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COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥� It鈥檚 time to see whether the Missouri secondary has improved.

How the back end of the Tigers defense can hold up will once again be tested at 11 a.m. Saturday, when No. 14 Mizzou (5-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) hosts No. 8 Alabama (4-1, 2-0) and its dynamic passing attack.

MU is well aware of the issues it has had with allowing explosive pass plays this season 鈥� as are those who have watched this defense in action. The secondary was a flaw, just not a fatal one, in wins over Kansas and South Carolina.

What the Crimson Tide are bringing to Columbia is another level, though.

Alabama鈥檚 most famous offensive player, perhaps, is second-year wide receiver Ryan Williams, who emerged as a premier young talent last season. The shine has dulled a little bit for him so far in 2025, but he still has 21 catches for 336 receiving yards and three touchdowns 鈥� plus all the agility that has made him so difficult to corral.

Though he鈥檚 well-known, he鈥檚 not even the best receiver on the Alabama roster. That distinction goes to fourth-year wideout Germie Bernard, who followed Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer from Washington to Tuscaloosa. Bernard is fifth in the SEC with 392 receiving yards this season and has scored six total touchdowns.

鈥淥bviously, the receivers are electric,鈥� Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said, 鈥渨ith their ability to utilize space, winning man to man and vertically down the field.鈥�

Both Williams and Bernard are prone to burning opposing cornerbacks when they鈥檙e covered one on one. It鈥檚 probably a reason why the Crimson Tide have seen man coverage on about 15% fewer of their plays than the national average, according to SIS Football analytics.

Then comes the Heisman contender wrinkle: Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, who has settled in as, arguably, the SEC鈥檚 best quarterback.

Simpson leads the conference in passing yards, with 1,478. He has completed 70.3% of his passes, throwing for 13 touchdowns and only one interception, which came last week against Vanderbilt.

鈥淭heir quarterback is as good, if not better, than what other head coaches have been speaking about him,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淗is ability to make off-schedule plays, maneuver in the pocket, be accurate with the football. There鈥檚 zero doubt he knows how to attack Cover 2.鈥�

That鈥檚 a rather niche observation from Drinkwitz, who is usually more general when previewing opponents with the media. Simpson鈥檚 success against Cover 2 鈥� that being defensive schemes that keep two safeties deep to keep the lid on plays 鈥� has evidently weighed on the MU coaching staff.

The issue Mizzou has had with its secondary is high safeties biting on play-action and shorter routes, abandoning or betraying their assignments and thereby opening up deep looks. Fixing that was on the Tigers鈥� to-do list during their first bye week of the season, and Drinkwitz has been clear in identifying it as a problem the coaching staff needs to fix.

Where it becomes even more complicated against Simpson is that he has been dangerous even against sound Cover 2 looks. It doesn鈥檛 take a coverage breakdown for him to find receivers.

鈥淭he biggest issue is you鈥檝e got to pick your poison,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淒o you want to get beat in the pass game, or do you want to be light in the box and defended from explosive passes? Vandy was playing a lot of Cover 2 鈥� which, Cover 2 is going to leave you short in the run game, unless you鈥檙e trapping it. And then they were able to pick apart the Cover 2 in second-and-long situations. Ty was making some throws that were pretty incredible.鈥�

To translate the football jargon a bit: One part of the dilemma, as Drinkwitz sees it, is over how many players to keep in 鈥渢he box鈥� 鈥� the area between the offensive tackles and close to the line of scrimmage, so more or less the defensive line and linebackers. A 鈥渉eavier鈥� box with more players is better at stopping the run and setting up blitzes. A 鈥渓ighter鈥� box with fewer players sacrifices those things in the name of pass coverage.

Cover 2 tends to come with lighter boxes, as both safeties will stay high and therefore out of the box. That鈥檚 the usual defensive strategy against Alabama: The Tide see light boxes 20% more often than the average FBS team and heavy boxes about 22% less than average, per SIS Football.

When Vanderbilt deployed Cover 2 last Saturday, Simpson seemed content to complete passes into the shorter area underneath those safeties. When he wanted to look deeper downfield, he targeted the sidelines. There鈥檚 often a soft spot along the perimeter just past the cornerback but below the safety, and Simpson is adept at finding that spot.

It鈥檚 a spot South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers exploited for a touchdown against Missouri a few weeks ago, so there鈥檚 precedent for this particular kind of throw hurting the Tigers.

If Mizzou wants to forego its efforts in buttoning up the secondary, it could go the opposite route of playing conservative, deep-lying zone defense and instead aggressively blitz Simpson.

And while MU鈥檚 defensive front is an asset and it has weapons like Josiah Trotter, Khalil Jacobs and Daylan Carnell who can blitz from inside the box, there鈥檚 no guarantee that trading coverage for pressure actually thwarts Simpson. He鈥檚 still been effective against blitzes.

鈥淲e play zone, he鈥檚 going to pick us apart,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淚f we blitz, he鈥檚 going to stand in there and identify the one-on-one matchup and take it. That鈥檚 what they鈥檝e been really good at.鈥�

In some ways, Simpson becomes even more lethal against the blitz. His average time to throw drops from 3.12 seconds to 2.89 鈥� he gets the ball out a beat quicker, basically 鈥� yet his average depth of target actually rises from 7.5 yards downfield to 9.

Put simply: Faced with a blitz, Simpson is decisive in targeting wideouts like Bernard and Williams, who work themselves open against the man coverage that often accompanies blitzes.

So what will Mizzou need to do against Simpson and the Tide? Clean up the zone coverage to avoid giving him more than he鈥檒l already take, then try to find ways to rattle him from there.

鈥淭he quarterback makes very good decisions,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥�(He鈥檚) not easily deceived with disguise, unaffected by pressure, (has the) ability to escape. Those three things make it really difficult to game plan a quarterback.鈥�