‘All is not lost’ for Mizzou Tigers. But they must learn these lessons from Alabama
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mizzou surrendered momentum after key penalties, enabling Alabama's rally.
- MU matched Alabama physically but suffered costly turnovers and third‑down failures.
- CFP hopes remain, but discipline, play-calling and execution demand urgent fixes.
Befitting the first matchup between top-15 teams at Faurot Field since 1979, the 18th straight sellout here made for what University of Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz on Saturday aptly called an “incredible” atmosphere.
And it was at the peak of a fever pitch minutes into a momentous opportunity for 14th-ranked MU.
Fresh off dissecting No. 8 Alabama on its opening drive to take a 7-0 lead, Mizzou muzzled the Crimson Tide on its first two plays to leave it facing an apparent third-and-15 at its own 17.
But the tone and dynamic changed with the ultimate unforced error: an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Zion Young for taunting after the play.
Enabled by that silly and gratuitous reprieve and Young’s offside on a third-and-5 later in the drive, Alabama promptly tied it and rattled off 17 straight points on the way to a 27-24 victory.
Who’s to say where this game would have gone if not for that particular gift among others Mizzou (5-1) provided?
But it sure would have been intriguing to see how it all might have unfurled from there if not for the fatal flaws in MU’s game.
Because in many ways this had the makings of a scene that belonged in the pantheon of MU’s most significant wins: the first home win in a top-15 matchup in 50 years and as the first victory over Alabama in that span.
Instead, it was relegated to yet another anticlimactic episode of What Might Have Been.
“Ultimately, we just had too many critical mistakes in critical situations to win,” Drinkwitz said.
That’s the real bummer here: the squandered opportunity against a team, a name and a program that the Tigers were almost entirely comparable with physically.
And letting sift through their hands a potential win that likely would have lifted them into a top-10 ranking and early inside track to one of 12 College Football Playoff berths.
When I asked Drinkwitz his overall feeling about the game, he first said “heartbreak and disappointment.” He said there was no consolation in playing Alabama close, and that Mizzou will “learn our lessons and leave the event. We’re not going to sit here and pout and make it more than it was.”
As he continued on with points about what went awry, he casually dropped in what stood out to me.
“We had,” he said, “a good enough football team.”
That was apparent in several facets of the game, including the eye test for starters. MU outgained Alabama 330-325, averaged 5.9 yards a play and sacked Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson four times — including Young forcing a fumble that led to an early third-quarter touchdown that tied the game 17-17.
That’s the sort-of-good news.
Trouble is, it’s not just about matching up physically.
It’s about discipline and execution and meeting the moments emotionally.
And Mizzou undid itself along the way.
With a targeting penalty that jumpstarted Alabama’s second series, which became a touchdown drive.
And by going 1-for-10 on third-down conversions while allowing the Crimson Tide to convert 3-of-3 fourth-down attempts.
With Beau Pribula throwing two interceptions, including the one that essentially ended the game when MU had one last chance to rally. And by giving Ahmad Hardy, the nation’s leading rusher, nearly 10 fewer carries (12) than he’s been averaging (21).
A lot goes into all that, starting with coaching.
Some will blame coaching in other ways: the failed fake punt and onside kick in the fourth quarter.
But there was a good reason for each call … even if I’d rather see MU run the fake punt to the wide side of the field than into the near sideline: That factored into why Jamal Roberts was ruled to be knocked out of bounds a yard short of the four he needed on a spot that was hard to conclusively judge by any replay angle.
Here’s why the move still made sense: With just over 7 minutes left and trailing 20-17 at its own 37, Mizzou was sputtering offensively and had just fended off Alabama following Pribula’s first interception.
Drinkwitz said Alabama had its punt-return defensive set, a look MU liked for the fake, and he believed (and I agree) MU needed to do something to tilt the game.
What he couldn’t count on was that Alabama after the stop would convert a fourth-and-8 and fourth-and-1 to take a 27-17 lead with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left.
Somehow, though, it wasn’t over yet.
Led by Pribula, MU went 75 yards in 1:37 to cut it to 27-24 with 1:39 and all three timeouts left.
The onside kick failed, but the logic was spot-on: It was essentially an extra chance to get the ball back. And whether you recover the kick or not, you still have to force a three-and-out at whatever part of the field the opponent is on.
As it happened, MU did just that and had the ball back at its own 18 just 22 seconds later.
But the tantalizing scenario fizzled out when Pribula’s pass for Donovan Olugbode sailed over him and was intercepted by Alabama’s Dijon Lee Jr. — punctuating the ending with a certain symbolic symmetry of the way this day went.
A team that was good enough to do something special, a team that entered the game tied for the fifth-best winning percentage in the nation (.839) in the last two-plus seasons, wasted a fertile opportunity.
What the Tigers take from it will be the real measure of this day.
Because the CFP still is in reach, especially considering MU’s rugged schedule ahead even as the margin for error is reduced.
“We lost,” Drinkwitz said, “but all is not lost.”
But there needs to be some soul-searching self-scouting this week.
Over how and why they abandoned Hardy and perhaps overexposed Pribula.
What went wrong on those Alabama fourth-down conversions, especially the two on its final touchdown.
And, maybe most of all, how to keep their players poised and smart in the sort of spotlight Mizzou still will stand in over the coming weeks.
Because there’s every chance to convert this game into something more ahead for a program with a lot going for it but a key step yet to take.
This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 6:17 PM.