ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Tigers' starting quarterback revealed himself to the rest of the team, but it wasn’t the way anyone at Mizzou would’ve hoped. Injury played into it, but  still deserves credit. He grabbed the reins and didn’t let go on Thursday night.

Unfortunately, circumstances prevented Sam Horn from getting a chance to provide a corresponding salvo.

Missouri played three quarterbacks in the first half of its season opener, but it wasn’t part of some grand design. Horn came in for a single play, a run up the middle for a gain of six yards. After which, he got to his feet briefly and then crumpled to the turf.

Members of the training staff helped Horn off the field and then back toward the locker room area as Pribula led the team on a third consecutive scoring drive on the way to a 61-6 rout of Central Arkansas at Faurot Field in Memorial Stadium in front of a capacity crowd of 57,321 in the Mizzou season opener.

The night should have served as a public showcase for the quarterback battle, as Pribula and Horn took their competition out in front of the crowd and the cameras. Instead, the battle we were promised ended anticlimactically.

On the other hand, we got answers about whether Pribula had it in him to be more than a gimmick QB, a runner, or a change-of-pace option strictly to be paired with a true passer.

Penn State liked and trusted Pribula enough to find spots to play him, but he was blocked from the starting job by .

Mizzou clearly liked him enough to lure him away from Penn State via the transfer portal, but Pribula didn’t win the starting job outright in camp. Pribula and Horn remained in a stalemate that prompted head coach Eli Drinkwitz to head into the opener with a plan to play both QBs and continue the evaluation process.

Well, Pribula showed he can play quarterback and pass the ball at a high level for a Power 4 football program. He proved that he’s capable of leading them on the field in game action.

“I think the build-up of this week, you know, it’s something I’ve been waiting for for a long time — just an opportunity like this,� Pribula said. “I was just extremely excited. I was a little jittery in the hotel. But once I got to the stadium, I was really excited just to get out here and play with these guys.�

Yes, the opponent was Central Arkansas from the United Athletic Conference. Nobody will confuse them with an SEC power like Alabama, South Carolina, Auburn or Oklahoma. And you can bet there’s a going to be a big difference between Central Arkansas and next week’s “Border War� rival Kansas.

All of that can absolutely be true, and it’s also true that Pribula needed a performance to cement himself a starting-caliber passer, stamp his imprint on this offense and start to shape an identity for this team.

Pribula played most of the first three quarters of the game with the exception of the Horn run and a one-play cameo by freshman signal-caller Matt Zollers after Pribula’s helmet came off at the end of a fourth down run to pick up a first down in the second quarter. Zollers took over for good in the final two minutes of the third quarter.

Pribula went 23 of 28 passing for 283 yards with two touchdown passes and another 65 yards rushing on 10 carries and two more touchdowns on the ground. His first pass went for 49 yards and a touchdown to Marquis Johnson, one of eight receivers he connected with on a night when he completed 82% of his throws.

“Taking care of the football, efficient drives, doing my job, taking what the defense gives you — I thought I did a pretty good job of that today,� Pribula said.

Johnson and Pribula linked up on a pair of deep passes, including a 44-yard throw in the third quarter. Johnson described both passes as “amazing.�

“Beau played well tonight,� Johnson said. “He played like we expect him to play. He do it every day in practice.�

Pribula showed he was in control of the offense. He threw accurately and with good timing and rhythm. He made a couple plays outside of the pocket. He led the offense on a 99-yard touchdown drive with 3:38 remaining in the first half. He didn’t commit a turnover, and he didn’t leave any throws up for grabs in a way that made you think he got away with something.

If we’re getting nitpicky, he got a little bit of happy feet in what looked like a solid pocket on his 31-yard scramble touchdown. Of course, he still showed the athleticism to turn that play into a highlight.

Pribula also threw a pass high that left tight end Brett Norfleet exposed for a shot to the ribs that left Norfleet temporarily hunched over on the turf. They also appeared to rush to snap the ball on a play late in the first half that resulted in a false start penalty.

Overall, Pribula played with poise even in the face of a couple pass protection breakdowns in front of him. He provided the type of spark Drinkwitz said he needed from his starting quarterback, and he did it with both emotional displays of body language and big plays.

“I was pleased. I knew he prepared well in fall camp,� Drinkwitz said of Pribula. “I tried to tell everybody that we had two quarterbacks that could win football games. I fully expected that to be the case.

“I thought he played, honestly, pretty well. I thought Sam played pretty well too. I thought (Pribula’s) ability to extend plays — I thought that big-time run was pretty headsy there. His ability to pull the ball on some zone read stuff was nice, but he threw the ball really well too.�

With Horn’s injury and uncertain status, it was even more important that Pribula had the type of all-around performance he did. After all, imagine how different the vibe could have been if Horn went down and Pribula struggled against Central Arkansas.