No. 25 Missouri delivered a thunderclap Saturday, rolling past No. 8 Florida 45-17 and finally putting an end to a long skid against ranked teams.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for Eli Drinkwitz’s group against Top 25 opponents, and it also gave Missouri its first victory over a top 10 team in 13 years. The Tigers did it with a complete performance, piling up 560 yards on offense and keeping one of the country’s most productive attacks to just three successful scoring drives.
Austin Simmons set the tone early. The Missouri quarterback threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone, then finished with 340 yards through the air.
Cayden Lee was his favorite target, catching eight passes for 110 yards. Donovan Olugbode and Caleb Goodie Jr. each added touchdown grabs.
Missouri also bludgeoned Florida on the ground. Jamal Roberts ripped through the Gators for 211 rushing yards and three touchdowns, highlighted by a 76-yard burst that set up another score and an 80-yard touchdown that pushed the game firmly out of reach.
On the other side, Missouri’s defense took away Florida’s biggest running threat. Jadan Baugh, who came in with 11 rushing touchdowns through four games, was held to 12 carries for 13 yards. Florida quarterback Aaron Philo passed for 197 yards and a touchdown, but the Gators never found enough answers to keep pace.
The Tigers moved to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in SEC play, while Florida took its first loss of the season. Missouri now turns to Texas A&M, and Florida heads into a matchup with South Carolina, which fell 35-34 in overtime to Kentucky on Saturday and has now dropped three straight SEC games.
In Other News...
Mizzou Just Delivered The Bounce-Back Tigers Fans Desperately Needed
For a program looking to reset the mood in a hurry, Saturday gave Mizzou exactly the kind of response it had been searching for. The No. 25 Tigers knocked off No. 8 Florida 45-10, a result that stood out not just for the margin but for what it meant in the bigger picture, as Mizzous first regular-season win over a Top 10 opponent since 2013. It was the sort of complete performance that can change the temperature around a team in a single afternoon.
Mizzou did it by controlling the game at the line of scrimmage and making Floridas offense look out of sync from the start. The defense held star running back Jadan Baugh to 13 yards on 12 carries, while Jamal Roberts powered the offense with more than 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The passing game spread the ball around, Blake Craig added key field goals, and the Tigers left no doubt that this was the bounce-back performance their fans had been waiting for. [Read more 🡒]
Eli Drinkwitz Just Changed The Conversation Around Missouri
Saturdays rout of Florida did more than add another win to Missouris record. By taking down the No. 8 Gators 45-17, the Tigers delivered the kind of performance that can reset the tone around a program, and they did it by controlling the game in every phase. Missouri held Florida to just 42 rushing yards and finished with a 560 to 325 edge in total yardage, the sort of numbers that tell you this was no fluke.
For Eli Drinkwitz, it also marked another notable line on a rsum that is starting to look different than it did when he arrived in Columbia. He now has two top-10 wins during his tenure, and this one carried extra weight because of how thoroughly Missouri handled the moment. For a program trying to move from occasional spoiler to something more durable, a result like this changes the conversation in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Defense Just Made A Huge Statement Against No. 8 Florida
Missouris defense delivered the kind of night that can change the way people talk about a team, smothering No. 8 Florida in a 45-17 win and making the Gators look uncomfortable from the opening stretches. The Tigers took away the run, kept Jadan Baugh to 13 yards on 12 carries, and made Florida chase the game while the Mizzou offense turned the stops into points and steadily pulled away.
Kensley Louidor-Faustin was part of a front that kept the pressure on Floridas quarterback and helped produce multiple sacks, a sign that Missouris pass rush and run defense were working in sync. For a team trying to build real momentum in SEC play, the larger takeaway was less about one big play than the way the Tigers controlled both lines and left a top-10 opponent with few answers. [Read more 🡒]