In 2024, Alabama hosted Missouri between games against Tennessee and LSU. Following its loss to Tennessee, the team needed a statement win, which it achieved.
The Tigers are currently undefeated and sit at No. 4 in the SEC standings. This is a team that is not to be overlooked and has already had an impressive home 29-20 victory over South Carolina this season.
Alabama is currently 4-1 with a 2-0 SEC record, and Missouri is 5-0 with a 1-0 SEC record. When the teams met last season, the Crimson Tide was 5-2 while Missouri was 6-1.
The Crimson Tide dominated the Tigers in a 34-0 victory. The defensive starters returned to the game for a goal-line stand in an effort to retain the shutout. The team needed a morale boost, and a shutout does just that.
This season, Alabama will not have the home field advantage that it had in last year’s matchup. The motivation is also different this season: The game takes place before Alabama’s game against Tennessee, while last season, Alabama played Missouri following its loss to Tennessee.
Last season, Missouri quarterback Brady Cook was battling an injury entering the game but was cleared to play. In the first half, he went down and was ruled out for the rest of the game. Backup quarterback, Drew Pyne, took over and threw three interceptions with only 42 passing yards.
This season, Missouri is led by quarterback Beau Pribula, who will be available for the game. So far this season, Pribula has led Missouri to a 5-0 record with 1,200 total yards and nine touchdowns.
Another issue for Alabama is that it will have to deal with yet another dual-threat quarterback in Pribula after giving up 78 yards and a touchdown to mobile QB Tommy Castellanos on the ground in the loss to FSU.
Missouri has a talented backfield trio that Alabama will need to worry about too. Running back Ahmad Hardy averages seven yards per carry this season and has 730 yards to go along with nine touchdowns through five games.
“He can break tackles,” David Pollack, a college football analyst, said. “He can run around you. He has good enough patience. Ahmad Hardy is the best running back in college football.”
The second option in the backfield is running back Jamal Roberts, who has 350 yards and three touchdowns this season. He averages 7.3 yards per carry, about the same as No. 1 option Hardy. Roberts is a threat in the rush game and Alabama needs to focus on him as much as Hardy if it wants to win this game.
The team’s third option is running back Marquise Davis, who has 200 rushing yards and two touchdowns this season, averaging six yards per carry. He will fly under the radar for a lot of teams’ defensive gameplans due to being a third stringer, but Davis can hurt defenses as much as his fellow runningbacks can.
Missouri’s rush offense was revamped this season, averaging 256 yards per game from Davis, Hardy and Roberts — significantly better than last season’s 164.5 rushing yards per game from the team’s offense.
This comes as Alabama’s biggest weakness the last few seasons has been defending the run. The team has allowed 155.4 rushing yards per game to opponents in 2025, including over 200 yards to both Georgia and Florida State. Last season, in the Crimson Tide’s three regular-season losses, it allowed an average of 212.33 rushing yards per game.
The defense will need to make adjustments for Missouri’s ground game but will also need to avoid overcompensating, since the Tigers have a talented quarterback. The Alabama defense will need to be more prepared for this game, whereas last season, the team had an easy win.
Pribula averages 240.6 passing yards per game this season, and 1.8 touchdowns per game this season. Missouri this season has a running back averaging over 100 yards per game in Hardy, along with its quarterback averaging over 200. If Alabama focuses too much on defending the run, the Tigers’ passing game could hurt the Crimson Tide.
