How Mizzou football’s offense woke up and helped put Mississippi State to bed
Remember when Mizzou had one of the most dangerous offenses in the country, and Ahmad Hardy seemed like a legit candidate for the Heisman Trophy? That feels like forever ago.
But on senior night, when memories of good times often override the bad, the Tigers looked like their early season selves on offense in a 49-27 win over Mississippi State. After averaging just 18.5 points per game over the previous four contests, MU scored its most points against a power-conference opponent since 2020.
Pick a stat, and Ahmad Hardy stuffed it. He ran for 300 yards, good for the second-best single-game rushing total in Mizzou history, trailing only Devin West’s 319-yard explosion against Kansas in 1998.
Hardy had eight carries that went for 10 yards or more. He’s the only FBS running back with multiple 200-yard rushing games this season. He had a 72-yard touchdown in the third quarter and surpassed his single-game career-high with a 43-yard house call early in the fourth quarter.
His impact extended beyond the stat sheet. Chris McClellan and Marvin Burks Jr. said that Hardy sometimes scored too fast after the defense came away with big-time stops. Just before the 72-yard run, McClellan asked fellow defensive lineman Elias Williams on the sideline if Mizzou could score on that possession.
Moments later, Hardy was beelining toward the end zone at 21 miles per hour, a new in-game best. Reaching a speed that’s acceptable for cars driving on Tiger Avenue seems pretty impressive.
“Whatever reaction you had is the same reaction I had,” McClellan said of Hardy’s performance. “It was like, ‘Wow, this guy is incredible.’”
The outside zone, which had been contained in recent weeks, couldn’t be stopped. Hardy proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to stop, whether he was shaking off tackles or tearing up turf in the open field.
“I just tried to run by guys,” Hardy said. “I didn’t try to run them over. ... I tried to use my speed. It worked out pretty good.”
The star sophomore had logged productive outings, combining for 206 rushing yards against Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. But his efforts came amid defeat, and much of his production against the Aggies came with the road team ahead by a wide margin.
Hardy’s performance Saturday didn’t just come amid victory. He was a major reason why Mizzou won.
“He’s basically like a safety blanket,” quarterback Matt Zollers said. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, he’s going to get a positive gain.
“Having him back there is very nice.”
MU’s dominance on the ground lessened the pressure on Zollers to put up gaudy stats — the true freshman attempted just 15 passes. Even so, he looked comfortable for much of Saturday evening, which was the result of a stylistic change from last week.
Against Texas A&M, Zollers piled up errant deep shots, and he was unable to generate any sort of rhythm through the air. Against Mississippi State, easier throws were easier to come by.
Zollers let it rip on occasion, with the shiniest example being a 26-yard rainbow to Donovan Olugbode for the game’s opening touchdown. But a large chunk of Zollers’ passing attempts traveled less than 15 yards in the air, and the results were much better than last week.
“The main point of emphasis all week was to get me in a rhythm early,” Zollers said. “I feel like we did that, and that was definitely helpful throughout the game.”
Such was the case on MU’s second drive of the game. The first play was a screen pass to Kevin Coleman Jr. that went for 11 yards, and three plays later, Zollers connected with Josh Manning on a post route. The wideout eluded half the state of Mississippi for a 34-yard touchdown.
The shorter passes were a force multiplier. They not only allowed Zollers to establish a rhythm as a passer, but they also played to a strength of MU’s wide receivers: gaining yards after the catch. Zollers was kept out of tough positions early on, as Mizzou’s average distance to go on third down was only 4.5 yards over the first two quarters.
The true freshman was far from perfect: He put too much heat on some passes and committed two intentional grounding penalties. A misfire to Manning turned into an interception early in the second quarter. Overall, however, Zollers had a much better performance than last week.
“I liked the way the game was called,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “I thought he had a good rhythm. I thought he was confident in his reads.”
The defense, which tallied a pair of pick-sixes and 13 tackles for loss, deserves much of the credit for Saturday night’s victory. On the other side, though, the Tigers got themselves unstuck from the mud, and it kept the Tigers undefeated on senior night under Eli Drinkwitz.
“Brothers are born for adversity,” Drinkwitz said. “We were playing for something bigger than ourselves tonight, and I think it showed.”
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