Wrights and Wrongs: Takeaways from Mizzou Football's Win Over UAPB

Welcome to “Wright’s and Wrongs” a weekly series in which Missouri On SI beat reporter Killian Wright gives his positive (Wright) and negative (Wrong) takeaways from the most recent Mizzou football game.

Mizzou football kicked off its season by thwarting Arkansas-Pine Bluff 54-14 Thursday night at Faurot Field, a final score that fell in the range of extremely reasonable pregame predictability. It’s the same way each of the last six MU football seasons have begun — a multi-dozen beatdown of an FCS or low-level Group-of-Six opponent at home.

As you can imagine, there’s a few positives to take away from the season opener. On the contrary, there’s areas of improvement that were both identifiable upon observation and identified by coach Eli Drinkwitz postgame.

Without further ado…

Wright - Austin Simmons Did Exactly What Was Needed

Missouri didn’t ask much of transfer quarterback Austin Simmons in his debut. The former Ole Miss Rebel was making his Tiger debut and his first start in close to a calendar year, and he delivered. The southpaw threw for 252 yards and four touchdowns while completing 17 of his 19 pass attempts before being subbed out near the end of the first half.

“It was an emphasis for us to be able to throw the ball. I felt like Austin really handled himself well, especially in third downs,” Drinkwitz said. We had multiple third-and-longs early, with an inability to run the ball at the efficiency that we need to. But for him to be able to trust the scheme, find the throws, wide receivers to get open was really good.”

Simmons played a simple game. His receivers were wide open on the majority of his throws and his pocket was kept clean for the majority of the game. Even after making a mistake, though, Drinkwitz applauded Simmons’ ability to bounce back, something position coaches and players told Missouri On SI was a quality trait of Simmons throughout fall camp.

“We overcame a sack in the first drive so that was good and positive, and that was really on (Simmons),” Drinkwitz said. “It was an RPO that he's got to handoff if there's any weak side pressure, and he screwed that up. So, you know, he was really good about bouncing back and figuring that out.”

Missouri will likely heavily utilize the RPO game throughout the season, especially upon Ahmad Hardy’s return. Simmons needs to excel in the area, yes, but there’s worse mistakes to make in a debut preceded by nerves.

Wrong - Slow Start for the Rushing Attack

If told pregame that Missouri had poured in 54 points and gained 562 yards of offense, it’d be reasonable to expect the majority of that production to come from the ground game. That wasn’t the case.

Missouri rushed for 22 yards on its first 11 attempts, averaging two yards per carry. It ended the first half with 94 total rushing yards on 4.1 yards per carry, a less-than-admirable mark for a unit that, albeit missing Doak Walker Finalist Ahmad Hardy, is supposed to be among the best in the nation.

“We had multiple third-and-longs early, with an inability to run the ball at the efficiency that we need to,” Drinkwitz said.

Missouri ended with 205 yards on the ground while averaging 4.6 yards per carry, a lower mark than expected. Missouri, with or without Hardy, tore up FCS and G6 opponents on the ground last season: 219 yards on 5.8 yards per carry against Central Arkansas, 427 yards on 6.9 yards per attempt against Louisiana and 268 yards on 5.2 yards per carry against UMass.

Missouri’s offense has been built upon the foundation of an elite ground game under Drinkwitz, and even with Hardy sidelined, the unit needs to keep the standard.

Wrong - Lack of Pressure

Sure, Missouri beat the Golden Lions’ by 40 points and held them to zero in the first half. By the time UAPB finally got on the board, Missouri’s defense was largely composed of backups and third-stringers who’ll play throughout the season but likely not as much as they did in Week 1.

But if I told you this actually *wasn’t* a promising showing for the newest iteration of Missouri’s Death Row Defense? Drinkwitz might agree.

“We weren't able to win the sack battle,” Drinkwitz said “It didn't force nearly enough pressure on the quarterback. So again, there's a lot of things that we're going to look back on and say we got to get this stuff fixed in a hurry.”

Missouri tied the sack battle and lost the takeaway battle. A pair of Golden Lions burst through the backfield, against Missouri’s starting offensive line, and brought Simmons down for the first sack of the game. Sophomore defensive tackle Jason Dowell earned Missouri’s first and only sack of the night in the third quarter.

Missouri’s defensive line lost its three leaders in sacks from the 2025 season in Damon Wilson II (9), Zion Young (6.5) and Chris McClellan (6). Only two defensive linemen or edge rushers on the 2026 roster had two or more sacks in 2025, that being Darris Smith and Sterling Webb. The Tigers as a whole logged just nine pressures on the day, per Pro Football Focus. For reference, they averaged just under 20 pressures per game in 2025.

This is a fixable problem, as the unit is filled with players who are stepping into elevated roles for the first time, but at the end of the day, it’s just that: a problem.

Wright - Donovan Olugbode Emerges

Granted it was against FCS defensive backs, Olugbode’s performance was one of the best in recent memory for Tiger wideouts. He racked up a game-high eight receptions for 116 yards and two touchdowns, breaking his previous career-highs in all three categories.

“Really think about his work ethic,” Simmons said of Olugbode. “He was always catching jugs, so I always see him here at the facility. He always wants to talk ball, and honestly, just a great guy in the room.”

Olugbode did have one mistake in the game, being stripped of the ball for a fumble after a reception. Drinkwitz, having high expectations for his wideout, gave a simple evaluation of Olugbode’s performance.

“He’s got to hold on to the ball.”

Olugbode was competing for snaps with Kevin Coleman, Josh Manning and Marquis Johnson for snaps in 2025, all of which are out of the room in 2026. He showed glimpses of promise in his rookie campaign, but if the first game of his 2026 season is a sign of what’s to come, he could emerge as Missouri’s true top boundary wideout.

Lack of Takeaways

Missouri’s lack of pressure wasn’t the only problem with the defense. The Tigers failed to force a single takeaway against a lackluster UAPB offense.

“We aren't forcing takeaways,” he said postgame. “At the end of the day, we lost the takeaway battle because we didn't strike at the ball well enough.

The failure to earn a takeaway comes as a surprise, as multiple Tigers were mentioned as generating takeaways during fall camp.

The Tigers did, however, almost force a takeaway, but almost isn’t the same as actually coming away with it. Sophomore defensive back Elijah Dotson snagged an interception in the first half, only for it to be negated due to linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez picking up a roughing-the-passer penalty.

“Disappointing that that interception gets taken off the board. A captain can't do that. A captain can't have a late hit on the quarterback.”

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