What Missouri Does Better Than Texas A&M And Why It Matters

Week 6 of the 2026 college football campaign sees the Texas A&M Aggies returning to Faurot Field in Columbia to take on Eliah Drinkwitz and the Missouri Tigers, looking to make it three straight statement wins over their SEC counterparts.

The 2024 matchup saw the Aggies knock off a top 10-ranked Mizzou team thanks to 138 yards and three touchdowns from running back Le'Veon Moss in a 41-10 effort at Kyle Field, while last year's showing saw the Aggies take full control of the game from the get-go, resulting in a 38-17 win to stay undefeated.

Now, everything has been reset, and both teams have had to overcome holes left by outgoing transfers and NFL draft declarees, but one thing remains the same in Missouri, and it's the one thing that the Aggies need to keep in check when they return to Columbia this season.

What Advantage Does Missouri Have?

Missouri Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy (29) reacts to his first down pickup during the first quarter of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One advantage that Drinkwitz's team holds over Mike Elko's squad as of now is the run game and the consistency of said run game, especially with Ahmad Hardy returning to the team for the 2026 season.

Hardy paced the entire SEC with 1,649 yards and was tied for second in the conference with 16 rushing touchdowns, and though the Aggies were the dominant forces in the win over the Tigers last November, there was no stopping the running tandem of Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts, who combined for 219 yards and two touchdowns against a stout A&M run defense up to that point.

Roberts scored a touchdown midway through the third quarter, a four-yard rush to finally put Mizzou on the board, and Hardy would score his six points via a 45-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, cutting the Aggies' lead to two scores before a one-yard rush by Rueben Owens put the finishing touches on A&M's ninth straight win in the 2025 season.

And with the iffy quarterback situation that haunted the Tigers last year, a solid run game was exactly what they needed. Though Hardy will have to nurse a gunshot wound in his leg he suffered last month, expect the same aggressive running that he tortured SEC teams with last season.

Roberts is also returning to Columbia, so both parts of the Missouri rushing tandem will be part of the contest just as they were last year.

And running games are everything in the SEC.

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