Missouri football is 50 days from its 2026 season-opener, and the Tigers have made a habit of turning that number into a scoreboard problem.
By the count in this series, Mizzou has reached 50 points 62 times across 135 seasons, dating back to the program’s start in 1890. The first one came in that hard-to-verify 90-0 win over the “Engineers Eleven” that same year, a result the source itself flags as something that may or may not have happened and probably deserves another look. The Tigers followed with a 54-0 win over Drury in 1891 and a 76-0 win over Missouri Valley in 1893, though that one is also listed as “Allegedly.”
The modern pace has picked up dramatically. Since 2000, Missouri has scored 50 points 37 times, beginning with a 50-20 win over Western Illinois on Sept.
2, 2000. After that, the Tigers went 1,149 days without another 50-point outing before hanging 62 on Texas Tech in a 62-31 win on Oct.
25, 2003.
One of the loudest bursts came in 2008, when Mizzou opened the season with three straight 50-point games: a 52-42 win over Illinois, a 52-3 win over Southeast Missouri State, and a 69-17 win over Nevada. The Tigers reached 50 or more six times that season and finished 10-4.
Since joining the SEC in 2012, Missouri has done it 20 times. Fifteen of those came against non-SEC opponents, but the Tigers have also hit 50 in five SEC games: three against Tennessee, in 2012, 2017, and 2018, plus Vanderbilt in 2013 and Arkansas in 2020. The Vols, of course, also got theirs against Missouri in 2016, 2021, and 2022.
Under Eli Drinkwitz, the Tigers have produced six 50-point games, and they’ve come with some memorable stat lines attached:
- 2025: 61-6 over FCS Central Arkansas - Beau Pribula scored four total touchdowns in his Mizzou debut.
- 2025: 52-10 over Louisiana - Ahmad Hardy ran for 250 and three touchdowns.
- 2024: 51-0 over FCS Murray State - Toriano Pride Jr. recorded a pick-six and four different players scored rushing touchdowns.
- 2022: 52-24 over Louisiana Tech - Luther Burden III scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown in his Tiger debut.
- 2021: 59-28 over FCS Southeast Missouri State - Connor Bazelak threw for 346 yards and three scores and Tyler Badie scored twice.
- 2020: 50-48 over Arkansas - The Tigers scored 27 fourth-quarter points to erase a two-touchdown deficit and stun Arkansas, the fifth win in a six-game stretch during Drinkwitz's first season at Mizzou.
That means Missouri has posted at least one 50-point game in five of Drinkwitz’s six seasons. The one exception was 2023, which the source calls strange, and for good reason: Mizzou went 11-2, won the Cotton Bowl, and still topped out at 48 points in a win over Arkansas.
Three of Drinkwitz’s six 50-point games came in season-openers, including last year against Central Arkansas, in 2024 against Murray State, and in 2022 against Louisiana Tech.
So with FCS Arkansas-Pine Bluff on deck in 50 days, the math is simple enough: Missouri has a decent shot to make the number itself part of the story again.
In Other News...
Jevon Porter Is Fighting For Something Mizzou Fans Need To Watch
Jevon Porters next move has shifted from the court to the courtroom, where the Missouri forward is part of a group of college athletes pressing the NCAA over its new age-based eligibility model. The issue is simple enough on the surface: the sport changed the rules, but not everyone who ran out of eligibility under the old system is getting the benefit of the new one, and Porter is among the players asking for that to be reconsidered.
A similar case has already produced a preliminary injunction for Shawn Phillips Jr., giving him a path to sign with another school and suit up in the 2026-27 season. For Missouri fans, the wrinkle is obvious: the Tigers have already filled their roster for that year, so even if Porters fight gains traction, the road back to Columbia is not as straightforward as it might sound. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Goodie Could Change Everything About Mizzous Deep Passing Threat
Missouris passing game has spent plenty of time looking for a way to stretch defenses vertically, and Caleb Goodie arrives with a trait that can change the conversation immediately. The incoming transfer from Colorado State and Cincinnati brings verified speed that stands out even before the ball is snapped, along with a track record of producing downfield plays in both stops, the kind of profile that naturally fits what Missouri wants to do on the perimeter.
Goodies appeal is not just about straight-line burst, either. His production at both previous schools came with a deeper target profile than Missouris top receivers posted last season, which is why his fit as a Z receiver has drawn so much attention heading toward 2026. If that translates the way Missouri hopes, it could force defenses to adjust in a hurry and create cleaner looks all over the field, but the real question is how quickly that speed becomes more than a scouting report. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou May Have The Kicking Insurance Fans Were Begging For
Missouris kicking picture has been one of the quieter but more important roster stories heading into 2026, and Oliver Robbins has kept himself in the conversation. The backup kicker handled kickoff duties and got some extended looks on longer field goals during the 2025 season, giving the Tigers a glimpse of what he can do after a year in which special teams depth mattered more than ever.
Robbins also stayed in the program even as Blake Craig returned and Missouri added another specialist in Brunno Reus, which makes the room feel a lot more crowded than it did a year ago. For a team that has lived through kicking uncertainty, the real question now is whether Robbins has done enough to remain the insurance policy Missouri was hoping it had found. [Read more 🡒]