COLUMBIA, Mo. — Ty Simpson threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns, including the clincher on fourth down to Daniel Hill with 3:16 to go, and eighth-ranked Alabama held off No. 14 Missouri 27-24 on Saturday to give the Crimson Tide their fifth consecutive win.

Jam Miller added 85 yards rushing before leaving with a concussion in the fourth quarter, and Kevin Riley and Isaiah Horton also had TD catches for Alabama (5-1, 3-0 SEC), which has won seven straight over Missouri dating to Sept. 8, 1975.

“Nobody flinched,” Simpson said afterward, scanning over the final box score. “We’re going to keep punching.”

Beau Pribula kept punching for the Tigers (5-1, 1-1), too, hitting Donovan Olugbode for a touchdown with 1:39 left. And after the Crimson Tide pounced on the onside kick, Missouri forced a quick punt to get the ball back with 1:17 still on the clock.

Pribula connected with Olugbode again on fourth down to get close to midfield, but he followed with two incompletions. Then on third down, Pribula overshot his target and was picked off by Alabama defensive back Dijon Lee Jr. to put the game away.

The loss ended the Tigers’ 15-game home winning streak, the second-longest nationally.

“We had an opportunity,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “Proud of the way our defense fought. Proud of the way our offense fought. Ultimately we just had too many critical mistakes in critical situations.”

Pribula finished with 167 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he also was the Tigers’ most effective runner with 61 yards and another score. The nation’s leading rusher, Ahmad Hardy, was held to just 52 yards.

“We did the job. Got the job done,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Each side of the ball, we covered for each other.”

Missouri got off to a good start, seemingly stunning Alabama on its opening drive. It took just six plays to march 78 yards, and Pribula threw a nifty lob to tight end Brett Norfleet down the sideline for a 26-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Yet the Crimson Tide not only regained their composure, they regained control.

Simpson was nearly perfect on an answering TD drive. And after Missouri went three-and-out, the junior QB drove the Crimson Tide downfield again, zipping a pass to Horton on third-and-long for a 16-yard touchdown pass that made it 14-7.

After each team added a field goal before halftime, Missouri took advantage of Simpson’s fumble – his only big mistake – on the first play of the second half. Pribula juked his way into the end zone three plays later to tie the game 17-all.

Yet the Tigers were never able to regain the lead.

Conor Talty added a go-ahead field goal later in the third quarter for Alabama, and the Crimson Tide stopped Missouri on fourth down midway through the fourth quarter, shoving Jamal Roberts out of bounds just shy of the marker; replays appeared to show the running back reaching the ball far enough for a first down, but the spot was upheld by the officials.

Alabama took over and, after Simpson converted on fourth-and-8 with a throw to freshman Lotzeir Brooks, the SEC’s top passer found Hill in the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the Missouri 2 with just over three minutes remaining to put it out of reach.

“We preached all week – shoot, all year – to be elite in critical situations,” Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson said. “I think it’s just our team. We pride ourselves on being unbreakable. We know we’re going to execute in those situations.”

Scary situation Alabama wide receiver Derek Meadows appeared to be knocked unconscious by Missouri safety Marvin Burks Jr. in the first quarter. The freshman was trying to leap for a catch when he took a violent blow, which left him laying facedown on the turf for several minutes. DeBoer said afterward that he had a concussion. Burks was ejected for targeting.

The takeaway

Alabama showed no letdown after consecutive ranked wins over Georgia and Vanderbilt in its first trip to Columbia since 2020.

Missouri wrapped up its season-opening homestand by losing at Faurot Field for the first time since Oct. 7, 2023.

Up next

Alabama returns home to play No. 12 Tennessee next Saturday.

Missouri plays its first road game against Auburn the same day.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Mason Heintschel threw for 321 yards and connected with Desmond Reid on a pair of touchdown passes as Pittsburgh handed No. 25 Florida State its third straight conference loss on Saturday.

A true freshman, Heintschel completed 21 of 29 passes and had a pair of second-quarter interceptions in the 34-31 win. He has surpassed 300 passing yards in both of his starts, building off a rout of Boston College last week with a road upset of the Seminoles.

Reid had eight catches for 155 yards and 10 carries for 38 yards for Pittsburgh (4-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).

The Panthers closed as 11.5-point underdogs before the game, making the victory their largest upset since beating No. 2 Miami in 2017 as 12-point underdogs, according to ESPN Research.

After a promising start to the season, Florida State (3-3, 0-3) is in free fall following losses to Virginia, Miami and now Pittsburgh. Mike Norvell’s team has failed to defeat an ACC opponent since a win over California more than a year ago.

Tommy Castellanos completed 16 of 23 passes for 245 yards for the Seminoles on Saturday, including a pair of touchdowns to Micahi Danzy — 58 yards in the fourth quarter and 33 yards in the second quarter.

But after FSU went ahead 24-21 on Jake Weinberg‘s 34-yard field goal attempt, Florida State fumbled at midfield and then went three-and-out. Later, while trailing 34-24, came Castellanos’ 58-yarder to Danzy.

The Panthers finished with a pair of field goals and then Ja’Kyrian Turner’s 3-yard touchdown run capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive with 2:28 left.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

DALLAS — Stanford cornerback Aaron Morris was cleared medically to return to the sideline against SMU after being immobilized and taken off the field in an ambulance following a tackle in the first quarter Saturday, the school said.

Morris’ face mask was removed while he was placed on a stretcher before he was loaded onto the ambulance at SMU’s Ford Stadium. He was moving his arms and legs as medical personnel began attending to him on the field, and Stanford spokesman Brian Brownfield said Morris was “alert and responsive. Doing well.”

“Aaron Morris has cleared all precautionary tests and is returning to be with the team for the conclusion of the SMU matchup,” the school said in a statement released early in the second half.

Morris and linebacker Sam Mattingly closed on Jordan Hudson from opposite sides after the SMU wide receiver made a 12-yard catch with about five minutes left in the first quarter. Morris was the first to make contact before Mattingly came in over the top of Morris and Hudson.

Morris is a junior from Lowell, Massachusetts. He was playing in the fourth of Stanford’s six games this season after making 17 appearances in his first two years.

SMU won Saturday’s game 34-10.