Matt Leinart shoots down Missouri as a College Football Playoff team

Missouri opened its 2025 campaign with a 5-0 record, climbing as high as No. 14 in the AP Poll Rankings. This set up a monstrous clash between the Tigers and No. 8 Alabama in Columbia last Saturday, which they lost 27-24.

With a win, Eli Drinkwitz‘s program would have soared into College Football Playoff predictions. However, they now sit at 5-1 with just two wins against Power-Four competition (Kansas and South Carolina). There is still time to earn some big-time wins against SEC competition, but it would take Missouri running the gauntlet to seriously put itself in contention for the CFP.

FOX Sports‘ Matt Leinart shared a similar sentiment on the latest episode of ‘Pardon My Take.’ Leinart revealed that he just doesn’t trust Missouri, but praised Drinkwitz and running back Ahmad Hardy.

“They’ve got one loss, right? They just lost to Alabama,” Leinart said. “I’m looking at their schedule. So they’ve got to go to Vanderbilt after going to Auburn. Auburn, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Mississippi State. Well, they’re bad. Oklahoma. Arkansas. I mean, they’re not a Playoff team. I like their team and I like their running back; he’s a stud. They’re just one of those teams where you don’t trust them. They haven’t done it enough.”

Missouri QB Beau Pribula has struggled over last four games

Quarterback Beau Pribula has been an issue for the Missouri offense after opening the season extremely strong. Pribula, who took full reign of the starting quarterback role following Sam Horn‘s injury, passed for 617 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions in their first two games of the season (Central Arkansas & Kansas). Since then, he’s been a liability. Over the past four games, Pribula has passed for 748 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions.

“I think Beau has done some really, really good things and I think there’s things that Beau is continuing to grow and develop,” Drinkwitz said following the Alabama loss. “I think, again, playing quarterback in this league, playing quarterback in general, is a growth proccess, and every rep is an opportunity to improve. And that’s what he’s doing.”

Even star running back Ahmad Hardy, who ranks second in college football with 782 rushing yards, struggled in the loss to Alabama. He rushed for just 52 yards on 12 carries. Missouri‘s best players didn’t quite shine when it needed them the most against the Crimson Tide, but an opportunity to bounce back will present itself this weekend at Auburn.

Kickoff between No. 16 Missouri and Auburn on Saturday is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on the SEC Network.