Austin Simmons’ first night as Missouri’s starting quarterback gave the Tigers a little of everything: a few clean wins, a few revealing mistakes and enough to hint at where this offense can grow.
Against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Missouri built a 14-0 lead with 4:16 left in the first quarter and spent the final 35:44 of game time ahead by at least 30 points. That kind of cushion kept Simmons out of much real trouble, and he mostly handled a straightforward assignment. Even so, a handful of snaps offered a useful snapshot of what he can already do - and what still needs work.
One of the clearest positives came early, when Simmons converted his first two third downs as a Tiger. The second conversion was the more impressive one, with the left-handed quarterback taking pressure and still getting the ball out to the sideline to move the chains.
The play mattered for two reasons. First, Simmons fit a tight-window throw to the opposite-shoulder sideline while under pressure on third down, finding star sophomore wide receiver Donovan Olugbode for a toe-tap catch.
Second, the sequence leading up to it showed Missouri’s offense already fighting itself a bit. Jamal Roberts picked up just 1 yard on second down, and right tackle Luke Work let UAPB defensive tackle Marquis Cagle into the backfield in less than a second.
That early run-game issue kept Missouri in third-and-medium and third-and-long too often, and the blocking has to get better fast after what happened in the first half. Work’s pass protection also needs to tighten up; he finished with the second-lowest PFF pass-blocking grade among the 10 Tiger linemen who played in Week 1.
Still, Simmons bailed the Tigers out. What could have been a stalled drive became a first down because he handled the imperfect situation well.
Later in the game, Missouri got a look at another part of Simmons’ game: throwing on the move. On a first-and-10 play-action snap in the second quarter, he stayed in the pocket at first and worked the right side of the field before glancing at Roberts, who was a few yards in front of him on the left. That route would have likely produced only a couple yards unless Roberts made a defender miss badly.
Instead, Simmons found fellow Ole Miss transfer Cayden Lee, who turned into open space. Simmons rolled out and delivered the throw while on the run, hitting Lee on target and allowing him to make a horizontal toe-tap catch.
That snap showed two things Missouri can use. Simmons’ ability to throw on the run gives the offense something it didn’t have in 2025, when Beau Pribula ran often but rarely threw on the run.
It also hinted at a growing connection with Lee, with the two working together mid-play to keep the drive moving. Lee’s hands, balance and body control stood out too.
Not everything went smoothly, though. Simmons was sacked on an RPO play in the first quarter, and Drinkwitz didn’t shy away from putting that one on his quarterback.
“We overcame a sack in the first drive, so that was good and positive, and that was really on him,” Drinkwitz said. “It was RPO that he's gotta handoff if there's any weakside pressure, and he screwed that up. He was really good about bouncing back and figuring that out.”
There’s an argument that Simmons may have made a semi-correct audible by keeping the ball and trying to throw, but the way the play unfolded still raised questions. He turned left and looked toward Lee with his back to the weakside pressure, then hesitated too long before getting rid of the ball. Two UAPB defenders got him from behind.
The pressure also came from the right side, where Work is filling in for Josh Atkins, the once-projected starter who will be out for an extended period because of injury.
On first-and-10, Simmons had other choices. He could have taken the easy gain to Naeshaun Montgomery or handed it off to Roberts, as Drinkwitz said.
Waiting for Lee to develop further downfield was too much to ask in that RPO look, and Missouri will need Simmons to sharpen those reads as the run game comes along. The upside is there.
The decision-making still has room to catch up.
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