Harpo’s Bar & Grill was packed on Tuesday night for Missouri’s first Tiger Talk of the season. With the fans coming in large numbers to hear from the players and the coach, there was just one question on every fan’s mind: the quarterback battle. Sam Horn and PSU transfer Beau Pribula have gone throw-for-throw in fall camp, leaving the fans wondering as to who gets the final nod. Now, head Coach Eli Drinkwitz has addressed this elephant in the room.

When pressed about the QB battle, he laid out his plan for the opener. “I just felt like the best way for us to decide on who is going to be the starting quarterback moving forward was for both of them to play in the game,” said Drinkwitz on the radio. “There’s no great way to do it. Somebody’s gotta run out there first.” And that plan lined up with ESPN’s Pete Thamel’s report from Tuesday: Horn and Pribula will each get a half in the season opener against Central Arkansas. But here’s where Eli Drinkwitz is put to the test with a tough call.

On August 27, Cody Carpentier shared Eli Drinkwitz’s update on Missouri’s Week 1 QB battle. “Both quarterbacks have done an excellent job of doing what we’ve asked them to do. There hasn’t been a clear difference between the two, so the next situation that makes sense is a game,“ stated Drinkwitz. And when pressed on why Beau Pribula starts and Sam Horn follows, his answer was blunt: “Someone had to go out there.” But the real moment came with his hilarious response.

Mizzou insider Joey Van Zummeren asked Drinkwitz on the coaches’ call how he’ll evaluate the QBs after the opener. And his answer stole the show. “I’ll probably just read everybody’s Twitter comment, and then based off that, I’ll come up with a decision,” joked Drinkwitz. So, Tiger fans, your tweets might just matter more than you think. But jokes aside, Pribula and Horn may be battling for the job; they’re still teammates first. Here, Drinkwitz made it clear he’s watching more than just passes and drives; he’s watching how they lift each other.

“I expect when Beau’s out there for Sam to be his biggest cheerleader, and I expect the same thing when Sam’s in the game from Beau,” he said. “We’re striving together to be the best team that we can be.” So, no matter who wins the job, Missouri’s QB won’t be short on help. “We’ve got two elite tight ends, we’ve got talented running backs and talented wide receivers,” mentioned Drinkwitz. “Now it’s about those guys going out and performing and figuring out who the best 11 combination is.” Still, an explosive offense only goes as far as its QB. That’s the reason why Drinkwitz hopes Thursday’s opener against Central Arkansas provides clarity on who his starter will be.

And in the Central Arkansas Bears, they face a team facing a similar dilemma.

Eli Drinkwitz’s Tigers come up against the Bears, with both teams facing similar issues

While Eli Drinkwitz is unable to pick one QB over another, Bears HC Nathan Brown has an even larger pool of QBs to choose from. In an interview, Brown revealed that he could use three, maybe even four, different QBs in the opener. That’s the textbook definition of ‘Spoilt for choices’. Despite Browns comments, though, Austin Myers looks like the favourite to get the starting nod. Myers even received high praise from the opposition coach, Drinkwitz.

“Really good high school football player in the state,” remarked Eli Drinkwitz. “Big, tall, got a great arm (and) size. Not a ton of film. I think he’s got less than 100 snaps, so that’s a little bit of a challenge to know exactly what the offensive identity is going to be.” Later, Brown doubled down, adding, “If we’re a conference championship playoff football team, we’re going to be talking about Austin Myers and Luther Richesson when this season’s over. You can mark my words on that.” That’s where Richesson comes in.

The Middle Tennessee transfer has already made stops at Cincinnati and Golden West Junior College, where he threw four touchdowns in 11 games while adding 231 yards on the ground. Right now, Central Arkansas could end up playing both Myers and Richesson on Thursday night, mirroring what the Tigers plan to do.