Drinkwitz Explains Why QB Playing Time Will Be Split in Halves in Week 1

A large crowd assembled at Harpo's Bar & Grill for the first Tiger Talk of Missouri's football season. Tiger Talk, an event in which coaches and players speak to the public, took place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and head coach Eli Drinkwitz discussed a hot topic.

All it took for the audience to go silent was the mention of Missouri's quarterback. Sam Horn and Penn State transfer Beau Pribula have been engaged in a quarterback competition throughout fall camp, leaving burning questions regarding who would get the start. Drinkwitz spoke about the race at Tiger Talk.

"I just felt like the best way for us to decide on who is going to be the starting quarterback moving forward was for both of them to play in the game," Drinkwitz said on the 'Tiger Talk' radio show. "There's no great way to do it. Somebody's gotta run out there first."

That statement confirmed a report from Pete Thamel of ESPN on Tuesday that Horn and Pribula will split halves in the season opener against Central Arkansas at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Pribula will take the first half, while Horn takes the second.

"I've done it before where 'Hey, you're going to alternate two series a piece.' I don't like that," Drinkwitz said. "I don't think that gives the guy enough to develop a rhythm."

Pribula will see the field first, but that seemingly has no significance to Drinkwitz.

"I don't know what the game will be like at halftime. It really has no bearing on the decision," Drinkwitz said. "Each quarterback is going to get to play a half. How they play is up to them. How they perform is really going to determine their ability to compete."

Even though Pribula and Horn are competing for the starting role, they are also teammates. Aside from merely observing their performances in the game, Drinkwitz wants to see how the two quarterbacks support each other.

"I expect when Beau's out there for Sam to be his biggest cheerleader, and I expect the same thing when Sam's in the game from Beau," Drinkwitz said. "We're striving together to be the best team that we can be."

No matter who the quarterback is, they will be surrounded by weapons to make their job easier.

"We've got two elite tight ends, we've got talented running backs and talented wide receivers," Drinkwitz said. "Now it's about those guys going out and performing and figuring out who the best 11 combination is."

An elite offense can only do so much without an efficient quarterback. Drinkwitz hopes that the first game of the year against the Bears will shed some light on who Missouri's starter will be.