Position battles rage on through one week of Mizzou fall camp

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

After the fifth practice of fall camp, Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz walked over the group media awaiting his arrival and gave a short and sweet opening statement: "We don't have a starting quarterback, yet, so with that I'll take questions."

Although no one had expected a starter to be named just one week into fall camp, it's clear that starting jobs are still up for grabs through through the first week of preseason work.

You can watch extended highlights of practice No. 5 of fall camp in the video player below.

Quarterbacks Beau Pribula and Sam Horn have been the primary contenders to watch in the fight for the starting job behind center, but before camp kicked off Coach Drinkwitz said not to count out true freshman Matt Zollers, just yet. After Saturday's practice, ABC 17 Sports Director Nathalie Jones asked Drinkwitz how he would evaluate those three guys through the first few days of practice.

"They've all done some really good things and some really dumb things and that's kind of the quarterback position. Now, it's about seeing do they continually make that same mistake or can they self-correct? You know, we had a blitz period today and I think [Beau and Sam] threw a pick, but then both of them threw touchdowns. You know, I think that's exactly what you want to see, that's how you want this quarterback battle to go," Drinkwitz said. "I though Matt Zollers did some really good things down there, moved the ball, made an adjustment to a play, an audible to a big time throw right there. So, been really pleased with all three of them."

You can watch the full press conference with Drinkwitz in the video player below.

Coach Eli added that he won't know much about the quarterback competition until the team puts the first scrimmage of camp into the books, on Monday.

Drinkwitz was also asked about the position battles at right guard, left tackle and cornerback, on Saturday. He said at this point, so early into fall camp, it's not safe to say anything about starters. Each and every guy needs to continue to fight for their role.

"I don't think anybody's starting jobs are cemented," he said.

There have been a few guys who have jumped out at Coach Eli through the first week, though. He said that defensive tackle Marquis Gracial, specifically, has shown a lot of improvement since spring ball ended in March.

"The difference in how he plays and how he commands his performance," Drinkwitz said. "I think [safety] Santana Banner, if I can get him to practice the right way and not knock people over, I think he's doing a really good job. He had a pick today and I think that's been really impressive performance, so far. On the offensive side of the ball, you know, [running back] Ahmad Hardy continues...you know, he had a pretty good play today."

The Tigers are also seeing multiple guys step up from a leadership perspective, after quite a few seniors graduated following the 2024 campaign. Coach Drinkwitz said he's been impressed with both linebacker Khalil Jacobs and offensive lineman's Dominick Giudice's veteran presence and leadership in week one.

Mizzou will start up scrimmages on Monday and the biggest thing that the coaching staff will look for is consistency.

"Today, the defense had a chance to get off the field twice and had two penalties that extended drives, which led to a touchdown. You know, that's the kind of stuff that gets you beat. It's not really technique or fundamentals, it's discipline stuff. So, we got to get that off the tape. Offensively, we've got to be more consistent protecting, especially on third downs. You know, and then taking care of the football," he said.

Mizzou will hold its sixth practice of fall camp on Sunday at 11 a.m.