Columbia, Mo. – Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz celebrated his 42nd birthday April 12. In all his years walking on Earth, he's never seen the Missouri Tigers beat the Alabama Crimson Tide on the gridiron.
The Tigers have lost their last six matchups to the Tide by a combined score of 233-72, with the average outcome being a 32.2 point loss. It takes traveling back over half a century to find the last time Missouri took down Alabama.
The 1975 Missouri season opener saw the Tigers walk into the belly of the beast in Birmingham, ALA. Alabama was the preseason No. 1 ranked team, and held six future NFL players on the roster – one being future Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome.
Alabama had dominated the college football world for the previous four seasons, and had a 24-game winning streak at home.
Missouri on the other hand, was unranked heading into the matchup, and were listed as three-score underdogs. In the lone previous matchup between the two teams, the Tigers had beaten the Tide 35-10 Dec. 28, 1968. But that was seven years prior, and two entirely new rosters were now set to square off.
A crowd of roughly 63,000 Alabama fans awaited the Tigers, ringing out chants of "we're No. 1" around the then-named Denny Stadium. The odds were stacked against the Tigers on the field, in the stands and in the books, but they were ready for the challenge.
Missouri would come out raging, scoring on every offensive drive of the first half. Future NFL running back Tony Galbreath rushed 19 times for 89 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone, helping the Tigers jump out to a 20-0 lead with the assistance of two made field goals from Tim Gibbons.
Galbreath would finish the game by tacking on 31 additional yards on 10 more carries, while Missouri's defense held Alabama to just seven points, finalizing the score at 20-7 as the clock struck zero.
Missouri could celebrate, as they'd pulled off the biggest upset in program history, walking out of Birmingham victorious over the nation's No. 1 team. Little did the Missouri fans know, that'd be the last time they celebrated beating the Tide to date.
The team's would meet again three seasons later, and the Tide would take revenge, beating the Tigers 38-20 on Faurot Field. An 18-point loss at home isn't ideal in the first place, but that would be the closest Missouri came to beating Alabama in the ensuing six matchups.
A 34-year gap between the 1978 game and the next meeting between the programs occurred, as the team's wouldn't play each other until 2012, when Missouri joined the Southeastern Conference. By then, head coach Nick Saban had returned Alabama to juggernaut form, and was sitting in the midst of a 15-year stretch in which the Tide held the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll at one point in the season.
Saban dismantled the Tigers each time they played; a 42-10 triumph in 2012, a 42-13 demolition in 2014, a 39-10 beatdown in 2018 and even taking down Drinkwitz 38-19 in Columbia. Saban reigned dominance over Missouri, essentially single-handedly changing the dynamic of the rivalry's history.
So when Saban announced his retirement after the 2023 season, a glimmer of hope shined for the Tigers. Missouri was fresh off its best season in the Drinkwitz era, having beaten Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and finishing the season as No. 8 ranked team in the nation.
Alabama, on the other hand, had selected their potential heir to Saban's royal throne, in former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer, who had led his program to the National Championship the year prior. DeBoer was no Saban yet, but he brought a sense of offensive wizardry to Alabama that could match a mind like Drinkwitz.
DeBoer's slick thinking is matched by an equally slick attire, which is centered around his signature black Alabama hoodie and red Crimson Tide hat.
DeBoer and the Tide were set to host Drinkwitz' Tigers in a Top-25 matchup at Saban Field, marking the first meeting between the two coaches, and Missouri's chance to change the narrative of the rivalry following Saban's retirement.
Unfortunately for the Missouri, DeBoer didn't lose a step from his predecessor. In fact, he picked up his stride, shutting down Drinkwitz and Missouri 34-0, marking the biggest margin of victory in series history and the first and only time Drinkwitz' Tigers had been shutout.
DeBoer did all that while donning his black hoodie. But it's just an outfit, it can't matter that much, right?
Well, when the head coach dons his signature look, he owns an impressive 12-2 record. Many have took notice of the correlation – no matter the legitimacy of the causation – between his hoodie and the Tide's performance.
Among that group of observers is Drinkwitz, who's set to have his rematch with DeBoer Saturday. Drinkwitz hopped on the SEC coaches call Wednesday morning to do some scouting on DeBoer ahead of the matchup, asking the Alabama head coach a question over Zoom.
"Are you going to wear the 'black hoodie of death' on the sideline this game?" Drinkwitz asked.
"More than likely," DeBoer said.
Missouri enters Saturday's matchup at 5-0, one of the nation's 15 remaining undefeated squads. Drinkwitz has propelled the Tigers' to the nation's fourth-most yards per game, third-most total rushing yards gained and the second-least total yards allowed. Missouri is the only team in the nation to rank top-four in both total yards gained and least total yards allowed.
Despite this, the No. 8 Crimson Tide are still favorited over the No. 14 Tigers heading into Saturday's matchup. Should DeBoer wear his 'black hoodie of death', some superstition points could be in play in favor Alabama.
Decades of losing, the AP Top 25 Poll and now a lucky hoodie all stack the odds against Drinkwitz and Missouri. As always, the Tigers have something to prove – this time, it's to reassert their position in a historically lopsided rivalry.