Call it hype or pressure. But here came some big news for Eli Drinkwitz’s Missouri Tigers. Analyst Nate Edwards projected, “I believe the playoff is going to expand and force-feed four SEC teams into the thing. Which, regardless of my politics on that, kind of feels like Missouri is going to be one of the top 4 teams in the SEC at some point.” 

But turns out that before punching the playoffs ticket, Drinkwitz has got some important unfinished business. After all, the Tigers are still in a dilemma about their starting quarterback for the 2025 season. On one hand, there is Beau Pribula, whom Drinkwitz paid $1.5 million to switch from Penn State. On the other hand, there is Drinkwitz’s returner, Sam Horn Jr. As the void looms, a Missouri insider shared her take on the quarterback situation.  

On the August 11th episode of the TexAgs podcast, the host brought Mizzou insider Kylee Hansen as the guest. Given the buzz has picked up for Pribula to hold the starter’s role, Hansen shared her take. She said, “I as much as you want to say when you pay 1.5 million for someone to come from Penn State and come to your school and be this quarterback. Him [Pribula] and Sam Horn, who was also just drafted into the MLB. So there are a lot of questions there, with which one is he really more focused on? You want to say it’s Beau Pribula, but honestly, in fall camp, they are splitting reps. They both essentially looked pretty much the exact same, had the same struggles, and stuff like that. But one of the biggest questions with Beau is, can he pass?”

Right now, the Tigers squad is left with a Brady Cook-sized crater to fill. He hardly gave Drinkwitz any reasons to worry about the quarterback position. In his three-year stint, Cook came up with 8,304 yards and 44 touchdowns, along with 1,073 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns. On the contrary, Pribula logged only 38 passing attempts across 13 games, completing 26 of them, which brings his completion percentage to 74.3%. Meanwhile, Horn did not throw any passes in the 2024 season. 

The stats might be in front of Drinkwitz, but he is yet to make the call. As the insider shared, “But right now, I really think it’s a true competition. As much as you want to say it’s Beau Pribula, I genuinely think that Coach Drinkwitz does not know who his quarterback will be. I was talking to John Anderson, who is an ESPN anchor. He works at Mizzou now, but he said he talked to Drinkwitz and said he said that he really truly also does not know who his quarterback is going to be.” Looks like things got more confusing for Drinkwitz.

Beau Pribula’s $1.5 million check making the head coach seat hot

The Missouri head coach might have been looking forward to the fall camp to differentiate between Pribula and Horn. But looks like Drinkwitz is yet to come out of the labyrinth. Initially, he had a blueprint handy for the quality check he was about to run for his quarterback duo. On the KOMU 8 Sports podcast, Drinkwitz shared, “I think it’s really important to see quarterbacks who can get us in the end zone. Individual stats don’t matter as much.” The next criterion?

“And the second thing is decision-making. Consistent decision making. Football is not free from error. They’re going to make mistakes. But how limited are those mistakes?” noted Drinkwitz. But both quarterbacks did a good job during the fall camp. A disheartened yet happy head coach shared, “Right there at the end of the game, Sam (Horn) gave his group a chance with the field goal, and the field goal didn’t convert. But then right there, Beau (Pribula) took them down and scored a touchdown. So it was a good job by both quarterbacks. So, it was good for both quarterbacks. Was really looking to see some separation today, and I honestly just didn’t see it.” Now, the question remains: Will Drinkwitz’s $1.5 million investment go in vain?

Beau Pribula had a dramatic exit from Penn State. Turns out that James Franklin was willing to go to any extent to keep the quarterback locked in with the Nittany Lions for a little longer. Even though the present narrative around Pribula revolves around the $1.5 million NIL check, it was taken care of by his agent and brother, Cade. As he shared to Adam Breneman, “My criteria was football… Cade and my agent, on the other hand, they were like, that was different. But I had zero conversations about money with anybody.” All eyes are now on the quarterback as he makes his Mizzou debut in the season opener against Central Arkansas on Aug. 28.