Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Missouri QB Gets Heartbreaking News After 'Painful' Injury vs. Vanderbilt

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Oct 25, 2025 10:00 PM ET

Missouri's nationally televised game against Vanderbilt went down to the wire today. Sadly, their starting QB went down well before the end of the game, and the diagnosis is not looking great.

Midway through the game, Missouri QB Beau Pribula went down with a scary-looking leg injury that needed to be placed in an air cast before being carted off the field. Speaking to the media after the game, Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz had good news and bad news about his impending recovery.

The good news was that Pribula did not suffer any broken bones. The bad news was that it was a dislocated ankle that needed to be popped back in and there is no timetable for his return. Pribula is now expected to miss the rest of the 2025 season.

"Beau has no broken bones but he did have an ankle injury that had to be popped back in. Don't have a timetable for his return, but it could be awhile," Drinkwitz said.

#Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz on Beau Pribula: "Beau has no broken bones but he did have an ankle injury that had to be popped back in. Don't have a timetable for his return, but it could be awhile."
— Cody Goodwin (@codygoodwin) October 25, 2025

The silver lining is that Missouri freshman Matt Zollers looked superb after taking over for Pribula. He moved the ball very efficiently against Vanderbilt's notoriously tough defense and nearly led the Tigers to a win.

But Vanderbilt's defense held firm on the final play, keeping them out of the endzone on the final play in a 17-10 Commodores win.

Oct 25, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Beau Pribula (9) runs from pressure from the Vanderbilt Commodores defense during the first quarter at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Serious Consequences

It's hard to overstate how serious today's loss of both the game and Pribula might be for Missouri.

The College Football Playoff looks like a pipe dream at this point but they could tumble out of the AP top 25 entirely. The combination of losing the game and their starting quarterback might compel the voters to drop the Tigers entirely.

We'll just have to wait and see.

Last year Missouri finished 9-3 in the regular and were seventh in the SEC. Following their Music City Bowl win over Iowa, they ended the year with the third-highest win total in the SEC. If Zollers can't pick up exactly where Pribula left off, the Tigers could finish the season in a bad way.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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