The big news for Mizzou fans this week is about quarterback Beau Pribula. The former Penn State QB’s currently listed as “doubtful” for Saturday’s game against Jeff Lebby’s Mississippi State after being named as ruled out yesterday. (Per Mizzou insider Zach Sweet) Interestingly, this is actually a positive update, as he was completely “out” on last week’s initial report after suffering a dislocated left ankle against Vanderbilt.

However, if Pribula can’t suit up, the starting job falls to true freshman Matt Zollers. This will be his second career start. His first start came last week in a tough loss to the No. 3 ranked Texas A&M. It was a learning for the young QB and a nightmare for the Mizzou fans. Zoller threw for 77 passing yards on 7-of-22 of total passes.

The only good about Zollers, while he’s only thrown for 290 yards total this season, he hasn’t thrown a pick yet. Mizzou will be leaning on him heavily not to upset Mizzou fans again if Pribula doesn’t strap up. Makes sense. Pribula has been solid this year, with a nearly 70% completion rate, 1,685 passing yards, and 11 touchdowns in eight games, so not having him at 100% to give this weekend is a big blow for the Tigers’ offense.

Outside of the quarterback situation, Missouri’s dealing with a handful of other injuries. Defensive lineman Langden Kitchen, kicker Blake Craig, and backup quarterback Sam Horn are all ruled out. Meanwhile, starting tight end Brett Norfleet, who sat out last week with a shoulder injury, is listed as questionable and could be a game-time decision.

Mizzou ranks pretty well on offense (between 10th and 15th in the nation), but they’re dealing with a negative turnover margin that they’ll need to clean up against a turnover-happy Bulldogs team.

HC Eli Drinkwitz shutting down ‘Playoff or Bust’ mentality

In the new 12-team College Football Playoff era, a lot of the convo in college football revolves around who’s in the running for a playoff spot and who isn’t. That constant focus on playoff contenders has created a “playoff or bust” mindset among fans and analysts. For many programs, anything lesser than playoffs is technically a bust. And Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz isn’t having it.

“I talked about this at SEC Media Days, but we’ve got to get out of this ‘Oh man, it’s playoff or bust’ mentality,” Drinkwitz said during his Tiger Talk radio show. “Yes, we’re shooting for the moon, we’re going to put our whole selves into that, but only 12 teams make the playoffs… If the season only counts for 12 football teams, and we have 127 Division 1 playing football teams, that math is not going to math very well.” According to Eli, success shouldn’t be measured only by making the playoff.

Right now, Missouri sits at 6-3 on the season with plenty still on the line. The Tigers will celebrate Senior Day this weekend in their final home game of the year this weekend. Even though the playoff picture is likely out of reach, Drinkwitz and his team still have a chance to touch 9 wins this season. A win on Saturday would secure Missouri’s 4rd straight season with at least seven victories.