No. 18 Mizzou walks into November with the kind of schedule that can change a season fast, and it starts Saturday morning against No. 7 Texas.
The Tigers are staring at three straight top-20 matchups, with Georgia and Kentucky still to come, and if they want to stay in the College Football Playoff conversation, this is the stretch that has to hold up. Faurot Field has already seen what a ranked heavyweight can look like there - the last top-10 team to come to Columbia left with Florida getting handled in a dominant Mizzou win.
Texas, though, brings a different kind of problem. The Longhorns are banged up, but they still have enough talent to make this one a real test on both sides of the ball. And the first question is the obvious one: can Missouri get enough heat on Arch Manning to make him uncomfortable?
That’s where the Tigers’ pass rush has to wake back up. Colin Simmons pointed out on Thursday that Mizzou’s pressure production has fallen off in October.
After piling up 18 sacks in the first six games, the Tigers have just one over their last two. They’ve also managed only three tackles for loss and seven quarterback hurries in that span.
Texas has had its own issues up front, though. The Longhorns have allowed the third-most sacks in the SEC, and Manning has been taken down 12 times over the last three games against Florida, Mississippi State and Mississippi. Losing starting left tackle Trevor Goosby only makes that more difficult.
Still, Manning is not the same quarterback when bodies are flying around him. Per Pro Football Focus, his adjusted completion percentage under pressure is 65.9%, which ranks 10th among SEC starters.
His pressure-to-sack rate when pressured is 27.8%, and it jumps to 28.3% when blitzed - both among the three worst marks in the league. When he’s kept clean, though, he’s been sharp.
Manning has a 79.4% adjusted completion percentage while throwing 12 of his 15 touchdowns. If Missouri can’t get home, Texas’ passing game can still make noise.
That leads straight to the perimeter, where Mizzou may have to deal with a couple of dangerous receivers even if the injury report keeps them in question. Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman are both dealing with shoulder injuries, but Missouri is preparing as if both will play.
Wingo leads Texas with 470 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Coleman has 409 yards and leads the SEC with seven touchdowns. Emmett Mosley V has added 419 more yards, giving Texas a top-three receiver group that can stress a defense in a hurry.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz made it clear the Tigers can’t afford to assume either receiver is out.
“You have to plan for them to play. I think they’re both really talented vertically down the field because they both have elite speed and size,” said Drinkwitz on Coleman and Wingo.
“You know, the ball skills are really good. They put a ton of pressure on you.
You know how you defend them? If you give them soft coverage, they can catch and run.
You play press, they can release outside and run by you. If you play it outside, then you push them to the post, which is probably Arch’s best throw.”
That makes this one of the toughest secondary assignments Mizzou has seen since Mississippi State, when the Tigers dealt with Anthony Evans III, Sanfrisco Magee, and Marquis Johnson. If Manning gets time, Missouri’s corners and safeties are going to have to hold up against a group that can win in multiple ways.
The challenge flips when Mizzou has the ball. Texas’ defense has been excellent in 2026, giving up just 17.1 points per game, which ranks 19th nationally and fourth in the SEC.
The Longhorns have also generated 150 pressures, the most of any defense Missouri has faced this season. Mississippi is next closest at 138.
If Colin Simmons is available, the pressure only gets worse. He’s the kind of player who can wreck a game by himself and is fifth on Mel Kiper’s latest big board.
Simmons leads Texas with 26 pressures despite playing in only six games. Lance Jackson has added 21, and Zina Umeozulu has 17.
Missouri’s offensive line has generally held up in pass protection, but this is the biggest challenge yet. Luke Work has also had trouble on the edge, allowing 10 pressures over his last four games. And Austin Simmons has an adjusted completion percentage of just 55% when pressured.
Then there’s the run game, where Ahmad Hardy could be in line for more work. His second carry against Arkansas showed a little of what Missouri has been missing - he found a crease that didn’t look like much, then pushed through for a four-yard gain. It was his last carry of the night, but it was a reminder of what he can bring after missing a big chunk of the year.
The matchup on the ground is tight, too. Missouri allows 98.3 rushing yards per game, third in the SEC, while Texas gives up 102.4, fourth in the league. Drinkwitz credited Texas’ linebackers and Will Muschamp for the way that unit plays.
“Those guys don’t think a lot; they just react,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s more complicated than see ball, hit ball, but that’s what they’re doing, and he utilizes them in a lot of different ways, from club fronts to simulated pressures to read and react and protecting with, you know run stunts that allow penetration A and B gaps and linebackers to flow over the top. So you know, as an offense, you have to kind of prepare for it and try to stay ahead of the chains, eliminate negative yardage runs.”
Mizzou’s run game has been uneven, but it still ranks sixth in the SEC at 167.5 yards per game. Jamal Roberts has done a strong job as the team’s No. 1 back, and as November arrives, the Tigers could use a dependable second option behind him.
Drinkwitz suggested Hardy may be part of that answer.
“I think you’ll see more of a rotation than we were last week, or a more enhanced version of hey this is what his role will be,” Drinkwitz said.
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