The Missouri Tigers had yet to name a permanent starting quarterback entering their week one matchup against Central Arkansas. The plan was to have Penn State transfer Beau Pribula play the first half, and longtime Tiger Sam Horn take over in the second.
Those plans were changed.
On the Tigers’ second drive of the game, Horn was inserted under center 20:13 game minutes earlier than expected. Horn kept the ball on a read option and rushed upfield for six yards, where he was met with a big hit at the 36-yard line by Central Arkansas safety Dude Person.
Horn was slow to get up, eventually rising and being helped off the field by trainers. He headed to the tent, then the locker room and was later spotted with a brace and crutches in the tunnel.
“Just devastated,” head coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “You hurt for a young man, because last year was taken away from him for a different reason, and now this year, he’s going to have to face another injury.”
Through tough times, Horn’s team will have his back.
“There’s something that wears you down mentally in those things,” Drinkwitz said. “So you can’t second-guess it. You just gotta face it every day, and we’ll face it with him.”
There’s currently no timeline for return or diagnosis for Horn’s injury, but his untimely injury combined with Pribula’s strong play, likely puts an end to Horn’s aspirations as the potential starter.
In Pribula’s first drive with the team, he launched a 51-yard touchdown pass –– the longest of his career –– to junior wide receiver Marquis Johnson.
This was Johnson’s first game since his mother, Denise Bell, passed away.
“Marquis told the team after practice yesterday he was going to need them,” Drinkwitz said. “As a team, we just all said, ‘Hey, we got you’ … he was crying, and when he walked in, and we just told him to focus one moment at a time. We knew Miss Denise wanted to watch him play tonight.”
With his mother heavy on his mind, Johnson racked up a career-high 134 receiving yards on five catches.
During Pribula’s fourth drive, Person and cornerback Sean Smith knocked his helmet off, forcing Pribula to the sideline for a play. True freshman Matt Zollers would take the snap in his place, handing the ball off to Hardy for his first play as a Tiger.
Zollers then exited the field, letting Pribula resume his position under center.
In his first career start, Pribula would finish with career highs across the board with 283 passing yards, 65 rushing yards and four total touchdowns, finishing 23-for-28 on passing attempts. He also led Missouri on two impressive 99-yard drives, capping one of them with a touchdown pass to junior tight end Brett Norfleet, and the second with a 1-yard handoff to sophomore Ahmad Hardy.
Pribula spread the love in the pass game, as five Tigers finished with at least two catches, and an additional three hauling in one. Leading the pack in receptions was Mississippi State transfer Kevin Coleman Jr., who seemed to be Pribula’s favorite target –– totaling six catches for 48 yards.
As for the ground game, Hardy split carries with redshirt sophomore Jamal Roberts in the first half before firmly taking over in the third quarter and finishing the game with 100 yards on 10 carries.
Zollers returned to the game with the score 40-0 late in the third quarter, eventually leading a 64-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 40-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Jude James.
Despite the high offensive output, Missouri’s offensive line had apparent struggles –– allowing multiple hurries and pressures throughout the game. The Tigers switched up the starting unit just over a week before the season opener, shifting Preseason All-SEC guard Cayden Green from left guard to left tackle, sending redshirt junior Jayven Richardson to the bench and moving redshirt junior Curtis Peagler up to the starting right guard position.
On the defensive side of the ball, highly anticipated Georgia transfer Damon Wilson II lived in the backfield, racking up two sacks and two tackle-for-losses –– both of which led the team. With the score 54-0 late in the fourth quarter, freshman linebacker Dante McClellan recorded his first interception as a Tiger –– picking off quarterback Luther Richesson and returning it 83 yards for a touchdown.
For Wilson, when asked about what it meant to see a young guy like McClellan make a big play early in his career, he claimed McClellan called his shot.
“You know what’s crazy?” Wilson said. “The play before that, [McClellan] literally called it out. He said, ‘I’m going to get a pick.’”
After a few more minutes of game time, the final buzzer sounded with the Tigers leading 61-6.
With the season opener –– and presumably, the decision of the long-term starting quarterback –– out of the way, Missouri can now turn its focus to the Border War matchup against the Kansas Jayhawks, set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT at Faurot Field.
Copy edited by Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Chase Pray | [email protected]
