Instant Takeaways from No. 14 Mizzou's Loss to No. 8 Alabama

Missouri held its weight, but continued to show concerning flaws.

Oct 11, 2025; Columbia, MO, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide center Parker Brailsford (72) prepares to snap the ball against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSI

COLUMBIA, Mo. — With a chance for No. 14 Missouri to earn its first regular-season win over a top-10 team in the Eli Drinkwitz era, the Tigers fell Saturday to No. 8 Alabama, losing 27-24.

This was not a game that exposed Missouri, nor did it ruin any of the Tigers’ hopes for the season. Missouri did enough to give itself an opportunity with 1:11 remaining, but an interception ended the Tigers' chances.

But, at the very least, the loss did show that the same issues that popped up for Missouri early in the season might be just as worrying as expected. The weaknesses of this team seem to be clear and concerning.

Here’s three instant takeaways from the loss for the Tigers.

Money Downs Kill Missouri

Eli Drinkwitz knew perfectly well what a deciding factor of this game would be earlier in the week.

“What the focal point for the game is going to be is our ability to stay on the field on third downs,” Drinkwitz said Wednesday on a teleconference. “Or get off the field on third downs against a quarterback who's playing as high a level as there is in the country.”

On offense, Missouri was pitiful on those key downs. On defense, Missouri made some cruicial stops, but allowed too many others in big moments. The Tigers converted 3 of 13 of their third-down attempts, while allowing Alabama to convert 9 of 18 of theirs. 

The most important of these money downs came in the final few minutes as Missouri attempted to forge a comeback.

When Missouri trailed 20-17 with just over seven minutes remaining, the Tigers attempted a fake punt on a fourth-and-four. The snap went directly to running back Jamal Roberts, who ended up just short of the line to gain.

Needing to hold Alabama to a field goal at most, Missouri's defense brought the Crimson Tide to two fourth downs, both of which Alabama converted. On the first of which, Alabama needed eight yards, and Simpson instead delivered a perfect throw for a 29-yard gain. The other was on fourth-and-goal, where Simpson sat back in the pocket to deliver an easy one-yard touchdown pass to put Alabama up 27-17,

Simpson's ability to evade pressure and deliver accurate throws off-platform make him a tough stop on big downs.

"The quarterback makes very good decisions, not easily deceived with disguise, unaffected by pressure, ability to escape," Drinkwitz said of Simpson on Tuesday. "I think those three things make it really difficult to try to game plan  a quarterback on third down."

Oct 11, 2025; Columbia, MO, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) readies a pass in the first quarter against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSI

Without the help of an occasional chunk play, or through a turnover from its defense, Missouri struggled to piece together much consistency on defense because of the third-down challenges. The Tigers had five three-and-outs, four of which lasted fewer than two minutes.

Ironically, Missouri's defense forced a stop on the most-important third-down of the game, stuffing Alabama on a third-and-3 that forced the Crimson Tide to punt and give Missouri's offense one last chance. But, an interception from quarterback Beau Pribula ended it.

The Secondary is the Achilles Heel for the Tigers

Give credit where it’s due to Simpson, but the Missouri secondary continues to be the most alarming aspect of the entire team.

From the jump, the Crimson Tide’s receivers were able to gain plenty of separation against Missouri’s zone coverage, especially in the intermediate range of the field.

Simpson completed 23 of his 31 pass attempts, including 10 of his first 13. He completed six passes of 15 or more yards.

On Simpson's second touchdown pass of the game, Simpson stepped up in the pocket to deliver a bullet straight to wide receiver Isiah Horton, who had gained yards past two Missouri defenders.

THROWIN' 🎯@ty_simpson06 ➡️ @isaiahhorton14 pic.twitter.com/OjUM9Sdx9v

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) October 11, 2025

Pribula’s interception streak continues

Pribula extended his streak to four games with an interception, including at the biggest moment of the game.

Driving down the field with one last chance to win it with under a minute left, Pribula threw a deep ball into the hands of Alabama cornerback Dijon Lee, ending Missouri's chances.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Pribula was looking to connect with wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., but instead sailed the pass to safety Bray Hubbard.

It looked like Pribula was expecting Coleman to cut outside, instead of inside, with Coleman running in the other direction of where Pribula threw. Without knowing who is at fault, it’s difficult to place much blame on Pribula.

Oct 11, 2025; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Beau Pribula Simpson (9) rushes for a touchdown in the third quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSI

Earlier in the game, Pribula put another ball into jeopardy, throwing it into the hands of Lee, who was unable to haul it in.

Throughout the season, Pribula has had a few questionable decisions and a few poorly placed throws each game. 

Pribula spent most of Saturday running around to evade pressure. Pocket awareness and decision-making have been the two areas where Pribula has needed the most improvement.

He had some better moments in both of those areas, but still had some critical errors.