One of the questions Alabama had to address in 2025 is whether it could win a close game, especially one on the road, when it didn’t have its A-game.
A 27-24 victory over Missouri, led by a solid defensive performance – especially from Bama’s front six – was the answer to that question.
Alabama lost RB Jam Miller to a concussion late in the game, after losing WR Derek Meadows to one early in the game. Alabama lost another defensive lineman, Kelby Collins, to an undisclosed injury just as Collins was starting to emerge as one of Alabama’s key rotational players at defensive tackle. And then there was QB Ty Simpson, who appeared to get his teeth rattled while scrambling in the pocket, colliding with the biggest man on the field, Bama’s LT Kadyn Proctor. Missouri brought heavy contact to this game and seemed to determined to impart all of it upon Alabama.
After games against Georgia and Vanderbilt that were physical in their own right, Missouri proved to be surprisingly tough. It wasn’t like the Tigers hadn’t put up good numbers running the ball and stopping teams from doing the same; indeed, the Tigers had some of the gaudiest stats in both categories in the country. But what was also true about Missouri was that the Tigers really hadn’t played a team of consequence, outside of maybe South Carolina.
Alabama certainly fixed that problem for Missouri.
Alabama’s running game was able to keep the Tigers just honest enough to allow for a late drive to go up 27-24. On the day, Alabama ran for 125 yards on 44 carries – just a 2.8-yard average, but that figure included yardage lost to several sacks of QB Ty Simpson. The biggest single stat line on the board belonged to Jam Miller, who carried 20 times for 85 yards and added another 4 receptions for 25 yards. By contrast, Alabama held Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy to 52 carries on 12 yards. His backup, Jamal Roberts, was actually more effective, getting 50 yards on just 5 carries and adding 3 catches for 27 yards.
The muted production from Missouri’s backfield had a lot to do with an Alabama offense that, despite its Air Raid leanings, has become one of the best in the business at chewing clock. Alabama controlled time of possession against Vanderbilt and Georgia, too, but against Missouri it had the effect of taking the ball directly out of Hardy’s hands. Alabama came into the game ranked 10th in time of possession at 33:07 per game, and that figure will go up following a day in which Alabama held the ball for 38:33.
The next game up is Tennessee, and the Volunteers bring a unique set of challenges. They are much more adept at quick scoring, especially through the air, but Tennessee lacks an elite defense in 2025. Alabama will need to stretch out drives and again control the clock to keep a powerful Vol offense sitting on the bench.
The recovery from the Week 1 loss to Florida State is not yet complete, but Alabama proved on thing against Missouri beyond measure: The Crimson Tide has learned how to win. It may also have cracked the code on winning on the road in the SEC, and preparing to approach each game with courage and a sense of purpose.
As long as Alabama can keep doing that, the sky’s the limit.
Here’s the Five-Point Breakdown for Alabama-Missouri:
1. This was the front six’s best game of the year, and run fits were the cleanest they’ve been from the LB unit. Alabama held Missouri to 330 total yards, a thoroughly respectable number considering the circumstances. Of particular note here was how Alabama may have given up 3 big gainers to Ahmad Hardy, Jamal Roberts and QB Beau Pribula, but no one put up multiple chunk yardage plays and even the big gainers were managed in the following snaps. Roberts got 39 of his 50 yards on one carry; Hardy had 11 carries for 41 yards if you took out his longest one. Alabama got good work inside from London Simmons and L.T. Overton, and Kelby Collins was on his way to another solid performance before suffering an injury. More impressive, though, was the work from the ILB team of Deontae Lawson, Justin Jefferson and especially Nikhai Hill-Green, the latter of whom finished with 7 tackles off the bench. A special attaboy goes to Keon Keeley, who played just a few snaps at end, but they were memorable. Keeley and Yhonzae Pierre were both able to be disruptive from the edge.
2. We talked about Beau Pribula’s penchant for turnovers in the preview. He didn’t disappoint. Well, he did if you happen to be a Missouri fan. Pribula had developed a reputation for ill-advised throws on downfield routes, and he was picked off on two of those Saturday and had a third dropped. It became apparent early that Pribula lacked the arm strength to get the ball downfield with any zip, which had the effect of making him even a lesser-armed version of Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia. Pribula also missed seeing open receivers several times, and was goaded, by S Bray Hubbard, into making a couple of mistakes Pribula’s 167 yards passing and 2 touchdowns were marred by the 2 picks, although Alabama did not shut him down in the running game as hoped (11 carries, 61 yards, 5.5 avg., 1 TD) and only got home twice for sacks. Still, Alabama is facing other teams to match them in quarterback play or lose possessions as a result.
3. The biggest mismatch on the board was supposed to be the Bama WR vs. Mizzou DBs; it might have been Bama’s DBs against Missouri’s wideouts. Pribula’s downfield passing issues were mostly of his own making, but it didn’t help that Missouri came into this game with a suspect receiving corps and then watched the situation degrade from there. Missouri’s best wideout is Mississippi State transfer Kevin Coleman Jr., but he was hurt early and finished the day with just 1 catch for 2 yards. As expected, TE Brady Norfleet provided the biggest mismatch for Alabama pass defenders; while he was limited to 3 catches, all were of significance. On the day, Alabama held Missouri wideouts to just 8 catches. While those 8 grabs did produce 100 yards and a touchdown, it meant Missouri was ill-equipped to trade blows with Bama and Ty Simpson. Once Alabama started limiting the Missouri running game – basically from the second drive of the day onward – the Tigers found themselves behind a massive 8-ball.
4. Alabama’s OL was hit-or-miss in pass protection, but this was another game where run blocking made a huge difference. RT Wilkin Formby struggled badly in this game, but Missouri’s halftime adjustments were effective on both sides of the ball and affected QB Ty Simpson in a big way. In addition to fixing its third-down offense at the half, Missouri was able to figure out how to get inside pressure on Simpson without having to overcommit numbers to the cause. RG Jaeden Roberts played more this week and looked generally better, but both guard spots – regardless of who was manning them at the time – had their hands full with the Tiger DL. Even true freshman RT Michael Carroll, who arguably has been Bama’s most effective true freshman this year independent of position, appeared to meet his match on a few occasions. One of Missouri’s 4 sacks appeared to perhaps be a protection bust – Formby gave up a matador sack when it appeared he expected RB Daniel Hill to stay in and assist – but in addition to the 3 remaining sacks, Alabama gave up way too many hurries and Simpson’s clock was sped up all too often. Tennessee and South Carolina both have decent fronts that can bring some pressure, but Alabama should at least get a breather until Oklahoma comes into town. And Auburn’s DL has to be watching this tape with at least a faint smile.
5. Simpson and Miller both put up individual performances that were as needed as they were impressive. Unfortunately for Alabama, it would appear Jamarion Miller won’t play against Tennessee and might not play against South Carolina, either, as he took a nasty shot from Missouri S Jalen Catalon late in the game and suffered a concussion. Kevin Riley and Daniel Hill will have to do the lion’s share of the work in the coming weeks, with the biggest question mark perhaps being how they can help pass-protect for Simpson. Miller didn’t have his best game as a personal protector for his quarterback, but he is still the most knowledgeable and adept at the task. Simpson, on the other hand, needs to be remembered as much for the 4th-and-8 pass to Lotzeir Brooks on Bama’s last touchdown drive as anything else he’s done up to this point. Simpson threw for only 200 yards, but he had 3 touchdowns, no interceptions and was 23-of-31 (74.2%) on the day. The fumble just after halftime could have been horrific, but Simpson bounced back nicely afterward and made few reads that were even questionable, let alone bad. It was somewhat fitting this week that the defense produced the game-sealing play at the end, rather than a key conversion from Simpson, but as many analysts have noted lately, Simpson is playing NFL ball right now.
Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN