Three Key Plays From Austin Simmons' Mizzou Debut

Missouri football jumped out to a 14-0 lead with 4:16 remaining in the first quarter against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and held a lead of 30 or more points for the final 35:44 of game time. Given the game’s uncontested nature, new starting quarterback Austin Simmons wasn't in many high-pressure situations. He also played a relatively simple game, which is a good sign for Missouri.

There were, however, plays that provide insight to future success the Tigers may have in certain areas, along with plays that indicated future problems and questions they’ll need to solve.

Here’s three key plays from Simmons' debut that stand out for their future implications on Missouri’s season.

Third-down Completion Under Pressure

Simmons converted both of his first third downs as a Tiger, the second of which saw the southpaw signal-caller fire a pass to the sideline under pressure to move the chains.

There’s two main reasons why this play sticks out. First, Simmons completed a relatively tight-window pass toward his opposite-shoulder sideline while under pressure on third down, hitting his No. 1 target in star sophomore wideout Donovan Olugbode for a toe-tap catch. Impressive.

The other item of importance is how the play reached that point; a 1-yard rush from Jamal Roberts on second down in which Missouri’s run-blocking didn't give the tailback much room to work with, and starting right tackle Luke Work allowing UAPB defensive tackle Marquis Cagle to waltz into the backfield in less than a second.

Missouri’s run game struggled early, pinning the Tigers into multiple third-and-medium or third-and-long scenarios. The run-blocking needs to improve considerably and quickly from its first-half performance against UAPB, as does Work’s pass blocking — he logged the second-to-lowest PFF pass-blocking grade among the 10 Tiger linemen to play in Week 1.

The positive, though, is that Simmons powered through the imperfect and turned the faulty situation into a first down. Overall, a poor, potentially recurring scenario that the new QB1 saved.

Rollout Completion Shows Mobility, Chemistry

Simmons was given a relatively-clean pocket for most of his debut night as a Tiger, so that’s where the majority of his throws came from. We did get a glimpse of his rollout game, though, during a play-action pass on a first-and-10 in the second quarter.

Simmons remained in the pocket at first, scanning the right side of the field, then glancing at Roberts a few yards ahead of him on the left for what would’ve been a gain of a couple yards — at most — barring Roberts making a close UAPB defender miss badly.

Instead, he locked eyes with fellow Ole Miss transfer Cayden Lee, who then turned up field into open space. Simmons rolled out, releasing the pass while on the run and hitting Lee just on target, allowing his longtime receiver to haul in the pass for a horizontal toe-tap reception.

The two main positives here: Simmons’ being able to throw on the run would add another fold to Missouri’s offense that it didn’t have in 2025 — Beau Pribula ran often, but rarely threw on the run — and Simmons’ apparent connection with Lee, as the pair communicated mid-play to move the chains. Bonus points for Lee’s hands, balance and body control on the play.

Simmons Gets Sacked

Simmons was brought down in the backfield on an RPO play in the first quarter. Drinkwitz said postgame that Simmons was at fault for the sack

“We overcame a sack in the first drive, so that was good and positive, and that was really on him,” Drinkwitz said. “It was RPO that he's gotta handoff if there's any weakside pressure, and he screwed that up. He was really good about bouncing back and figuring that out.”

There’s an argument to be heard that Simmons actually made a semi-correct audible to keep the ball and attempt to pass, but the way he went about it was telling. Simmons turned toward the left side of the field and eyed Lee — his back turned toward the weakside pressure — and hesitated a beat too long before throwing a pass, being sacked from behind by a pair of UAPB defenders.

It’s also another example of pressure coming from the right side, where Work is filling in for once-projected starter Josh Atkins, who will be sidelined for an extended period of time with injury.

Given it was first-and-10, Simmons could’ve instead fired the pass to Naeshaun Montgomery for a short gain or, like Drinkwitz said, handed the ball off to Roberts. Attempting to wait longer for Lee to potentially open up downfield isn’t going to work in RPO situations — the ambition is fine, but not there. Simmons will need to improve in reading RPO’s going forward as Missouri’s ground game gears up.

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