For the third time this season, Missouri football finds itself on the brink.
The Tigers’ upcoming showdown with No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday isn’t just another SEC match up. It is the latest, and perhaps
final, defining moment in a 2025 season that has already been full of them.
We’ve called games of this caliber “the biggest of the year” already this fall. First, it was Alabama. Then Vanderbilt. Now, as the Tigers prepare to host the Aggies, the stakes have risen higher than ever.
This one might truly be make-or-break.
The third “Biggest Game”
In early October, Mizzou welcomed Alabama with a 5–0 record and legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations. The Tigers fought toe-to-toe with the Crimson Tide, leading late before falling 27–24 in a gutting defeat that felt both validating and deflating.
Still, that game kept Mizzou in the national conversation. A near-win that proved the Tigers could hang with anyone.
Two weeks later came Vanderbilt, a game where the stakes were shockingly monumental considering the teams involved. After the Alabama loss, Missouri needed a clean rebound to keep its playoff hopes alive. Instead, the Tigers sputtered offensively and suffered yet another deflating defeat 17-10 in Nashville.
That second loss changed everything. It forced the Tigers out of the top 15 and into survival mode.
Now, sitting at 6–2 with four games remaining, there’s no more margin for error.
Texas A&M looms… the highest ranked opponent Mizzou has faced yet, with a defense that’s made every quarterback it has faced miserable. If the Tigers wants to keep their playoff dream alive, this game isn’t just “the next one.” It’s the one.
Let the Zollers era begin
Complicating things further, or perhaps energizing them, is the debut of freshman quarterback Matt Zollers, who will make his first career start Saturday.
Zollers, one of the most highly regarded recruits Eli Drinkwitz has brought in to Columbia, steps into the spotlight at a pivotal time. After serving as a backup for much of the season, he’s being asked to lead the Tigers through a stretch that will define not only this year’s campaign but perhaps the next several seasons of the Eli Drinkwitz era.
There’s always excitement around a new quarterback, but this situation is different. Zollers’ debut comes against a defense that leads the nation in sacks and rarely allows opposing offenses to find rhythm.
Texas A&M’s front seven, anchored by Bowling Green transfer (and native Missourian) Cashius Howell, has terrorized offensive lines all season. The Aggies average four sacks per game and thrive on collapsing pockets and forcing hurried decisions. A nightmare scenario for a young quarterback making his first start.
Yet, there’s reason for optimism in Columbia. Zollers impressed with his poise and accuracy when tossed into the second half of the game against Vanderbilt. He managed to out-pass Diego Pavia and played less than half the game.
This game is more than just an introduction for Zollers. It’s a trial by fire, a chance to show that he can be the face of the program in the most pressurized moments. If he can deliver even a steady performance, it could inject the kind of spark Mizzou’s offense desperately needs after a sluggish October.
The stakes are raised
The Tigers’ playoff path is narrow but still navigable.
At 6–2, the Tigers can theoretically finish 10–2 with wins over Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Arkansas. That resumé, coupled with an SEC schedule and the eye test of coming down to the wire with Alabama and Vandy, would put them in the playoff.
However the math is simple: lose once more, and the playoff dream dies.
Drinkwitz and his staff have been here before. Each of the past two seasons, Mizzou has flirted with SEC contention but stumbled at key junctures. What makes 2025 feel different is the depth of the league and the expanded playoff picture. Every week another contender emerges, another test arrives, another chance to either rise or fall.
The Aggies have looked like a complete team all season. Their defense is punishing, their special teams sound, and sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed has become one of the breakout stars of the SEC.
Reed’s mobility makes him especially dangerous. He’s thrown for nearly 2,000 yards and rushed for 350, turning broken plays into highlight runs and making defenses pay for over committing. For a Missouri defense that has been prone to costly mistakes leading to big plays, containing Reed will be priority number one.
If the Tigers can keep Reed in check and find offensive balance, they’ll have a chance. But that’s easier said than done.
A program-defining moment
Beyond playoff implications, this game carries symbolic weight.
Since arriving at Mizzou, Drinkwitz has preached culture, consistency and competitiveness. In his sixth season, he’s built a roster capable of winning in the SEC, recruiting at a higher level and developing NFL-caliber talent.
But what’s been missing are signature wins — the kind that turn a solid program into a feared one.
Beating Texas A&M would be that kind of win.
It would show that Missouri can not only compete with the SEC’s elite but beat them in moments that matter. It would revive postseason hopes and perhaps even signal that the next era of Mizzou football has already begun with Zollers under center.
Lose, and the Tigers fall back into the middle of the SEC pack. Talented, dangerous, but not quite ready to break through.
Win, and everything changes.
The reality of the SEC
Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the Tigers’ season underscores the unforgiving nature of the SEC. It also illustrates the opportunity the SEC provides.
No other conference in college football offers so many “biggest games.” Alabama, Georgia, Texas, A&M, LSU, Oklahoma… there is no such thing as an easy week anymore.
But that’s also what makes the SEC such fertile ground for playoff contenders. Two early-season losses don’t automatically disqualify a team the way they might elsewhere. As long as a program stays competitive and racks up quality wins, the path back into the national picture remains open.
For Mizzou, that’s both a challenge and a blessing. The Tigers’ margin for error is gone, but their opportunity for redemption is right in front of them. Four games. Four chances to change their narrative.
It starts with this game. The third “biggest game” of the year, but the first one that will truly define what this Mizzou team is. Until next week, anyway.
