Top Takeaways from No. 16 Mizzou's Victory in Overtime at Auburn

Missouri's win was much more of a dodged bullet than a identity-building win.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold (11) is tackled by Missouri Tigers safety Santana Banner (15) as Auburn Tigers take on Missouri Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Missouri Tigers defeated the Auburn Tigers 23-17 in 2OT. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUBURN, Ala. — It took two overtimes, but No. 16 Missouri was able to survive its first road trip, taking a 23-17 victory over Auburn.

Until Missouri scored a touchdown to tie the game at 17 with 5:15 remaining, there was plenty for head coach Eli Drinkwitz to be frustrated over. His thoughts and tiredness in his press conference following the game align with the fact that this is not necessarily a win representative of where Missouri wants to be. Instead, there's a feeling that Missouri dodged a bullet.

Here are four takeaways from the win for Missouri.

Olugbode is one of the team’s best playmakers

Oct 11, 2025; Columbia, MO; USA; Missouri Tigers wide receiver Donovan Olugbode celebrates a catch against the Alabama Crimson Tide | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

The wide receiver Pribula has the most trust and timing with seems to be a true freshman, Donovan Olugbode. It’s been backed up time and time again by Olugbode delivering in the biggest moments.

Saturday night was yet another coming out party for Olugbode. It was also the game where he was relied on the most, receiving six targets. He ended the game leading Missouri in receiving yards for a second-straight week, gaining 69 yards on five receptions.

After he led the team in receiving against Alabama, Drinkwitz hinted that an increased role could be on the way for Olugbode. He proved that should continue to grow Saturday night. 

His best play of the night was a 27-yard reception, where he gained 23 yards after the catch by making an impressive cut to evade defenders.

He also made a ridiculous, 11-yard catch on the sideline to convert a third-and-8 in the second quarter. 

His ability to make contested catches and gain yards after the catch has become too undeniable for him not to be a featured part of the offense for the remainder of the season.

Working Hardy, or hardly working in the run game?

Oct 18, 2025; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Beau Pribula (9) hands off to Missouri Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy (29) during the second quarter against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images | John Reed-Imagn Images

For a second-straight week, Missouri had difficulties running the ball early. MU tried to get the run game going, with Ahmad Hardy taking three attempts on the first drive. But those went for a net of -4 yards, putting Missouri behind the sticks on a third-and-14 to end its opening drive.

In the first half, Hardy averaged just 2.5 yards on 15 carries. Junior defensive end Keldric Faulk  constantly sifted through the Missouri offensive line on its staple of outside-zone runs. The Auburn defensive line as a whole was constantly stuffing Hardy early.

Hardy was the fuel for the Missouri offense to begin the season, leading the nation with 730 yards on the ground in the first six weeks. He averaged over 7 yards per carry in that span.

But against Alabama and Auburn, Missouri’s run protection has been cracked. He averaged 4.3 yards against Alabama and 2.4 against Auburn.

"They was loading the box, so they was blitzing a lot," Hardy said after the game. "There was like linebackers at two yards, one yard. So, they was filling the gaps."

There were times early in the season when the protection would collapse and Hardy, in the words of Drinkwitz, would have to “be his own blocker.” 

But the difference from those moments and the last two weeks is that Hardy hasn’t even had time to get downhill and gain momentum to bruise past a defender. 

Running against Auburn was always going to be a challenge — statistically, it’s the best run defense Missouri has faced all season. 

But for a team whose identity is built around the run, the lack of blocking for Hardy was detrimental. The offensive line has to continue to make his job easier in order to reach the same efficiency the unit accomplished early in the season. 

Defense comes up clutch, but shows moments of weakness

Auburn Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold (11) throws the ball in the second overtime as Auburn Tigers take on Missouri Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Missouri Tigers defeated the Auburn Tigers 23-17 in 2OT. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Missouri’s defense looked really, really good for about 50% of this game. In the first half, Missouri sent plenty of pressure at Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold and shut down running back Jeremiah Cobb. 

The second half was a completely different story. 

Once the second half rolled around, Missouri’s defense began to show some weakness. The passing game was generally ineffective, though Coleman was found in the red zone for 37 yards. The run defense was what started to hurt Missouri, especially as Jeremiah Cobb got going. 

Auburn’s offensive line was doing a good job of creating holes, but missed tackles and good plays from Cobb helped Auburn move the ball down the field. Cobb had 24 rushing yards at the halftime break, but finished the game with 111. That’s usually not an area where MU struggles, but tonight it was arguably its most glaring weakness. 

It also doesn’t help that Coleman’s deep ball was at a great time in the game. Though that drive only ended in three points, it came right after a monster run from Cobb. A touchdown could’ve been a game-finisher for Auburn, but they did just enough to force a field goal. 

Despite its struggles defending the run and an occasional big passing play, Missouri did a good job of containing Arnold. He threw for 207 yards and an interception, becoming more ineffective later in the game. 

Missouri also executed well on third downs. MU held Auburn to 6-for-16 on third downs, including a 3-of-7 conversion rate in the first half. They slightly improved on third downs, but Missouri mostly managed to lock down in that area. 

Most importantly, though the defense in the second half was shaky, Missouri got stops late in the game when it mattered. Even if there were a few missed penalties late in the game, which seemed very likely in the secondary, they gave their offense a chance to go win the game. 

In overtime, the defense held its own. They forced a field goal attempt on the first Auburn go-around that resulted in a miss, along with multiple stops on Auburn’s last possession to seal the deal and win the game. 

There were times in the defense let up chunk plays, but it also proved to be a unit Missouri can rely on.

Inexcusable penalties

Oct 18, 2025; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz talks to a game official during the first quarter against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images | John Reed-Imagn Images

Overall, Missouri played a mostly clean game. The four total penalties were below MU’s average of 4.6 per game.

But the three of the defensive penalties were avoidable and costly. All three extended and aided on drives that Auburn ended up scoring points on. 

First, safety Marvin Burks was unable to turn around in time to properly defend a deep pass on a fourth-and-2 on the opening drive to wide receiver Perry Thompson, who caught it out of bounds. Seven plays later, Arnold was taking the ball in for a two-yard rushing touchdown to give Auburn a 7-0 lead. 

Linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez was called for a roughing the passer penalty in the second quarter on a third-and-1, then for a personal foul in the third quarter. Both would've been avoided if Rodriguez managed to stop himself from throwing himself at Arnold.

Last week against Alabama, one of the biggest errors from Missouri was an avoidable taunting call on defensive end Zion Young, who went up to celebrate in the front of a tackled Alabama player. 

Between the taunting call on Young, and the two on Rodriguez on Saturday night, the penalties costing the Tigers the most aren’t technique errors, like holding calls.

Instead, their frustrating calls that probably make the coaching staff want to rip their hair out. They were huge contributing factors as to why Missouri needed to even score a late touchdown to force overtime.