Mizzou football suffers first loss of season vs. Alabama. Here are 4 takeaways
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mizzou fell 27-24 to Alabama after Pribula’s fourth-quarter interception ended comeback
- Missouri generated four sacks and seven tackles-for-loss but allowed six big pass plays
- Alabama controlled possession and third-down conversions; Missouri was hurt by penalties
It was a beautiful first drive for Mizzou.
The No. 14 Tigers needed only six plays to cover 78 yards. Beau Pribula and Ahmad Hardy led the way on the ground. Brett Norfleet caught a 26-yard touchdown pass for the game’s opening score.
Missouri made that opening march against the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide look easy.
The rest of the game was anything but that.
It was a gritty contest in front of a packed house at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium that the Tigers fought to stay in — all the way down to the last few seconds. But Pribula’s second interception of the game with 37 seconds left ended any chance of a Mizzou comeback.
Final score: Alabama 27, Mizzou 24.
“Disappointing because we had an opportunity,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said postgame. “Proud of the way our defense fought. Proud of the way our offense fought. Ultimately, we just had too many critical mistakes in critical situations to win.”
Here are four takeaways from Saturday’s top-15 showdown in Columbia ...
The final score was closer than the box score
The score looked closer than this game really was.
And the Tigers (5-1, 1-1 SEC) almost won, despite that.
The Crimson Tide (5-1, 3-0) brought their best for much of Saturday, leading the Tigers in several important categories. While the yards were fairly even — Mizzou actually led, totalling 330 to Alabama’s 325 — the Crimson tide held possession for 38:33 to Mizzou’s 21:27.
Alabama was aggressive on fourth down, going 3-for-3. Mizzou entered the last drive 1-for-2, and picked up an additional fourth down on that final series. Alabama was 6-for-15 (40%) on third down. Mizzou was 1-for-10 (10%).
Then there was the all-important quarterback battle.
Alabama’s Ty Simpson was excellent, finishing 23-for-31 for 200 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
Pribula threw for just 167 yards. He did have two passing touchdowns — plus a rushing score that tied the game early in the second half — but also two fourth-quarter interceptions, including on Mizzou’s final drive.
“We never really got him into a rhythm throwing the ball,” Drinkwitz said. “We’ve got to do a better job of developing a rhythm throwing the ball.”
By all accounts, this game could have gotten out of hand. But the Missouri defense had some big answers following turnovers that kept the Tigers afloat.
“(I) obviously wasn’t good enough,” Pribula said. “We didn’t win the game. My job is to lead scoring drives so we score more points, and I wasn’t able to do that.”
Mizzou’s defensive front remains a bright spot
The Tigers got through to Simpson for four sacks Saturday and held Alabama to 121 rushing yards.
The Mizzou defense was credited with seven tackles-for-loss. Those plays resulted in a loss of 37 yards for Alabama.
Conversely, the Crimson Tide had just two tackles-for-loss, both sacks, that resulted in minus-8 yards.
Alabama players outside of Simpson averaged around 3.5 yards per carry. And MU’s Zion Young spent plenty of time in the backfield.
That was a definite positive for MU’s squad.
Mizzou made two crushing first-quarter mistakes
Another box-score aspect that favored Alabama: The Tide committed just 30 yards of penalties. Mizzou committed 45.
Thirty-five of those yards came in the first quarter, from just three Mizzou penalties.
The most notable, of course, was safety Marvin Burks’ hit on Alabama wideout Derek Meadows that was called for targeting. Meadows had to be helped into the locker room after taking the hard hit, and Burks was ejected.
Young was also called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when Mizzou would have been defending a third-and-15. That drive turned into an Alabama touchdown.
Mizzou’s secondary gave up some big plays
Mizzou’s pass defense has been shaky throughout the season, and it ended up being one of the bigger problems in the Tigers’ first loss.
Alabama put together six explosive plays through the air for a total of 115 yards.
The biggest? Simpson, with his back against the wall on fourth-and-8 in the fourth quarter, connected with Lotzeir Brooks for 29 yards. The play put the Crimson Tide at Mizzou’s 9, and they put in the game-winning touchdown on the drive.
Alabama led 27-17, before MU’s late charge.
This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 3:12 PM.
