Missouri’s offense has a lot of moving parts this season, but the whole operation still starts with one name: Ahmad Hardy.
Austin Simmons is expected to take over at quarterback and help jump-start a passing game that stalled late in 2025. Josh Atkins will matter at right tackle.
Darris Smith is set to anchor a revamped edge group. Even so, none of them carries the same weight as Hardy, who sits at the center of everything Missouri wants to do.
That’s because Hardy wasn’t just productive last season - he was dominant. The Doak Walker finalist put together one of the nation’s best rushing seasons in 2025, finishing second in the country with 1,649 yards on 256 carries.
He also scored 16 touchdowns, led the nation with 1,181 yards after contact and forced 101 missed tackles, both of which also ranked first nationally. He topped 100 rushing yards in eight games, highlighted by a 250-yard day against Louisiana and a 300-yard eruption against Mississippi State.
The numbers told the story in Missouri’s record, too. In the five games Hardy didn’t get to 100 yards, the Tigers went 1-4.
The lone win came in a double-overtime game against Auburn. The losses included a 27-24 defeat to Alabama, when Hardy finished with 52 yards; a 17-10 loss to Vanderbilt, when he had 97; a 17-6 loss to Oklahoma, when he managed 57; and a 13-7 loss to Virginia, when he was held to 89.
An improved passing attack could help lighten Hardy’s load and make Missouri less dependent on him carrying the offense snap after snap. But the bar for this team is still tied directly to his production.
The Tigers can survive with a decent passing game and a version of Hardy that is good rather than spectacular. If they want to move from good to great, though, he has to keep playing at an elite level.
The talent is already there. Hardy is 20, and he’s already shown he can produce with the best backs in the country.
The concern this offseason came away from the field, after Hardy suffered a gunshot wound to his upper leg after a concert in Mississippi. Still, there’s reason for optimism there, too.
Eli Drinkwitz said Hardy was “ahead of schedule” at his six-week checkup.
That matters because Missouri is going to lean on him again in 2026. He’ll be the focal point of the offense, even with a projected strong offensive line, Jamal Roberts alongside him in the backfield and a rushing scheme that has helped every back who’s come through it. The pieces around Hardy are strong, but he remains the piece Missouri can least afford to lose.
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Missouri Just Added Another Receiver Fans Can Feel Great About
Missouri kept building its 2027 receiver board with another commitment from Charles Britton III, a three-star wideout whose pledge fits the kind of early, relationship-driven recruiting that has become a theme for the program. Britton said his decision came down to the coaching staff and the trust he felt in Missouri, a sign that the Tigers are making an impression well before that class starts to take shape.
The part that should interest fans most is who Missouri had to hold off to get him. Britton went through official visits and had plenty of other options on the table, but the Tigers wound up in position to land him anyway, giving the staff another win in a race that included some of the more recognizable names in the sport. For a program trying to keep stacking pass-catchers, it is the kind of pickup that can matter a lot more down the road than it does on the day it happens. [Read more 🡒]
Which Mizzou Home Game Feels Biggest In A Defining Faurot Season
The calendar in Columbia is loaded with the kind of home dates that can shape a season, and Missouri enters with an over-under win total of 6.5 and a schedule that leaves little margin for error. Faurot Field has been a real asset in recent years, so the question is less whether the Tigers can get a boost at home than which visit matters most when the season starts to tighten.
Florida brings the early intrigue on Oct. 3, with Homecoming and the SEC opener at Mississippi State potentially setting the stage for a 2-0 start before the Gators arrive. Later comes Texas on Nov. 7 in a return to Columbia for the first time since 2011, and Oklahoma closes the regular-season home slate on Nov. 28 on Senior Day, giving Missouri another chance to make a statement in a stadium that could decide how far this team goes. [Read more 🡒]