51ºÚÁÏ

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The battle endures.

Missouri football will begin its third and final full week of fall camp on Monday, still seeking separation in its quarterback competition. Beau Pribula, based on the eye test, holds an edge over Sam Horn, but neither has done enough to win or lose the starting job.

If the QB dilemma is going to be settled before the season begins against Central Arkansas on Aug. 28, time is running out. If that deadline, so to speak, isn’t met, then the Tigers are setting themselves up for another opener that’ll be dominated by an in-game quarterback battle.

“(I) was really looking to see if we had some separation today, and honestly, just didn’t see it,� MU coach Eli Drinkwitz said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “They’re both playing good football right now, so we’ll go into next week and keep the battle going.�

That scrimmage is likely to be the last of fall camp, at least based on the coaching staff’s planned schedule for the preseason. Pribula led more scoring drives in the red zone and a tempo simulation, while Horn led a 14-play touchdown drive and also set up a field-goal attempt during his tempo turn.

Each quarterback looked more or less like he’d be expected to. Horn showed a better arm and enough athleticism to tuck the ball and pick up yardage on occasion. Pribula regularly rolled out of the pocket, ran with clear agility and looked particularly comfortable with reads — but didn’t show the same kind of arm talent as Horn.

Saturday’s scrimmage showed clearly the dichotomy within Mizzou’s quarterback room. Pribula looks like the more likely starter, but he’s not untouchable enough to rule Horn out of the race.

So Drinkwitz will continue trekking onto the practice field in search of separation. At this point in the preseason, what could separation look like?

“Consistency in decision-making and consistency of scoring drives,� Drinkwitz said. “There were just too many lulls in the middle (of the scrimmage) by both of them, I felt like. We’ve just got to clean that up in the execution.�

Every passing day without separation raises the chances that Pribula and Horn will compete against each other during the Central Arkansas game. Drinkwitz has pledged to let them duke it out in a regular-season game, if needed.

“If it’s undecided, then we’ll let it go into the games and play as long as we need to,� Drinkwitz said when players reported for the start of camp.

Ideally, for Missouri, the battle wouldn’t extend past the opener. Arch-rival Kansas comes to town for the second game of the season, and the importance of that matchup suggests the Tigers would like to have a clear starter in place for that game.

The reality of opening the season against a Football Championship Subdivision program like Central Arkansas is that at least two quarterbacks will play anyway because it’s likely to be a blowout in MU’s favor — anything less than a several-touchdown lead would be a letdown. Pribula and Horn will almost certainly split time because of that, whether competing or with one in relief of the other.

Against FCS South Dakota in 2023, Mizzou trotted out eventual starter Brady Cook for the first half and Horn for the second, though that battle felt like far more of a construct than the 2025 competition has.

With that 2023 decision as a baseline, it’s worth revisiting what Drinkwitz said in his explanation of why he’d give each quarterback a half to show why they should be the starter.

“In the past we announced the starter, and I think right now we’re in a situation where it’s a continual battle,� Drinkwitz said 11 days before the 2023 opener. “But we want to let people continue to grow and develop and not have that pressure of, ‘Hey, we have to have this decision made at this point.’ I think in this day and age of college football I think you can very easily see a couple quarterbacks play in the first couple of games and let the play on the field decide it. … We’ll see both, I anticipate, the first game and then kind of play it from there.�

If Missouri is going to avert another in-game quarterback battle, this week becomes an especially important one.

The Tigers call it “execution week,� meant to be an emphasis on the finer parts of the game before camp closes, the fall semester begins and the team progresses to regular weekly routines before each game.

MU will practice during the week in Columbia before heading to Lindenwood for a “mock road game� walkthrough on Saturday to get a feel for traveling logistics.

Perhaps there’ll be quarterback separation between now and then.

“We’ve got another week,� Drinkwitz said. “Execution week, I think, is really going to be important for everybody because now we find out who’s going to be consistent, who’s going to be able to stick to it. This is kind of that rigor, getting ready for the SEC.�