'Pressure is on Those Guys': Improvements Must Come for Mizzou OLine

The Missouri offensive line has pretty clearly been an area for improvement two weeks into the season. They showed too much struggle against Central Arkansas in Week 1 and allowed four sacks, among other blunders, in their most recent matchup against Kansas.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz isn't exactly thrilled with the group's performance so far. Given the fact that the Missouri offensive line is full of veterans with multiple years of college experience, Drinkwitz feels the results so far from the group need to be much better.

"The pressure is on those guys to improve," Drinkwitz said on Tuesday. "I'm not going to shy away from it. Those guys are old enough, veteran enough, and we got a fourth-year starting center."

Even if their performances haven't been up to par, the Tigers have still earned two victories. Once they get into play in the Southeastern Conference, that might not be the case.

"That ain't good enough versus anybody," Drinkwitz said. "So I'm not going to pretend and pat each other on the back, like we've got all this stuff figured out. The name of the game is improvement, and those guys know what they know."

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Extra responsibility has fallen on players outside of the offensive line to pick up blocks in pass protection, especially against the Jayhawks. Running backs Jamal Roberts and Ahmad Hardy picked up multiple blocking assignments on people they shouldn't have had to block.

All of these players are capable blockers, which could make Missouri's blocking unit much scarier. That entire group needs to be connected and moving as a unit in order to seek offensive success moving forward.

"Five's got to act as one if we're going to be an elite offensive line," Drinkwitz said. "We've got two elite blockers, a tight end, we've got a really good running back, and we've got five capable players. So we got to get on the same page, and they got to respond to the challenge."

If players like Roberts and Hardy, who are good pass blockers, get stuck trying to fend off a defensive tackle likely won't end well. That falls on the offensive front five, if that happens.

Senior Dominick Giudice is a new member of the offensive front who's still trying to adapt and get comfortable in Missouri's system. He looked improved in the second half of Missouri's win over Kansas and went on to gain some national recognition afterward.

Dominick Giudice named Outland National Players of the Week @domgiudice56 X @outlandtrophy #MIZ | #STP pic.twitter.com/OLODR53cJg
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) September 9, 2025

He is also focused on the improvements the offensive line can make, given the first two weeks of tape that they have. It is a connected unit, which has helped in finding some success so far.

"I think the biggest thing that we've been focusing on from the first game is just improving every week," Giudice said. "That's something we talk about as a team. As an o-line getting the guys to gel more and more as the weeks go on and on, and that's something that we pride ourselves in."

The improvements have been noticeable from the win over Central Arkansas to the one over Kansas, but there still seems to be a long way to go. The Tigers will face better teams this season than those two programs and the offensive front needs to be ready for that.

That being said, the Tigers have made it through the first two weeks of the season with two wins. That may not be the case in the future if the offensive line doesn't show more growth than they already have.

"They grew from week one to week two," Drinkwitz said. "But winning doesn't negotiate. If you can't get third and one, you're not going to win enough."

The Tigers will have a chance to show more improvements in Week 3 against the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns at 3 p.m. Saturday at Faurot Field.

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