State transfer Beau Pribula or turn to longtime Tiger Sam Horn? Horn's been in the system since 2022 but missed last season with an injury and has flirted with a future in baseball. Pribula played in 23 games for Penn State, passing for 424 yards and nine touchdowns with one interception as a backup over the last two seasons.

The Tigers are also relying heavily on Louisiana-Monroe transfer Ahmad Hardy as the top three rushers from 2024 exhausted their eligibility. Hardy rushed for 1,351 yards and 13 touchdowns as a freshman and looks to continue the Tigers' success in finding productive backs from smaller colleges.

Missouri returns Marquis Johnson and tight end Brett Norfleet as its top two pass catchers, but the pair combined for 587 yards in 2024 as the Tigers' third and fifth options in the passing game. They added Kevin Coleman Jr. out of the transfer portal by way of Louisville and Mississippi State. He's hauled in 100 receptions for 1294 and eight touchdowns over the past two seasons.

The Tigers do have extensive experience along the offensive line as its interior of Cayden Green and Logan Reichert appeared in nearly every game last season. They welcome Johnny Williams IV and Keagen Trost out of the transfer portal to man the tackles.

Defense:

Corey Batoon returns for his second season at the helm looking to lead the unit to another strong season. The Tigers held teams to 317.5 yards per game and returns a handful of leaders, while adding a few interesting transfers.

Missouri brings back star linebacker graduate Triston Newson who was second on the team in tackles in 2024. Newson recorded 71 stops with seven tackles for a loss, he'll have a new linebacker partner in West Virginina transfer Josiah Trotter. Trotter made 92 tackles for the Mountaineers last season, making the pair one of the more formidable SEC duos entering the year.

Batoon returns Zion Young and went into the portal for Georgia transfer Damon Wilson II. Young had 42 tackles with 2.5 sacks in 2024, while Wilson made 22 stops with three sacks for the Dawgs.

Dreyden Norwood and Toriano Pride return in the secondary as starting cornerbacks. The Tigers held teams under 200 yards passing per game last season and added transfers Stephen Hall from Washington State and Jalen Catalon from UNLV by way of Texas and Arkansas.

Schedule:

Missouri's schedule is unique in the fact that the Tigers play their first six games at home, culminating in the matchup with the Crimson Tide. The schedule sets up for early success, playing all four its its non-conference opponents and welcoming South Carolina for the program's first league game of the year. Challenging road games at Auburn and Oklahoma serve as obvious hurdles but if Drinkwitz can integrate his new talent from the transfer portal his schedule presents an opportunity for a third straight double-digit win season.

Outlook:

The Tigers must settle on a quarterback as soon as possible. Beau Pribula was brought in and most of the attention is on the Penn State transfer. Can he hold off Sam Horn and seize control of the offense? To do so, he'll need to build an early rapport with a brand new receiving corps.

Missouri is fortunate in that nearly all of its toughest games on paper come at Faurot Field. The Tigers welcome South Carolina, Alabama and Texas A&M, three programs that gave them fits in 2024, as they look to qualify for the College Football Playoff.

The Game

Date: Oct. 11, 2025

Time: 11 a.m. CT

TV: ABC or ESPN

Location: Faurot Field

Series history: Alabama leads series 6-2 with the first matchup occurring on Dec. 28, 1968.

Last meeting: Alabama defeated Missouri 34-0 in 2024. The Crimson Tide's offense started slowly but got rolling by dominating the ground game, rushing for 271 yards and four touchdowns. Alabama's defense held the Tigers under 100 yards passing as starting quarterback Brady Cook was knocked out of the matchup with injury and Drew Pyne struggled, throwing three interceptions to the Crimson Tide secondary. Alabama limited Luther Burden II to just two receptions for 15 yards as the program got back on track after losing on the road to Tennessee.

The Team

Coach: Eli Drinkwitz, sixth season, 38-24 at Missouri

Offensive coordinator: Kirby Moore (First season as OC, third season on staff)

Defensive coordinator: Corey Baton (Second season)

2024-25 record: 10-3 (5-3 SEC)

2024 rankings: 63rd (total offense, 389.5 ypg), 17th (total defense, 317.5 ypg)

Returning Starters

13 (five on offense, eight on defense)

Players to Watch

LB Triston Newson, OL Cayden Green, WR Marquis Johnson, RB Ahmad Hardy, CB Toriano Pride,

Top Newcomer

The Tigers brought in quarterback Beau Pribula to presumably take over for a departing Brady Cook. Pribula's been a career backup at Penn State, but looks to prove himself in the SEC in Drinkwitz's versatile offense. The defense welcomed edge rusher Damon Wilson from Georgia to give the Tigers some danger. Wilson saw an opportunity for a bigger role at Missouri and provides a pass-rushing threat opposite Zion Young.

Biggest Question

Can Eli Drinkwitz find a new quarterback and sustain the success over the last two seasons?

The School

Location: Columbia, Missouri

Founded: 1839

Enrollment: 31,543 (2024)

Nickname: Tigers

Colors: Old gold and black

Mascot: Truman the Tigers

The Program

Last Time Beat Alabama: September 8, 1975 (20-7 in Birmingham)

Last Time Won SEC: Never

National championships: None claimed

Playoff appearances: None

Conference Championships: 15 total conference titles (12 Big Eight: 1909, 1913, 1919, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1945, 1960, 1969, 3 WIUFA: 1893, 1894, 1895)

Bowl Record: 17-20

Last season missing bowl game: 2020

Heisman winners: None

2025 NFL Draft

• Tackle Armand Membou: New York Jets, first round, 7th overall
• WR Luther Burden III: Chicago Bears, second round, 39th overall
• Tackle Marcus Bryant: New England Patriots, seventh round, 220th overall

Last Four Recruiting Class Rankings

No. 14 (2025), No. 21 (2024), No. 32 (2023), No. 18 (2022)

The Schedule

August 28: Central Arkansas
September 6: Kansas
September 13: Louisiana
September 20: South Carolina
September 27: UMass
October 4: BYE
October 11: Alabama
October 18: at Auburn
October 25: at Vanderbilt
November 1: BYE
November 8: Texas A&M
November 15: Mississippi State
November 22: at Oklahoma
November 29: at Arkansas

This is the sixth story in BamaCentral's summer preview series of all 12 regular season opponents for Alabama football in 2025. Ensuing stories will be published throughout June and early July.

• 2025 Alabama Football Opponent Preview, Game 1: Florida State
• 2025 Alabama Football Opponent Preview, Game 2: Louisiana-Monroe
• 2025 Alabama Football Opponent Preview, Game 3: Wisconsin
• 2025 Alabama Football Opponent Preview, Game 4: Georgia
• 2025 Alabama Football Opponent Preview, Game 5: Vanderbilt

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