Mizzou sliced and diced the Alabama defense on the opening drive of Saturday’s titanic SEC showdown, ending the 6-play, 78-yard march with Beau Pribula’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Brett Norfleet that got Faurot Field rocking early.
Pribula found Norfleet with a perfect throw at about the 15-yard line right along the right sideline, and the junior tight end did the rest, cutting through the confused Alabama defense and taking it into the end zone with just 2:50 gone in the game.
Here is the electrifying way that No. 14 Mizzou started the game against No. 8 Alabama:
Pribula came into Saturday’s showdown with 1,203 yards passing and 9 touchdowns, and it didn’t take him long to add to those totals in the national TV showcase on ABC. The 26-yard TD strike was actually his only passing yards on the drive, because Pribula did the rest of his damage with his legs, running it 3 times for 39 yards on the drive.
It showed off how the Penn State transfer can beat teams with his arm and his legs, and it put Alabama on its heels very early in 1 of the most anticipated SEC games of the season. There was still a ton of time left obviously, but things couldn’t have started any better for Mizzou on Saturday afternoon in the friendly confines of Columbia.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
