There are moments in football that stop you cold. What happened to Beau Pribula on Saturday afternoon in Nashville was one of them. The No. 15 Missouri quarterback took the snap on fourth-and-goal from the Vanderbilt 2-yard line with the game tied 3-3 early in the third quarter. He tried to punch it in himself and got his ankle dislocated. Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said after the game that Beau Pribula’s ankle “had to be popped back in.” That dislocation is expected to keep him out for at least the rest of the regular season.​

What happened next in the Missouri locker room says everything about the leader Connor Tollison is. The Tigers’ starting center had been through this exact nightmare less than a year ago. So when Beau Pribula went down, true freshman Matt Zollers suddenly had to take over the offense against a top-10 opponent. Connor Tollison knew exactly what both of them needed to hear.

To Zollers, his message was simple and direct: “Whatever you need me to do, let me know. Do your thing, I’m here for you the whole way.” And to Pribula, who was watching his season slip away on a single play, Connor Tollison’s words carried the weight of someone who’d lived that pain, “You don’t deserve this, you shouldn’t be in this situation.”​

Connor Tollison’s empathy for Pribula ran deep. “You never want to see the opportunity to play football stripped away,” he told reporters after Missouri’s 17-10 loss. “I was in the same situation last year, and it was not fun, so I have a lot of heart for him.” But there was also an understanding that the team had to move forward immediately, and that meant lifting up Matt Zollers. 

Tollison praised the freshman’s makeup, saying, “Matt’s, you know, fearlessness, courage, like he’s going to lay his life out for the team, just like Beau did.” That kind of vocal support from a veteran leader like Tollison meant everything to a freshman suddenly thrust into the biggest moment of his young career.​

And you know what? Matt Zollers nearly pulled it off. The 6-foot-4 quarterback showed zero fear after entering the game with 11:12 left in the third quarter. He went 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. The game came down to the final play. A Hail Mary from Matt Zollers that landed in the hands of receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. at the goal line, only to be ruled 1 yard short after review. “Really proud of him,” Drinkwitz said. “The moment wasn’t too big for him.”

Pribula’s injury was brutal to watch. His ankle twisted grotesquely under the weight, and he immediately grabbed for it in pain. Trainers brought out the air cast within minutes. He was carted off to a standing ovation from both fan bases. For the Tigers, who fell to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the SEC, the loss was painful. But losing Pribula was devastating. At least they know they have a freshman who can play. And a leader in Tollison who’ll make sure that the freshman knows the entire offensive line has his back.​

Shifting the goalposts

The math is brutal, but Eli Drinkwitz wasn’t going to sugarcoat it. With two losses in SEC play, Missouri’s path to the conference championship game essentially evaporated in Nashville. The head coach knew his team needed to hear that reality straight up. But losing Pribula and falling short against Vanderbilt didn’t kill Missouri’s season. It just changed what they’re playing for. Drinkwitz made that crystal clear in his postgame message.

“Really proud of the fight,” Drinkwitz told his team. “That’s what this game is. They’re one-play games. We’re going to be disappointed in three or four plays that we had opportunities to win, and we didn’t get it done. They’re going to have to fight.” Then came the reality check.

“The reality of it is, like I told them in there, we’re probably not playing for the conference championship now with two losses, but we’re darn sure playing for the playoffs.” That’s the honesty that resonates with a team that just had its world flipped upside down. And it’s exactly what guys like Connor Tollison and Matt Zollers needed to hear. Just the truth that there’s still a lot to play for at 6-2.​

Watching Zollers nearly pull off a miracle comeback in his first real action, and seeing Tollison step up as a vocal leader for both the injured Pribula and the freshman who had to replace him, there’s plenty of reason to believe this team can still make noise in the playoff race. It’s just going to take taking it “one play, one game, one day at a time.”​