COLUMBIA, Mo. – After Matt Zollers' electric debut at Vanderbilt in Week 9, he returned to Earth in his first collegiate start against Texas A&M. 

Zollers completed seven of his 22 passes for 77 yards and no touchdowns, a less-than-pretty box score. However, it's important to remember the context of his debut: He was the third-string quarterback less than three months prior, had spent the majority of his senior year of high school on the sidelines recovering from a broken left ankle, and was facing the No. 3 team in the country for his first collegiate start. 

There's no doubt Zollers' has shown enough promise this season to cement himself with Missouri long-term, but he's been thrust into a role which his services are needed now. 

"Matt was getting developed, because we knew he was the future of the program at the quarterback position," Head coach Eliah Drinkwitz said ahead of the Texas A&M game. "But the future is now."

So how did "the future" fair in his debut? 

Not particularly great, but it wasn't entirely his fault either. 

As a true freshman debuting, he'd need the support of his teammates to guide him through the battle. Whether it be standout tackles Cayden Green and Keagen Trost, team captain Connor Tollison or top receiving options, everyone needed to step up. 

"It's important for us not to put too high of expectations on Matt," Drinkwitz said. "He does not have to win this game by himself."

His defense stepped up, holding the Aggies to just 7 points by the two minute warning in the first half. The offensive line had also played relatively clean. From there, the floodgates broke loose. 

Zollers' was blown up in the backfield by an untouched Aggie defender, Daymion Sanford, resulting in a fumble scooped by by Dalton Brooks and returned to the Missouri 1-yard line. The Aggies would go on to score 24 more points in the second half, and Missouri's offense would only slightly recover, scoring two breakaway rushing touchdowns and a 49-yard field goal courtesy of Oliver Robbins. 

Drinkwitz took blame for the tidal shift. 

"That's my fault for scheme," Drinkwitz said. "I gave the okay to try to get the first down there. I should have said the throw screen instead."

Zollers completed just four of his 14 passes in the first three quarters, struggling to establish a rhythm through the air. 

"I mean, you got off to a really slow start," Drinkwitz said. "We didn't do a good enough job getting comfortable throwing the football. You know, completions were tough." 

The early-game struggles put Missouri in a hole entering the fourth quarter, meaning the offense would have to force deep shots to have a chance to remain in the game. 

Many throughout the season clamored for Missouri to take more shots downfield, as no Tiger quarterback had attempted more than four passes of 20 or more yards downfield. Zollers delivered on those begs by doubling that in his first start, throwing eight.

He completed two of those passes, good for 25%. For perspective, Pribula was 7-for-17 on such attempts this season, and Zollers was 1-for-3 on the season ahead of the game with A&M, his lone 20-plus yard completion being the 36-yard near-hail-mary to Kevin Coleman Jr. against Vanderbilt. 

Oftentimes against the Aggies, Zollers' decision to throw the ball downfield seemed jittery and rushed. Many of the shots were taken seemingly before progressing through other reads, often out of reach of wideouts hands or out of bounds. 

Two of those passes did still draw flags, one pass interference and one holding call to result in positive yardage. 

"I thought he did a nice job of trying the deep ball," Drinkwitz said, "Which created some pass interference calls."

The willingness to try the deep ball was a positive, but the manner in which he attempted them and overall results weren't ideal. 

Akin to his jittery tendency to throw the ball downfield quickly, he seemed nervous in the pocket at times. When targeting his receivers, he often put too much zip on the ball from too short of distance, leading to multiple "drops" that could arguably placed more on Zollers rather than his target. 

In all, Zollers' played to the level of what he is: a true freshman making his first start. 

Drinkwitz and the Tigers will take it step-by-step in evaluating Zollers' play and development, treating their quarterback of the future with warranted caution and faith. 

"Watch the tape and see," Drinkwitz said on what he made of Zollers' play. "I mean, it's hard for me to assess it. It's hard for me to assess right now."