The Alabama Crimson Tide heads to Columbia for its sixth game of the season looking to avoid a classic “trap game” scenario. Sandwiched in between matchups with Vanderbilt and Tennessee, the Missouri Tigers look to make their mark on the 2025 college football season by capping off a six-game home stand with an upset victory.
Alabama hasn’t been to Faurot Field since COVID-19 significantly altered the 2020 season, making this season’s trip the first time the Crimson Tide will play in front of a full house in Columbia since 2012.
Both programs feature new starting quarterbacks as Brady Cook and Jalen Milroe have both moved into the NFL but with five games under their belt each side will have a good idea of what their new signal-caller can do.
Can Missouri take advantage of an early kickoff time and possibly fly under Alabama’s radar to pull off a monumental upset?
Let’s take a look at the Tigers as Alabama kickoff is 71 days away.
Missouri’s offense is full of question marks at its skill positions, beginning with the most important position, quarterback. Will Eli Drinkwitz lean on Penn State transfer Beau Pribula or turn to longtime Tiger Sam Horn? Horn’s been in the system since 2022 but missed last season with an injury and has flirted with a future in baseball. Pribula played in 23 games for Penn State, passing for 424 yards and nine touchdowns with one interception as a backup over the last two seasons.
The Tigers are also relying heavily on Louisiana-Monroe transfer Ahmad Hardy as the top three rushers from 2024 exhausted their eligibility. Hardy rushed for 1,351 yards and 13 touchdowns as a freshman and looks to continue the Tigers’ success in finding productive backs from smaller colleges.
Missouri returns Marquis Johnson and tight end Brett Norfleet as its top two pass catchers, but the pair combined for 587 yards in 2024 as the Tigers’ third and fifth options in the passing game. They added Kevin Coleman Jr. out of the transfer portal by way of Louisville and Mississippi State. He’s hauled in 100 receptions for 1294 and eight touchdowns over the past two seasons.
The Tigers do have extensive experience along the offensive line as its interior of Cayden Green and Logan Reichert appeared in nearly every game last season. They welcome Johnny Williams IV and Keagen Trost out of the transfer portal to man the tackles.
Corey Batoon returns for his second season at the helm looking to lead the unit to another strong season. The Tigers held teams to 317.5 yards per game and returns a handful of leaders, while adding a few interesting transfers.
Missouri brings back star linebacker graduate Triston Newson who was second on the team in tackles in 2024. Newson recorded 71 stops with seven tackles for a loss, he’ll have a new linebacker partner in West Virginina transfer Josiah Trotter. Trotter made 92 tackles for the Mountaineers last season, making the pair one of the more formidable SEC duos entering the year.
Batoon returns Zion Young and went into the portal for Georgia transfer Damon Wilson II. Young had 42 tackles with 2.5 sacks in 2024, while Wilson made 22 stops with three sacks for the Dawgs.
Dreyden Norwood and Toriano Pride return in the secondary as starting cornerbacks. The Tigers held teams under 200 yards passing per game last season and added transfers Stephen Hall from Washington State and Jalen Catalon from UNLV by way of Texas and Arkansas.
Missouri’s schedule is unique in the fact that the Tigers play their first six games at home, culminating in the matchup with the Crimson Tide. The schedule sets up for early success, playing all four its its non-conference opponents and welcoming South Carolina for the program’s first league game of the year. Challenging road games at Auburn and Oklahoma serve as obvious hurdles but if Drinkwitz can integrate his new talent from the transfer portal his schedule presents an opportunity for a third straight double-digit win season.
The Tigers must settle on a quarterback as soon as possible. Beau Pribula was brought in and most of the attention is on the Penn State transfer. Can he hold off Sam Horn and seize control of the offense? To do so, he’ll need to build an early rapport with a brand new receiving corps.
Missouri is fortunate in that nearly all of its toughest games on paper come at Faurot Field. The Tigers welcome South Carolina, Alabama and Texas A&M, three programs that gave them fits in 2024, as they look to qualify for the College Football Playoff.
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This is the sixth story in BamaCentral’s summer preview series of all 12 regular season opponents for Alabama football in 2025. Ensuing stories will be published throughout June and early July.
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