Eli Drinkwitz Evaluates the Play of Mizzou QB Beau Pribula

Drinkwitz shared his brief thoughts on what could be Missouri's starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

Aug 28, 2025; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz stands on the field before the start of their matchup with the Central Arkansas Bears in Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Cal Tobias/MissouriOnSi

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Entering Missouri's Week 1 matchup against the Central Arkansas Bears, all eyes were on the quarterback situation. Penn State transfer Beau Pribula was slated to be the starter and play for the entirety of the first half, a plan that was quickly shifted after an injury to Sam Horn.

Pribula went on to excel as Missouri's man behind center, finishing the evening with 348 total yards and four total touchdowns. Pribula made it very clear that it would be himself who earned the starting position, which looks even more true after Horn's injury.

The Penn State transfer aided in a 61-6 win in favor of the Tigers, one that also featured 560 total offensive yards. He left head coach Eli Drinkwitz happy with where things currently stand on the Missouri offense.

"I was pleased," Drinkwitz said in a press conference after the win. "I knew he prepared well in fall camp. I tried to tell everybody that we had two quarterbacks to win football games and I fully expected that to be the case."

Though the loss of Horn hurts the depth in the quarterback room, the showing Pribula put on was promising. He showed off the dynamic athlete that most know him by, with multiple runs to back it up. He recorded 65 rushing yards and two touchdowns, one of which was flashy and exciting.

OMG BEAU PRIBULA 😱@MizzouFootball | #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/CC6tOi6IVC

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) August 29, 2025

Don't let one exciting run discount what he did by putting the ball in the air. Pribula certainly proved anyone wrong who said he was not a good thrower of the football, hitting multiple marks and tight windows. Junior Marquis Johnson became a favorite target of his, racking up 134 yards on the connection.

"I thought his ability to extend plays, I thought that one big time run was pretty headsy there," Drinkwitz said. "Then his ability to pull the ball on some zone read stuff was nice. But, I mean, he threw the ball really well, too."

The Missouri offense did start out a little slow, clearly taking a while to get into the flow of the game. Pribula's 51-yard bomb to Johnson helped loosen things up, even when the offense was moving slowly.

There were some stalling points that Drinkwitz believes need to be cleaned up, but the Tigers having a substantial lead over their FCS opponent made it a little less frustrating. That will be a point of emphasis for Week 2 and beyond.

"I just said, we got to figure out how to be more explosive while I go trying to grind out four yards pocket," Drinkwitz said.

With Horn out potentially for the foreseeable future, freshman quarterback Matt Zollers will step into that backup role, assuming Pribula ends up as the starter. That being said, it does look like Pribula has won the long-awaited quarterback competition.

Pribula, likely to be named the starter for Week 2, could lead his team into battle against the Kansas Jayhawks at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept 6.