How Kevin Coleman Jr. landed knockout blow in Mizzou football’s win at Arkansas
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- Kevin Coleman Jr. returned a punt 67 yards to seal Mizzou’s 31-17 win late.
- Mizzou ran for 322 rushing yards while passing for just 25, forcing ground focus.
- Defense generated four sacks and limited Arkansas to 61 rushing yards.
Kevin Coleman Jr. called game.
In a Missouri football performance marred by uninspired passing and special teams miscues, Coleman gave the Tigers a big special-teams play — a 67-yard punt-return touchdown with just over eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Oliver Robbins’ 41-yard field goal had given Mizzou a six-point lead. Then, Coleman provided the insurance, tallying the final score in a 31-17 win.
“It was awesome,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said of Coleman’s return. “We needed it.”
Ahmad Hardy carried the Tigers’ offense for much of the day, rushing for 157 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. Drinkwitz said postgame he feels Hardy is a deserving candidate for the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the top running back in college football.
“If he needed this game to make a convincing final argument, I don’t know what else they need to see,” Drinkwitz said.
Here are some instant takeaways from a rainy win in the Tigers’ regular-season finale...
Tigers turn to ground game against Razorbacks
It was clear from Mizzou’s first drive what kind of offense it would be running.
Pribula ran for 56 yards on the drive, mostly thanks to a 49-yard run to open the series. Jamal Roberts ran in another 4 yards for the touchdown.
In all, Mizzou finished with 322 rushing yards — compared to a remarkably low 25 passing yards on just seven attempts. Pribula finished with more rushing yards (78) than passing (25).
The conditions were slick in Fayetteville, but that didn’t seem to stop the Razorbacks from throwing the ball; KJ Jackson and Taylen Green combined for 185 yards and one passing touchdown.
But the decision to keep it on the ground worked for Mizzou, particularly after Pribula’s turnover to open the second quarter. The ball seemingly just popped out of his hand, and the Razorbacks recovered the fumble for a scoop-and-score.
“Once we had the fumble on the screen, we just said, ‘Man, they haven’t stopped us yet running the ball,’” Drinkwitz said. “We needed to lean on our strength until they could take it away from us.”
Pribula has committed at least one turnover in all but two games that he’s played this season.
More on Beau Pribula’s day
Beau Pribula still has a year of eligibility left, and this game showed one of the glaring issues that cannot carry over into next season.
Though gaps in the offensive line were also an issue — Pribula was sacked twice Saturday — he’s had an issue with holding the ball far too long before making a read. That leaves himself open to taking hard hits.
It’s something to work on moving forward.
Defense, once again, kept Mizzou afloat
As has been the case all year, this defense has been something special for the Tigers.
In some games, such as last week’s 17-6 loss against Oklahoma, the defense has provided ample opportunities for the win, but the offense hasn’t closed the deal.
Saturday, the defense again stood tall to give Mizzou the chances it needed in the Battle Line Rivalry game.
The MU defense allowed only one Arkansas offensive touchdown, with the Razorbacks’ other touchdown coming from the scoop-and-score. The Tigers limited Arkansas’ leading rusher Mike Washington Jr. to 50 yards. He was third in the SEC in rushing yards going into the game.
The Razorbacks overall were 20th in all of FBS in rushing yards per game at 203.8, and Mizzou held them to 61.
Mizzou’s defense strung together four sacks for a loss of 26 yards with eight tackles for loss.
Overall, the defense held strong. This time, the offense did enough for the work to pay off.
Special teams was a mess, again
If your name is Kevin Coleman Jr., this section does not apply to you. You can keep scrolling.
Now, let’s talk about everything else on special teams.
By the regular-season finale, there were certain miscues that you’d have expected to be worked out. For example, penalties were a regular issue for Mizzou in previous weeks, but the Tigers cleaned it up Saturday. They had just one penalty in the first half for 10 yards, and finished with five.
Special teams, however? Completely different story.
A botched high snap gave Arkansas solid field position and turned into a field goal to take the lead before halftime. Then, another bad snap cost Mizzou the extra point after Hardy’s 53-yard touchdown run.
Special teams has often been the subject of conversation with the Tigers, yet it never seemed to get corrected.
Arkansas had issues with penalties
It may have been an act of magic, but the Tigers were on the beneficiary side of the whistle Saturday.
Arkansas was called for 16 penalties, including 10 in the first half alone. The Razorbacks gave Mizzou 121 free yards.
Missouri’s five penalties totaled 45 yards.
This story was originally published November 29, 2025 at 6:32 PM.
