1. We know: It’s Beau
Mizzou entered Thursday night with a, “quarterback battle,” at least in name. By a combination of circumstances, it’ll enter Friday morning with a nailed-on starting QB.
We should start with the positive, and it was just about all positive for Beau Pribula against the Bears. The once Nittany Lion looked like he’s been a Tiger for the better part of his career, running Mizzou’s offense with a little bit of flair and a whole lot of confidence. By the end of the first half, he was responsible for three
touchdowns, 255 total yards, zero turnovers, several explosive plays and pristine ball placement all over the field. Not that he needed anything else to prove himself on the night, but his second half snaps brought him to a final line of four total touchdowns – two by air, two by ground – and 348 total yards from scrimmage.
Now the bad news: Pribula’s competition, Sam Horn, barely got a chance to prove himself. Entering early for his first snap out of the wild cat, Horn exploded out of the back field for a six-yard run and promptly took a brutal hit to the knee. He limped off the field, into the injury tent and, shortly thereafter, into the locker room. While he was supposed to take the second half snaps, he instead spent that time in a full leg brace. It’s hard to feel anything but gutted for the long-time signal-caller.
Obviously there will be more dynamic defenses, and it’s not as if Pribula will much competition from true freshman Matt Zollers. But based on the tape, Mizzou has to feel pretty good about the guy they’ve got leading the team moving forward.
2. New Tigers look good…
It wasn’t just Pribula who looked good in his Mizzou debut. From true freshmen to transfers, a host of first-time Tigers proved impactful. Let’s just run through a few:
- Ahmad Hardy rushed for a clean 100 yards on 10 carries for one score.
- Damon Wilson was a menace off the edge, getting home for two sacks and hurrying the QB many, many more times.
- Josiah Trotter led the Tigers in tackles with eight while grabbing a tackle for loss of his own.
- Kevin Coleman was a possession machine, catching 6 balls for 48 yards.
- Donovan Olugbode got some early reps with the first team and ended up with four catches for 37 yards.
- True freshman Dante McClellan took home a pick six in the fourth quarter.
- Despite a messy night from the line, right tackle Keagan Trost largely looked imperious.
Mizzou was aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason, looking to plug the holes left behind by long-time starters and rotation players. It’s only one game against an FCS team, but the new guys made an immediate impact. That’s all you can ask for.
3. … and old Tigers too!
Let’s not leave out some of the “old” heads who Mizzou is expecting to make a leap in 2025. Another quick rundown:
- Marquis “Speedy” Johnson, who is out to prove he can be the top dawg in the wide receiver room, looked explosive against Central Arkansas’s secondary, grabbing five balls for 134 yards and a score. He could’ve had two more scores if not for both an underthrown and overthrown ball.
- After an up-and-down senior year, Connor Tollison started off his encore campaign with a clean game. No penalties, no botched snaps, effective blocking. That’s what you want from your veteran center.
- Sophomore Nicholas Rodriguez, who tallied nine tackles as a true freshman, got his second season started off right with fur tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
- Blake Craig was a perfect 5/5 from the spot, including a 55-yard bomb in the first half.
New players are great to have, but development is still the backbone of championship programs.
4. Plenty to clean up
As is expected for a first game, even in a dominant win over an FCS win, there are plenty of things for the staff to clean up. The offensive line was tagged for three penalties – two on All-American Cayden Green – while both Santana Banner and Toriano Pride were nailed for pass interference calls. The offensive line, while keeping the pocket clean for most of the night, struggled for a series when the Bears ran some stunts and put pressure on Pribula in a few consecutive snaps. And while it’s difficult to fault the defense for a performance that shut out the Bears until the last minute of the game, they showed some struggles in containing Central Arkansas’ mobile quarterback.
When taken in the context of the game, nothing too serious. But the competition heats up quick this season, and the Tigers will want to cut back on simple mistakes ahead of next week’s Border War revival.
5. Check it off the list
If the goal of any Week One performance is three-fold – win comfortably, avoid injuries, identify some opportunities for improvement – then Mizzou can look at Thursday night as a three-tiered success (Sam Horn’s injury notwithstanding.) They covered the spread easily, got plenty of reps for the youngsters and got out of dodge largely intact.
Time to get a few extra days of recovery ahead of next weekend’s visit from the vermin.
