Wrights and Wrongs: Takeaways from Mizzou's 45-17 win over Florida

COLUMBIA — Under the ever-large scope of critics, No. 25 Missouri football upset No. 8 Florida 45-17 to pick up its first win over a ranked Southeastern Conference opponent since 2023. Missouri felt near-flawless across the board in the win, crushing the Gators in one of the biggest conference victories under coach Eli Drinkwitz.

Without further ado, here’s what went right, and what went wrong in Missouri’s (4-1, 1-1 SEC) beatdown of Florida (4-1, 2-1) on Saturday.

Wright: Breaking bad habits

Through the first four games, a few of Missouri’s bad habits were at the forefront of its identity: penalties, miscues in the secondary and poor tackling. Each contributed to the Tigers’ demise at the hands of Mississippi State.

The issues were largely self-inflicted and perhaps correctable over time, but thinking Missouri would fix each issue in the span of seven days seemed a tad ambitious. Believe it or not, that’s exactly what the Tigers did Saturday, excelling in each category.

Missouri had a season-low four penalties for 50 yards, none of which were overly consequential. None of the penalties resulted in a scoring drive, and only one — an unsportsmanlike conduct on Dominick Giudice on a fourth-quarter kickoff — was on the offensive line.

Oct 3, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers running back Jamal Roberts (20) carries the ball in the first quarter against the Florida Gators at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Missouri also fixed its tackling against arguably the best break-tackle running back in the nation in Jadan Baugh. Baugh entered the matchup leading the nation with 34 missed tackles forced and ranking third in the nation with 358 yards after contact. Against Missouri, Baugh rushed for just 13 yards on 12 attempts, forcing zero missed tackles, per Pro Football Focus.

“Bottom line is, we had to shed blocks, create penetration, set edges, and that's what we did,” Drinkwitz said. …”We had to set edges and tackle, and there was a lot of really strong edges out there today.”

Lastly, Missouri almost entirely cut out its lapses in the secondary — the longest reception allowed was a 24-yarder to Dallas Wilson on Florida’s first drive. Besides that catch, only one other Gator logged a reception for 20 or more yards in the first three quarters. Credit to Missouri cornerbacks Sione Laulea, Chris Graves and Jahlil Florence, along with safeties Santana Banner and Trajen Greco, for being superb in pass coverage.

Despite attempting a season-high 34 passes, Philo threw for just 197 yards, only one more yard than his previous season-low total in 23 attempts against Ole Miss.

Oct 3, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers cornerback Sione Laulea (2) breaks up a pass intended for Florida Gators wide receiver TJ Abrams (4) in the second quarter at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“Last week, we didn't play our best game. We knew we had to attack it this week with a different mindset,” Safety Kensley Louidor-Faustin said. “We had to erase last week and then just approach this week with a different mindset. That's what we did — limit explosives, stop the hunt. That’s what tough teams do.”

Wright: An (unexpected) fast start

Missouri has struggled immensely at the beginning of games in 2026, finding itself in deficits to open its games against Kansas (7-0), Troy (10-0) and Mississippi State (14-0). The Tigers clawed back in each, winning against KU and Troy, but the early deficit proved too much to come back from against MSU.

“You encourage what you tolerate. We can't tolerate slow starts anymore," Drinkwitz said Tuesday.

Missouri didn’t waste any time against the Gators, scoring a field goal on its first drive and taking a 10-3 lead thanks to a 47-yard Donovan Olugbode touchdown on its third. The field goal, from 32 yards out and courtesy of Blake Craig, marked Missouri’s first first-quarter points since Week 1 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

The quick start helped Missouri prevent Florida from continuously handing the ball off to Baugh, and in turn scoring much

Wrong: Missouri didn’t do those earlier

If Missouri had figured those problems out earlier in the season, it could be sitting undefeated heading into a game against a likely unranked Texas A&M (3-2, 1-2) squad. Instead, it took a preventable loss against Mississippi State.

But in the grand scheme of things, does that really matter? Not if you’re quick to turn the page, à la Missouri.

“I knew that this team could continue to get better,” Drinkwitz said. “That (loss to MSU) wasn't the summation of a season, and (the win over Florida) isn't a summation of the season.”

Donovan Olugbode — Oct 3, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers cornerback Chris Graves Jr. (1) reacts in the second quarter against the Florida Gators at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

College football is a sport of ups and downs, even more so in the bloodbath that is the SEC. Those who maintain composure week to week are those who emerge from the fog.

“Everything ain't gonna be able to go our way, and that's part of life,” running back Jamal Roberts said. “And you go either dwell on it and just be stuck on the past, or you go find a way to figure it out and overcome that obstacle or that hill to get over that hump. So that's what we do every week.”

Wright: QB1, RB1 and WR1

After it felt as if Missouri sorely missed 2025 Doak Walker finalist Ahmad Hardy against Mississippi State in Week 4, Roberts showed out with a career-best performance against Florida. The senior exploded for a career-high 211 rushing yards while tacking on three touchdowns and the two longest runs of his career, one for 77 yards and the other for 80.

Roberts has filled in admirably in Hardy’s absence, further solidifying the necessity of his return in last offseason’s transfer-portal cycle.

“He's such a leader for our team. Nothing rattles him,” Drinkwitz said. He’s playing more than he probably needs to, but he just does whatever he can to help us win, and really proud he doesn't get rattled.”

As always, starting quarterback Austin Simmons turned in an impressive performance. He threw for a season-high 340 yards while completing 23 of his 30 passes and throwing for two touchdowns. Simmons is up to 13 touchdowns and zero interceptions on the season, already surpassing former starter Beau Pribula’s passing-touchdown count in his 10-game 2025 season. Having a revitalized pass game has kept Missouri in games it would’ve had no business being in last season, much of which is due to Simmons’ knack for completing tight-window passes and coming up in big moments.

“Our ability to throw the ball was the difference in the game,” Drinkwitz said. Our two runs came late — well, they were kind of both knives in the final of the game, nail in the coffin type thing — but I thought the ability to throw the ball was the difference in our success today.”

His No. 1 target, Cayden Lee, recorded his second consecutive game with triple-digit receiving yards. Lee finished with eight receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown, putting him third in the SEC on the season with 412 receiving yards and tied for second with 27 receptions.

Lee, alongside standout sophomore receiver Donovan Olugbode, has formed a deadly threat of wideouts for Simmons to connect with frequently.

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