Drinkwitz in No Rush to Name Starting QB, Looking for Key Trait

With just two weeks until the 2025 college football season officially begins, the Missouri Tigers still haven't made a decision about who their starting quarterback will be. But head coach Eli Drinkwitz isn't worried about it.

"If we feel like there's no clear-cut decision, I'm not going to force the decision," Drinkwitz said to reporters Saturday after a practice on Lindenwood's campus.

The Tigers' quarterback battle has featured returner Sam Horn and Penn State transfer Beau Pribula dueling for the starting position throughout fall camp. With three weeks of practice behind them, Drinkwitz is now looking to see which quarterback will separate themselves with both their performance and their leadership.

"For me, it's about being a transformational leader at this point," Drinkwitz said. "Who's going to lean into the team and really get the most out of those guys, and they're going to have to kind of separate themselves from the quarterback battle and really get the most out of the guys they're playing with."

Horn and Pribula's teammates already view them both as strong leaders. It was announced Saturday that the duo, as well as seven other players, were both voted as captains by their peers.

"My challenge for them is to lead when you're not the quarterback," Drinkwitz said. "Don't be in the back just watching the plays. Go lead. Go be on the sideline. Go provide energy, because that's really the next step. It's who really rallies the team. And it was awesome to see both of them get votes."

At this point, both Horn and Pribula have performed fairly similarly, according to Drinkwitz. When one has had a good showing, it's sparked the other to show up with an equal or greater response, in the eyes of Drinkwitz.

In their Saturday scrimmage against Lindenwood, he aimed to test the two quarterbacks ability to respond to adversity. He gave them challenges to overcome that they weren't expecting to see how the pair would react.

"Nobody knew who wasn't playing," Drinkwitz said. "Everybody thought we were coming out here, and everybody was going. Then, we went back in the locker room, and I just took people's helmets and I told them, 'Hey, when you go on the road, you always face adversity. You never know. Somebody's got to step up.'"

It seems that Drinkwitz plans worked out and he got to see what he wanted out of the two quarterbacks. But this exercise still didn't separate them in the battle.

"It was a struggle for them because they were going against, or didn't have necessarily, the same group that they've been working with," Drinkwitz said. "So that was good. Got to see them work through some difficulties, some slow starts, and bounce back."

With the impending start of the season, the Tigers still don't feel a rush to name the starting quarterback. Drinkwitz said that it's possible that both Horn and Pribula see playing time in Week 1 against Central Arkansas.

"If that means that they would both play in the first game, we'll evaluate those reps. But I don't feel the pressure like, 'Oh, I've got to make a decision. We got to move on and solidify it.'"

This wouldn't be the first time that Drinkwitz has opted to let a quarterback decision go until after the start of the season. Former Tigers quarterback Brady Cook and Horn each played a half during their Week 1 game against South Dakota, with Cook eventually winning the battle.

"Everybody else is pressed about Week 1," Drinkwitz said. "I'm not really pressed about it. I'm pressed on who's going to reveal themselves as the starting quarterback."

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