Mizzou Offense Crushes Louisiana Defense En Route to Monster Victory

COLUMBIA, Mo. — There was never much the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns could do to stop the Missouri Tigers on either side of the ball. In fact, the game was never really close at all.

Missouri controlled all aspects of the game from the get-go, jumping ahead by a significant margin early in the second quarter. They went on to win 52-10.

A 28-3 early lead was primarily aided by running back Ahmad Hardy. He simply couldn't be stopped by the Ragin' Cajun defense, recording 188 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone.

A 71-yard rushing touchdown with 5:41 to play in the second quarter was more than exemplary of his performance. No Louisiana player could tackle him, breaking three tackles and outrunning the rest of the opposing defense, adding six more points to an already massive Missouri lead.

Hardy has extreme confidence in his game and his 250-yard, three-touchdown performance is proof of that. When he broke open for that 71-yard run, the only thing he had on his mind was scoring.

"Every time I touch the ball, I'm thinking I'm going to score," Hardy said following the win. "So I was just trying to get in the end zone."

READ: Instant Takeaways: Mizzou Runs Over Louisiana

Beau Pribula and the Tiger offense in general had a field day, though the majority of the scoring to start came from Hardy. He opened the scoring up with a seven-yard touchdown and didn't find the end zone again until his 71-yard explosion.

Pribula's day against Louisiana was the slightest bit. He started off hot, though most of the initial offensive series contained multiple rushes to Hardy and Jamal Roberts. He did get in on the fun with an 11-yard touchdown to Marquis Johnson, a score that was nearly called back, along with an impressive 39-yard dump-off to Roberts.

Missouri's quarterback was pressured by Louisiana cornerback Trae Tomlinson, who nearly brought him down. As he was being dragged down, Pribula managed to find Roberts, who scampered around the Ragin' Cajun defense for an eventual score.

The Tiger defense was just as effective, allowing a minimal amount of chunk plays throughout the game's entirety. If it weren't for a massive 84-yard run from Louisiana running back Zylan Perry, their longest play of the first half was a pass interference committed by cornerback Stephen Hall.

"I thought for the most part, we played really good, kept them behind the sticks, were able to create some havoc on third downs," Drinkwitz said. "I like the way Corey [Batoon] mixed it up."

Pribula and the Tigers ended the first half ahead 38-10 thanks to a 22-yard Robert Meyer field goal. Things got sloppy towards the end of the opening 30 minutes of play, with Pribula missing a few throws and Perry getting on the board for the visiting team.

The offensive line didn't help Pribula at times while he was in the game. The Tigers allowed two sacks on Pribula, both of which featured completely unblocked defenders. The first came from linebacker Jaden Dugger, who walked right through the right-side gap between Keagen Trost and Dominick Giudice.

The second one came from Tomlinson, who slipped right by Cayden Green on a cornerback blitz.

Pribula did throw an interception in the second quarter to linebacker Cameron Whitfield, the first one he's thrown in his collegiate career. This, along with the sacks he took, will be points of emphasis for the Tigers moving forward.

"The only thing about Beau is, when he makes a mistake, he owns it," Drinkwtiz said. "[He] moves on. That's a part of growing."

Sept 13, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Beau Pribula throws just over the fingers of a Louisiana defender in the first quarter at Faurot Field. | Cal Tobias/MissouriOnSI

Luckily, the Tigers had a substantial enough lead that didn't require Pribula and other Missouri starters to play much in the second half. The starting unit trotted onto the field for the first drive of the third quarter, a drive that ended in a seven-yard touchdown from Hardy, which was their last few snaps of the game.

He did finish the game with 174 passing yards and two passing touchdowns on 15-for-22 completion, along with five rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.

This prompted a plethora of Tiger freshmen into the game, including quarterback Matt Zollers, running backs Marquise Davis and Brendon Haygood and wide receiver Shaun Terry II. Other reserve players also entered the game, primarily on the offensive line and other positions on the defense.

Davis ended up performing quite well when it was all said and done. He ran for 113 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. In the third and fourth quarters, Davis was practically force-fed the ball.

"Those guys are really tough runners," Drinkwitz said. "I think our two young running backs, Marquise and Haygood, are going to be really, really bright spots for us in the future."

In the end, the Tigers did their job on both sides of the ball. They recorded 606 offensive yards and allowed only 121 on the other side of the ball. There was never any let-up, even in the fourth quarter, with plenty of inexperienced players.

On top of all of that, both teams had to brave dangerously warm temperatures. This made the performance that Drinkwitz's team put forward that much more impressive.

"That's why it was so critical for us to move this game up and appreciate the SEC and everybody recognizing it's more about player safety than other things," Drinkwitz said.

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