Beau Pribula returns, but win (and offense) eludes Mizzou at Oklahoma: Takeaways
A potential upset in Norman, Oklahoma? It seemed possible after the No. 22-ranked Missouri Tigers football team produced an opening drive that consumed 8 minutes, 23 seconds of game time Saturday.
With quarterback Beau Pribula back at the controls, MU football coach Eli Drinkwitz’s team marched 54 yards in 14 plays. It was an impressive possession, even if it ended in a Mizzou field goal.
The Tigers’ defense, which kept Missouri competitive in the SEC this fall while Pribula missed multiple games with an injury, did its part, too: No. 8 Oklahoma had two drives in the first quarter, and both were three-and-outs.
So for a while, at least, the question lingered: Could Mizzou actually do this? Could the Tigers really win on OU’s home turf for the first time since 1966?
No, as it turned out. Missouri would manage just one more field goal and punt the football away to the Sooners a total of seven times in a 17-6 defeat at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
The outcome certainly eliminates Mizzou (7-4) from College Football Playoff contention, but Oklahoma (9-2) is most definitely headed in that direction.
The Sooners’ first touchdown Saturday was an explosive play: Isaiah Sategna caught a pass from quarterback John Mateer at the OU 22 and took it to the house.
“Things were going well,” Drinkwitz said. “And then they hit that home-run play and that seemed to turn the whole game around.”
The game turned that fast for the Tigers. Mateer passed for two touchdowns and ran for 60 yards. MU was left to look ahead to its final regular-season contest, the annual Battle Line Rivalry against Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 29 in Fayetteville, Arkansas (2:30 p.m., SEC Network).
Until then, here are our takeaways from Saturday’s action:
Mizzou’s offensive woes
The Tigers owned the time of possession in the first half, controlling the ball for 21:33 to Oklahoma’s 8:27.
The problem for MU was turning that dominance on the clock into points on the scoreboard. Oklahoma was efficient with the ball and the Tigers were not. It was 14-6 at halftime.
Mizzou had several opportunities to add on in the first half. The Tigers made three trips into the red zone but settled for field-goal attempts each time. Two were true, one wasn’t.
The second half was even more woeful for an already stalled Tigers offense: 122 total yards, zero points. They didn’t even record any yards on nine rush attempts in the second half.
“We had zero rhythm,” Drinkwitz said. “Zero rhythm, zero creativity. ... It just didn’t work in the second half.”
The Sooners aided Missouri’s cause with seven penalties for 80 yards through three quarters. The hosts’ infractions included a pair of pass-interference calls, an unsportsmanlike conduct, a personal foul and a whistle for targeting.
“Our inability to score touchdowns in the red zone or have any kind of conversions in the third quarter,” Drinkwitz said. “Our defense gave us every chance in the world, and we just didn’t get it done.”
Quarterback Beau Pribula’s afternoon in Oklahoma
Each above-noted Sooners penalty gave the Tigers a freebie first down.
But the play that followed the targeting call against OU perhaps best summed up Pribula’s afternoon. The Tigers got the ball back, and he threw an interception (he lobbed his second pick with 23 seconds remaining in the game).
Pribula’s best moment might have come in the final quarter, when he hit receiver Kevin Coleman in stride across the goal line on a crucial fourth down ... only for the pass to drift off Coleman’s fingertips for an incompletion.
Pribula finished 20-of-36 for 231 yards and the two picks. Coleman had 115 yards on seven receptions. The Tigers just couldn’t get into the end zone, even with numerous opportunities to do so.
“Ultimately wasn’t good enough by anybody,” Drinkwitz said. “But I was really proud of the courage he showed.”
The Mizzou offensive line was a primary culprit. Pribula was sacked four times, losing the ball on one of those hits. MU needed good protection against one of the nation’s best defenses and didn’t get it.
Should Eli Drinkwitz have been more aggressive?
The Tigers faced a fourth-and-3 with just 17 seconds to play in the first half.
Let’s rewind: Earlier in the second quarter, Drinkwitz sent Robert Meyer to kick a field goal on fourth-and-3, a 35-yard shot. Drinkwitz said he felt like “they had shown too much of that play” when asked about the decision to kick.
“At that point, it’s best to just take the points,” he said.
But those points didn’t happen as Meyer’s kick was blocked.
On the next fourth down, was Drinkwitz going to reconsider the “take the points” strategy?
Drinkwitz called timeout and then opted for yet another field-goal attempt. Backup kicker Oliver Robbins made the kick, and Drinkwitz explained the decision by saying, “I didn’t want to not have any momentum going into half.”
Ultimately, yes, it was a gamble that paid off with the second make. That was no sure thing, given Missouri’s inconsistencies in the kicking game since Liberty North product Blake Craig was lost for the season in Week 1.
But the Tigers certainly needed more offense to win this game.
The effect of the Oklahoma Sooners’ defense
The Sooners’ vaunted defense was fashionably late to the party Saturday. But it eventually showed up and flexed its muscle.
The Sooners held the Tigers to 301 yards of total offense. That included just 70 on the ground, an especially impressive feat for OU given the fact that Ahmad Hardy had rushed for 300 yards against Mississippi State one week prior.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Hardy wasn’t as much of a factor in Norman. He gained 57 yards on 17 carries.
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM.
