Ahmad Hardy’s historic rushing performance sparks Mizzou football win: Takeaways
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Ahmad Hardy rushed for 300 yards and three TDs, powering Mizzou to a 49-27 win.
- Mizzou defense recorded five sacks, 13 tackles for loss and two defensive TDs.
- Discipline issues cost 74 yards: 11 penalties and two targeting ejections.
The Missouri Tigers ended a two-game losing streak in dominant fashion.
Thanks to a standout performance by the defense, and a sensational one from Ahmad Hardy, the Tigers rolled 49-27 over Mississippi State on senior day in Columbia.
And they were dominant without having to ask freshman quarterback Matt Zollers to do too much.
In an up-and-down start, Zollers threw an interception and had two intentional grounding calls. But he only needed to throw 15 passes with his supporting cast getting the job done.
The Tigers put up 438 yards of offense, largely thanks to a career night from Hardy. Zollers had only eight completions, but two of them went for touchdowns.
It was more than enough.
On the other side of the QB battle, Mississippi State’s Blake Shapen went 19-for-33 passing for 199 yards, but he also had two interceptions. The Bulldogs turned to freshman Kamario Taylor in the fourth quarter.
Here are our takeaways from the Mizzou win...
Ahmad Hardy makes history
Ahmad Hardy said in his SEC Network postgame interview he told coach Eli Drinkwitz he’d go for 200 yards on Saturday.
Drinkwitz had a bigger number in mind — 300 — and Hardy met it.
It may have been senior day, but the sophomore running back has been one of the biggest keys for Mizzou’s offense. That continued Saturday in historic fashion.
Hardy ran for 300 yards on 25 carries, averaging 12 yards per attempt. He also scored three touchdowns.
His rushing yards total was the sixth most in a single game in SEC history. And he became the first FBS player to hit 300 yards in a game since 2022.
By himself, Hardy had just 45 fewer yards than the Bulldogs.
“This game means a lot to him,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s a Mississippi young man, wasn’t recruited by that school, and so it was really important and meant a lot to him.”
Hardy said there was another piece of motivation.
“I told the seniors I was doing it for them,” Hardy said. “I’ve got No. 9 on my forearm; I played for Zion Young and the rest of the seniors.”
Hardy eclipsed 200 yards in the third quarter with his 72-yard touchdown run, giving the Tigers a 28-17 lead at the time. His final carry was a 19-yard run to give him exactly 300 yards for the game.
Toriano Pride made senior day special
Of course, it was senior day, and Toriano Pride made sure people remembered that with two huge plays.
Neither of them were typical plays, either.
In the second quarter, Mississippi State lined up for a field goal attempt, but a botched snap put the ball in the hands of Pride for a 62-yard return. The takeaway led to a scoring drive finished by, you guessed it, Hardy.
Pride scored once as well. The St. Louis native intercepted a bobbled pass for a pick-six to put Mizzou up 35-17.
In all, Pride totaled 81 yards of returns. He ranked second on the Tigers, behind only Hardy, in all-purpose yards.
Missouri’s defense made big plays
This Tigers’ defense has kept the team in plenty of games, and on Saturday, the defense worked hard to maintain that standard for one last showing at Faurot Field.
Pride had his two massive plays. The defense, as a whole, recorded 13 tackles for loss and five sacks. Shapen was sacked three times, Taylor twice more.
Marvin Burks Jr. was responsible for Shapen’s other interception, another pick-six that put the Tigers up 42-24 in the fourth quarter. There was no shortage of highlights from the Mizzou defense Saturday.
“It was two St. Louis guys, too, so that was crazy,” Burks said of the pick-sixes.
Areas for Mizzou to clean up
That said ... for all the good the defense did, there were still some miscues worth keeping an eye on.
The Tigers were called for 11 penalties Saturday, totaling 74 yards. Nate Johnson was called for targeting after making helmet-to-helmet contact in the first quarter, giving the Bulldogs an automatic first down that they turned into a scoring drive.
Johnson wasn’t even the only Tiger tossed for targeting — Josiah Trotter was ejected in the second quarter for targeting a play after Santana Banner was hit with an unnecessary roughness flag for taking down an MSU receiver.
Stephen Hall got called for a facemask penalty a few plays later. The Tigers were bailed out on that drive with the botched kick and Pride’s 62-yard return, but the Bulldogs were close to tacking on more points.
This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 11:00 PM.
