No. 8 Alabama hung on to beat No. 14 Missouri 27-24 on the road Saturday, moving the Crimson Tide to 5-1 on the season.
“Great road win for us against a really good football team,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “A lot of respect for coach Drinkwitz and what these guys are doing here at Missouri.”
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson threw for 200 yards and a trio of touchdowns, while freshman wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks led the Crimson Tide in receiving with four catches for 58 yards.
Both teams got off to hot starts, scoring on their respective opening drives.
The Tigers struck first after a 26-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Beau Pribula to tight end Brett Norfleet. The Crimson Tide responded with a long touchdown drive that was capped off with a touchdown pass from Simpson to running back Kevin Riley to tie the score at 7 with 6:05 left in the first quarter.
“I loved the situation and how he [Simpson] just drilled it in there,” DeBoer said about Simpson’s touchdown pass. “I got confidence in him.”
After a Missouri punt late in the first quarter, Alabama drove 67 yards into scoring position and scored via a strike from Simpson to wide receiver Isaiah Horton to give the Crimson Tide a 14-7 lead to start the second quarter.
Momentum continued to trend in Alabama’s direction after a sack by defensive lineman Keon Keeley that forced Missouri to punt, setting the Crimson Tide up at its 30. The team then drove down and put a 47-yard field goal on the board to take a 17-7 lead with 7:10 left in the first half.
Two drives later, the Tigers made their way into scoring position, but Alabama held them to a field goal as time expired, making the halftime score 17-10.
The Crimson Tide opened the second half with the ball and immediately coughed it up. Simpson fumbled on the first play of the half, setting Missouri up for a game-tying touchdown just 1:42 into the half.
A couple of drives later, Alabama got to the red zone and was held to a 22-yard field goal on a drive that featured a first down pickup by offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor, who was lined up at quarterback. The Crimson Tide took a 20-17 lead into the break with just one quarter remaining.
Missouri looked to seize momentum back after the defensive stand, but that came crashing down when safety Bray Hubbard picked off Pribula to give Alabama possession. The Crimson Tide ultimately was unable to take advantage of the turnover as it missed a 49-yard field goal with 9:19 left in the game.
The Tigers took over and were forced into an obvious punting situation at its own 37 on fourth down. Instead of kicking it away, Missouri decided to fake the punt but were held short of the line to gain, giving Alabama possession at the Tiger’s 40.
Multiple negative plays on offense then forced Alabama to go for a fourth and eight inside Missouri territory, which it was able to convert with a Simpson strike to Brooks for 29 yards.
The Crimson Tide was forced into another fourth down at the Missouri one-yard-line with just over three minutes left in the game. They went for it and converted it with Simpson’s third touchdown pass of the day, this time, to running back Daniel Hill. This gave Alabama control with a 27-17 lead with 3:16 left.
“I think there’s still room for improvement, the sky’s the limit for him [Simpson],” DeBoer said.
However, the Tigers would not go away. Missouri went down and scored a touchdown with 1:39 left to pull within a field goal. Alabama then milked the clock as much as it could but was forced to punt with 1:17 left.
“We could’ve done a better job of really putting the game away,” DeBoer said.
Pribula and the Tigers looked poised to get into scoring range but were swiftly stopped by an intersection from corner back Dijon Lee, sealing the Crimson Tide victory.
“All in all, I’m proud of the way we kept fighting,” DeBoer said.
Alabama will have to quickly regroup for its showdown with Tennessee next week. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT and can be streamed on ABC.
