Mizzou left Lawrence with a 38-21 win over Kansas and a 2-0 start, and the trip gave a much clearer picture of where this team is actually trending. Against a Power Four opponent, the Tigers showed a lot more than they did against UAPB - some of it encouraging, some of it not so pretty.
The biggest winners from Week 2 start at quarterback and on the headset.
Austin Simmons is beginning to look like the kind of talent Eli Drinkwitz had in mind when he said before the season that he’s the most talented quarterback he’s had at MU, arm-talent-wise. Against Kansas, Simmons threw with anticipation, fit balls into tight windows and fired lasers from sideline to sideline.
He also pushed the ball deeper, which helped unlock Donovan Olugbode and Cayden Lee. One of his best throws came right after halftime, when he launched a deep play-action shot to Caleb Goodie that just slipped away.
Chip Lindsey deserves plenty of credit there too. The quarterback-offensive coordinator pairing looks like exactly what people expected in the offseason, and Lindsey showed some creativity in the run game as well.
Mizzou’s rushing attack hasn’t been the old road-grader version, but Lindsey found a spark in the second quarter with a sprint-draw that turned into a 64-yard Jamal Roberts touchdown. He called that same play three more times, and it went for 6, 6 and 13 yards, with the last one helping set up a shorter field goal.
On defense, Daeden Hopkins made a loud case for himself. The edge rusher was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after playing 50 snaps, which matched his season total from 2025.
PFF credited him with eight pressures, after he had four against Arkansas-Pine Bluff a season ago. His strip sack helped seal the game when Mizzou went up 38-21.
In a room that still has plenty to prove, Hopkins, Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen have all flashed, and Hopkins showed he can handle a bigger workload. It’s a nice story for the former four-star recruit from Hermann High School.
The linebacker group also got a major boost from Robert Woodyard Jr. He was already a force in the second half, when he forced a fumble and grabbed an interception to flip momentum, and he was everywhere again against Kansas. Woodyard and Nicholas Rodriguez led the team in tackles and combined for six pressures.
Jahlil Florence also came away with stock up. The Oregon transfer has had a rough couple of years, but he’s settled in as Mizzou’s No. 3 corner.
Kansas targeted him three times, and he allowed only one catch for three yards. His best moment came on his interception of Keaton Kubecka, a play where Kubecka initially had the ball but Florence wanted it more and wrestled it away as he came down.
Cornerback was another position group with questions, and so far the Tigers have answered them well.
Xai’Shaun Edwards made the most of extra work with Ahmad Hardy still out. Ten carries for 45 yards doesn’t jump off the page, but per Nate Edwards, he posted a 50% success rate as a runner.
His touchdown showed good vision and plenty of fight, and it gave Mizzou a 28-14 lead. Troy will be a good test for whether he can force his way into a bigger role.
The trouble spots were easy to spot too.
Special teams was the ugliest mess of the night. One blocked field goal would have been bad enough.
Two, with one returned for a touchdown, crossed into outright disaster. On the first block, the defender split Jack Lange and Jordon Harris.
The second came on the other side of the protection. The Tigers escaped without paying for it on the scoreboard, but Drinkwitz did not sugarcoat it Tuesday.
“Probably the most embarrassed I’ve been,” Drinkwitz said. “And we’ve had some embarrassing special teams performances here.
That was as embarrassing as I’ve been on special teams. To have two blocked kicks, and four penalties, two personal fouls on 15 yards, just inexcusable, and that’s on me.”
The run game also needs work. Mizzou ripped off 89 yards on four rushing plays, but outside of those bursts the Tigers managed 88 yards on 37 carries, which works out to 2.37 yards per attempt.
Only three runs went for more than 10 yards. Even with Cayden Green back, the Tigers got just 5 yards on three tries running off left tackle.
And the schedule won’t help matters much - after Troy, it’s nine straight games against SEC defensive lines.
Tight end usage belongs in the down column too. Brett Norfleet did help finish the game with Mizzou’s final score, but he also had a bad drop in the end zone, and Kansas scored on a blocked field goal on the very next play.
So far, the tight ends have mostly been left out while the wide receivers have done the heavy lifting. Norfleet has just 36 receiving yards on five catches, and that’s the full receiving line for the entire tight end room.
Jordon Harris had a quieter night as well. Run blocking is supposed to be his strength, but he finished with a 55.7 grade in that area from PFF. On one early play, while Simmons rolled right with Mizzou backed up in its own end zone, the defender Harris was blocking got up and batted the pass down.
After two weeks, Mizzou has a better sense of itself. The quarterback play, edge rush, linebacker production and cornerback depth all look like real positives. The special teams issues, run blocking and tight end involvement are the areas that need cleaning up fast.
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For Eli Drinkwitz, the game is less about novelty than it is about answering a lingering question before league play starts. Troys scheme should force Missouri to stay sharp on both sides of the ball, and the challenge is clear enough: handle a disciplined passing attack, keep Crowder uncomfortable in the pocket, and avoid leaving the kind of opening that a disruptive edge rusher can turn into a long afternoon. [Read more 🡒]
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Troy brings enough on defense to make those issues feel urgent rather than cosmetic. Ty Clemons and Kavion Henderson can disrupt Missouris ground game, and the Trojans also have enough in the defensive backfield to make life uncomfortable for the Tigers passing attack. Missouris own secondary will be tested in return, which makes this a useful measuring-stick game in more ways than one before the schedule turns tougher. [Read more 🡒]