Missouri’s running game has suddenly become one of the biggest questions hanging over the Tigers after the season opener, even though that part of the offense was the one dependable piece a year ago.
In 2025, the offense was dragged down by injuries, a passing game that never really found explosives, and problems up front. The run game, though, kept showing up. Now, one season later, the ground attack was the area that looked out of sync in the first half against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“We didn’t run the ball as effectively as we needed to early in the game,” Eli Drinkwitz said, “And then by the time we got into the second half, I just don’t think that we had really the competitive stamina that we needed to focus in on focusing on this play and not worrying about the scoreboard, or not worrying about who was there, not there.”
The Tigers did manage 94 rushing yards in the first half with the starters on the field, but the number didn’t tell the whole story. The explosive runs weren’t there, and Missouri’s offensive line didn’t consistently create the kind of movement you’d expect from a group with its size and talent edge.
“I guess the best way to describe it is loose on the offensive line and tight ends in our identification,” Drinkwitz said after the game, “And those things are going to have to get fixed in a hurry if we want to be able to run the ball with the effectiveness that we know we need to, so we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
The absence of two major returning pieces from last season’s ground success mattered. All-Americans Ahmad Hardy and Cayden Green were both unavailable, and Green’s return is expected to help quickly. He’s on track to play Friday night in the Border War after getting back to practice earlier in the week, and his presence should restore Missouri’s normal starting five on the offensive line.
That matters, especially at a position group where chemistry is built through repetition and communication.
“As you go on week through week, it’s just building that trust in the game and just getting that confidence, I think, a little bit more,” center Dominick Giudice said, “Having the five guys really being able to lock in on each other and know that we’re each doing our own job.”
Hardy’s timetable is slower. He stayed out of practice again in week two, and based on Drinkwitz’s preseason comment that Hardy would need two full weeks of practice before being cleared, the earliest possible return would be Sep. 26 at Mississippi State.
Even without Hardy, Missouri still has a back who has already proven he can carry a heavy load. Jamal Roberts ran for 753 yards at 6.1 yards per carry last season, and he’s more than capable of starting.
“I had a lot of opportunities; a lot of people hit me up to get me in the portal and this, that and the third,” Roberts said, “But I just wanted to be where my feet was at - you know, I wanted to finish out my legacy here at Mizzou.”
The depth behind him, though, took a hit this week. Montana transfer Malae Fonoti is done for the season after tearing his ACL.
He had been competing with Xai’Shaun Edwards for the RB2 job, which will eventually become RB3 when Hardy returns. Edwards opened the season with 45 yards on seven carries, and he also gives Missouri another physical option.
“Xai’Shaun is a physical runner, man, especially north and south,” Roberts said, “He can get downfield and he’s got good vision.”
That injury leaves Missouri leaning on a group of backs that wasn’t expected to be in the spotlight this soon. Anthony Favrow, Preston Hatfield, Brady Hultman and Max Warner now have a much bigger role to chase, and Drinkwitz made clear that experience is the main issue.
“There’s plenty of guys there; there’s just not enough guys that have the experience that you need,” Drinkwitz said, “So it’s going to be really critical for us in these practices to get them more accustomed to playing behind the guys that we have, and then they’ve got to grow up fast.”
For Missouri, the early-season uncertainty in the backfield is unusual. Under Drinkwitz, the Tigers have typically found a way to field a productive run game year after year. One uneven outing against an FCS opponent doesn’t erase that pattern, but it does put the spotlight squarely on how quickly this group can get back to being what it’s been.
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Missouri is still sorting through its backfield situation, while Kansas has injury questions of its own heading into a game that could hinge on how two inexperienced quarterbacks handle the pressure. Isaiah Marshall and Austin Simmons are both being asked to step into a spotlight that can turn quickly in a rivalry like this, and the availability of key playmakers on each side may end up shaping which team has the cleaner path when the hits start coming. [Read more 🡒]