The non-conference slate of games sometimes serves the purpose of reaffirming what we already knew. On a hot Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field, Ahmad Hardy continued to prove one thing: he loves to run the ball against the Ragin' Cajuns.
Last season, Hardy accumulated 172 yards on the ground on 28 attempts against Louisiana. Hardy continued the trend with 250 rushing yards at Faurot Field and three touchdowns. The 250-yard total puts him seventh all-time for rushing yards by a Mizzou running back in a single game.
"[Ahmad] is a tough runner and he has a refusal to get tackled," Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "He's got really good vision. Other than the counter play on the first drive, he hit every hole the way you want to."
After answering any doubts of a hangover from last week with a seven-yard rushing touchdown to open the first quarter, Missouri's offense continued to find exactly what it needed in the Tigers' 52-10 win. It was a win that came with challenges not reflected in the final score.
"The actual turf surface was 176 degrees right there at the end," Drinkwitz said. "That's a player safety issue, and we don't really have any way to cool that turf down with those pellets. That's why it was so critical for us to move this game up [to a noon kickoff]."
Louisiana punted four times, gaining just four total yards of offense in the first half. Missouri didn't go one drive without scoring a touchdown and led 28-0. The front seven of the defense overwhelmed Louisiana’s run game. The Tigers, meanwhile, with Hardy and company, ran rampant, as running back Marquise Davis added 113 yards on the ground in the second half alone.
"[Hardy] got a game ball, so pretty special performance by him," Drinkwitz said. "For us to have a third back [like Marquise] that can go in there and run as physical as he can, I was proud of him and [Brendon] Haygood too."
Hardy piled up 144 rushing yards in less than 20 minutes, setting the tone for dominance from the start. The backbreaking touchdown came with 2:38 remaining in the first quarter.
A short pass from Beau Pribula resulted in an acrobatic stretch effort from Tigers receiver Marquis Johnson, a fumble on the one-yard line of the Cajuns, and a defensive recovery for a touchdown. But then, a review commenced.
Order for the Tigers was restored, as the review determined Johnson maintained control of the football as he was crossing the goal line. Mizzou led by two scores and held firm control of the game with 7:08 remaining.
"There's always room for improvement," Drinkwitz said. "Obviously, we had the close call right there with Marquis extending the ball to the goal line, which we don't do."
After that, Missouri's backup running back Jamal Roberts made his mark on the blowout contest. The lone reception of the first half for Roberts came with 10:31 on the clock in the second quarter. A short pass from Pribula turned into a 39-yard touchdown, encapsulating a dominant first-half performance from Missouri’s running back room.
A 38-10 lead at the break, 4-of-4 on red-zone attempts, a possession time of 19:52, and 230 net rushing yards on 27 attempts were video game-type numbers for the Tigers' offense in the first half.
The never-ending pressure from the Tigers' defense kept each Louisiana quarterback on their heels. Two sacks from the Missouri defense and just four total passing yards between quarterbacks Daniel Beale and — my favorite name in college football — Lunch Winfield, told the story of the entire contest.
"No matter the opponent, no matter who plays, I go out there and play with relentless effort," Mizzou linebacker Khalil Jacobs said. "[Takeaways and sacks] go hand in hand."
One question remained for Mizzou in what was a second half of backup players and empty seats in the stadium. Could freshman kicker Robert Meyer answer the test of a field goal beyond 30 yards? The answer from this game was a flat no, as he missed a 45-yard attempt that sailed wide right from the start.
Missouri didn't attempt one field goal from beyond the 25-yard mark against the Jayhawks, and the question mark in the special teams department continues to exist. Despite that, the main takeaway is ultimately the utter domination against the Ragin' Cajuns offensively and defensively. for the Tigers.
"We've got a lot of different playmakers, and we've got to be willing to continue to lean into that," Drinkwitz said. There's a lot of confidence in our running game, and there should be a lot of confidence in our pass game. The biggest thing we had to do is figure out how to protect the quarterbacks."