Mizzou snaps streaks with win over No. 8 Florida; Drinkwitz 'Couldn't have cared less' about AP poll chatter

Jamal Roberts and Austin Simmons led Mizzou football in its first win against a Top-10 conference opponent since 2013.

Sep 26, 2026; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz looks on during warm ups prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

COLUMBIA — Heading into No. 25 Missouri's homecoming matchup against No. 8 Florida, it had been 13 years since the Tigers earned a Top-10 conference win and three years since they secured a ranked win in the SEC. Following a one-score loss against No. 24 Mississippi State in Week 4, the outside noise continued to heighten.

After Missouri (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) bested Florida (4-1, 2-1) 45-17 on Saturday, the Tigers snapped both streaks. Coach Eli Drinkwitz "couldn't have cared less" about the storyline.

"That's just noise that people create on social media for no reason. Has nothing to do with anything," Drinkwitz said. "Every game has a life of its own... an opponent of its own and we try to make up the best matchup that we can."

Last season, the Tigers had four chances against Top-10 teams, but difficulties in the passing game held them back. But, as Drinkwitz has mentioned several times, this team is a brand new squad spearheaded by senior quarterback Austin Simmons.

In the victory, Missouri's passing game opened up the field early, playing a major part in the definitive win. After reaching a high of 231 passing yards in its four contests against ranked SEC opponents in 2026, Austin Simmons surpassed that total in the first half on Saturday.

Simmons finished the game 23-for-30 with 340 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. In a first half that the Tigers jumped out to a 20-10 lead, Simmons threw two touchdown passes for 31 and 47 yards and finished the half with 238 yards, going 16-for-21.

"Anytime you have a quarterback that's playing that well, there's just a ton of confidence that (when) the ball is in his hands something good's going to happen and, man, he was making some great throws today," Drinkwitz said.

Oct 3, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Austin Simmons (13) celebrates with wide receiver Naeshaun Montgomery (0) in the third quarter against the Florida Gators at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While Simmons led the Tigers' charge in the first half, Jamal Roberts took over in the second half. Roberts had two explosive bursts of 77 and 80 yards to put Missouri up 45-10. Roberts ended with 24 attempts, 211 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

After the 77-yard gain, Roberts waved his hand up and down towards the crowd, connecting with a crowd that Drinkwitz said was "outstanding."

"That was motivation for the rest of the game," Roberts said about the runs. "Just swinging energy, just going on a run and the crowd is a part of it (too). I feel like the crowd is there with us, just bringing that energy as well. Fans... I love you and them being excited (gets) us going as well on the field."

Accompanying Roberts' explosions, Simmons threw four throws of at least 29 yards, which were scattered across both sidelines and down the middle. Simmons primarily relied on top targets Cayden Lee and Donovan Olugbode in the first half as the two combined for 10 receptions and 161 yards.

"The biggest thing with (Simmons) is his confidence," Drinkwitz said. "He's playing extremely confident, knows where to put the ball, has great confidence in his wide receivers. The connection that he has with Donovan and Cayden is really unbelievable."

Sep 26, 2026; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Missouri Tigers wide receiver Cayden Lee (19) runs after a catch during the fourth quarter against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Lee finished with 110 yards, on eight receptions. The 100-yard game was his second straight, marking the first time a Tiger has done that in conference play since 2023. Olugbode ended the night with six receptions, 94 yards and one touchdown, while Caleb Goodie Sr. accumulated two catches, 67 yards and a touchdown.

The Tigers excelled defensively as well, holding the Gators to a season-low 17 points. Prior to Saturday, Florida averaged an SEC-second 52.5 points per game. The final score of 45-17 doesn't even tell the whole story, as Florida secured a late game touchdown with less than a minute remaining.

Missouri's defense gave up an early 12-yard rush and 24-yard pass on the Gators' first drive, looking reminiscent to its unit against Mississippi State. After allowing four gains of over 40 yards in the previous two weeks, against Florida, the Tigers flipped the script after the first drive and never allowed more than 24 yards on a play.

"I was a little stressed about it early because the first drive we gave up a big third down and... a few of those third downs," Drinkwitz said. "But I think overall we got them in long yardage situations. We had quarterback pressure and then we kept the ball in front of us and tackled, which is something that we didn't do a great job of last week."

Advancing week-to-week was a major point of emphasis for the Tigers' following the Mississippi State loss, per Drinkwitz.

"Guys are allowed to improve... a game doesn't define a season," Drinkwitz said. "We played in the four games and (we got) better. That's our job as coaches and that's their job as players."

Oct 3, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Florida Gators running back Jadan Baugh (13) carries the ball in the first quarter against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Missouri's improvement against the run after giving up 122 yards to Mississippi State running back Fluff Bothwell was apparent in the win. The defense had a stifling performance against Jadan Baugh, who finished with 12 rushes, 13 yards and zero touchdowns. The running back entered the game with 600 rushing yards and a nation-leading 11 rushing touchdowns.

The Tigers' defense was active in the backfield with 11 tackles for loss and three sacks from three Tigers in the contest. Nicholas Rodriguez led the Tigers with 11 tackles and STAR Kensley Louidor-Faustin led the team with 3.5 tackles for loss.

"Obviously, last week we didn't do a great job of stopping the run," Louidor-Faustin said after the game. "We went into this week emphasizing that we got to stop the run and just focus on us and setting hard edges, like Coach Drinkwitz (has) been preaching, tough teams stop the run. We emphasized that in practice, we attacked it the right way and that's what we did."

Missouri returns to Faurot Field on Saturday against Texas A&M (2-2, 0-2 SEC), looking to avenge a 38-17 home loss in 2025. Even after the 28-point win, Drinkwitz sees a need for improvement ahead of the Tigers' next matchup.

"We better start running the ball better on first and second down, or we're going to be in real trouble versus A&M. We better contain the quarterback better than we did on on power reads this week because they had a lot of early yardage on sweeps and screens and jet sweeps," Drinkwitz said. "So, it's constantly figuring out where do you got to plug holes and that's our job. That's what we're going to do."

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