Sam Horn injury update: Eli Drinkwitz pressed for status of Missouri QB after leaving season opener on crutches

Missouri opened its 2025 campaign Thursday night with a resounding 61-6 drumming of Central Arkansas. Three different receivers hauled in a score, three different players rushed for a touchdown and 27 different defensive players recorded at least one tackle in what was a great showing to kick off the new season.

The team, however, suffered the unfortunate loss of quarterback Sam Horn, who was set to split time with quarterback Beau Pribula Thursday night. Horn took his first snap of the game with 5:19 remaining in the first half and was tackled low by Central Arkansas DB Dude Person following a six-yard run. Horn attempted to walk after the tackle, but collapsed to the turf and had to be assisted off the field by team personnel.

#Mizzou QB Sam Horn took the field for his first snap of the season, with fellow QB Beau Pribula lined up at receiver.

The play resulted in Horn — who was part of an active quarterback battle — suffering a lower-body injury. pic.twitter.com/iuATS4jMQX

— Grace Ybarra (@gnybarra) August 29, 2025

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz was pressed for an update on Horn following the win. The Tigers are now 5-2 in season openers under Drink.

“Is it expected to be (a longterm injury)? Yeah, I’m not gonna speculate,” Drinkwitz responded. “I don’t have a doctorate degree. They’ll find out tomorrow when they get an MRI.”

Pribula stepped up in a big way following the Horn injury. He made a great first impression on Missouri fans, as he completed 23/28 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns. He also totaled 65 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.

Drinkwitz applauds Pribula for stepping up following Horn injury

“I don’t think (Beau Pribula) stepped up, I think he just continued to play the way he’s been playing,” Drinkwitz continued. “I thought he did a nice job handling the situation. He knew he was gonna play the first half and we knew we were gonna run that formation pretty early in the game. Just disappointing that (Sam Horn) got injured. It was a heck of a run so it’s disappointing.”

“I was pleased because I knew (Pribula) prepared well in fall camp and I tried to tell everybody that we had two quarterbacks that can win football games and I fully expected that to be the case. He played honestly pretty well and I thought Sam played pretty well too. I thought his ability to extend plays (that one big run was pretty headsey there) and his ability to pull the ball on some zone read stuff was nice. But he threw the ball really well so it was good.”

Missouri will be back in action on Sept. 6 in a rivalry matchup against Kansas. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 PM on ESPN2.