Mizzou gets one more tune-up before SEC play, and the timing could hardly be more useful. Troy comes to Faurot Field for the stadium’s 100th anniversary game, and the Tigers will be in special uniforms for the occasion. But the bigger story is what this matchup can tell us about a team that has already shown a few things - and still has a few loose ends to tighten.
Troy is no soft landing. Mizzou is the more talented team and has been in every meeting, even the one it lost in 2004, but the Trojans have earned respect in their own right.
They own a 22-9 record in conference play and have posted three eight-plus win seasons in their last four tries. Last year, they even jumped out to a 16-0 lead on Clemson.
For Mizzou, the most immediate question is the backfield. Ahmad Hardy’s return to live action remains unclear, so Jamal Roberts and Xai’Shaun Edwards are carrying the load for now.
Edwards has made a strong case for more touches. He has 90 rushing yards on 17 carries, including a 50% success rate against Kansas and a team-high 85% success rate against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Week 1 on seven attempts.
At 5-foot-9 and 198 pounds, Edwards brings a different look than Roberts, who checks in at 6-foot and 216 pounds and runs more like a bruiser. Edwards has a little more burst once he spots the lane, and that showed up on his touchdown against Kansas. He’s also been dependable in protection, with PFF pass block grades above 70 in the last two games across 14 opportunities.
The comparison that comes to mind is Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason: Edwards as the smaller, quicker change-of-pace option, Roberts as the bigger and more physical runner. That distinction matters now because Mizzou needs a reliable No. 2 behind Roberts, especially with SEC play looming and the offensive line still working through its issues.
Roberts handled 28 carries against Kansas, the most by a Mizzou running back since Cody Schrader had 29 against Ohio State and 35 versus Tennessee in 2023. That kind of workload can’t be the norm.
Drinkwitz has already said Roberts has always been a rotational back and is built that way, which means someone else has to step in. Edwards did that at the FCS level, where he ran for 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns, and another strong showing against Troy would only strengthen his case.
There’s also a defensive test waiting in the red zone. Drinkwitz pointed out earlier in the week that Mizzou has not forced a third down inside the red zone through two games. The three trips so far have all ended in touchdowns: David Brewer’s 16-yard score for UAPB in the fourth quarter, then Nick McMillan’s 16-yard touchdown and Nahzae Cox’s 10-yard touchdown against Kansas.
It’s a tiny sample, so there’s no reason to panic. Still, it’s worth tracking because the Tigers had only two red zone stops at this point last year.
Troy arrives having scored on all six of its red zone trips, with four touchdowns. The Trojans are coordinated by Adam Austin, who came from Tarleton State, and his offenses there finished with touchdown rates of 68 and 69% in the red zone.
That makes this game the last chance for Mizzou to show progress before facing SEC offenses led by Kamario Taylor, Jadan Baugh and Marcel Reed.
The defense will also see a different kind of quarterback than it has faced so far. Troy’s Goose Crowder has been around college football since starting at West Virginia in 2021, and he’s more effective off play action, where 58.6% of his dropbacks have come from, per PFF.
That’s a contrast to Isaiah Marshall, who had 44.1% of his dropbacks off play action. The Trojans also lean on the slow-mesh, a look that was popular at Wake Forest.
Troy may not have Kansas’ offensive talent, but the experience at quarterback changes the test for every level of the Mizzou defense.
And then there’s special teams, where the Tigers have real work to do. PFF has Mizzou with the worst special teams grade on the team at 36, a number that follows two blocked kicks against Kansas and four penalties in Lawrence. Drinkwitz didn’t dance around the issue.
“Coaching.”
He explained further: “Whatever we were teaching and how we were teaching it was not getting communicated to the players in a way they understood,” Drinkwitz said. “We had the same block happen twice in the same area.”
Mizzou has already reinstalled field goal protection and made personnel changes on the unit. Drinkwitz also said there were signs of leakage in the C-D gap area during the UAPB game.
His message for the week came wrapped in a Kirby Smart line: “You’re one week away from being humbled. And for us, that’s got to be the mindset.
When you watch the tape, you got to look through it with a critical lens because we’re one week away from being humbled. And if they continue to exploit things that we put on tape and don’t have, from a coaching staff to the player, a wherewithal to get it fixed.”
In Other News...
Missouri Escaped Troy With A Problem Tigers Fans Can't Ignore
Missouri left Troy with a win, but not much else about Saturday felt tidy. The Tigers survived 27-17 in a game full of mistakes and defensive lapses, the kind of uneven showing that can still pass against one opponent but starts to look a lot bigger once SEC play arrives.
Eli Drinkwitz did not try to dress it up afterward, pointing to both the defensive performance and the offenses inefficiency as issues that have to be cleaned up quickly. Missouri is still undefeated, and the schedule now turns to Mississippi State, which gives the Tigers a chance to answer a simple question: was this just a rough afternoon, or a warning sign fans cant afford to ignore? [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Womens Golf Returns Home With A Chance To Build Momentum
After opening its 2026-27 season at the Annika Intercollegiate, where it finished ninth, the Mizzou womens golf team is back home and into a familiar fall setting. The Tigers will host the Johnnie Imes Invitational at The Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia starting Monday, a two-day event with 18 holes each day and nine teams in the field.
The tournament carries extra meaning for Missouri because it honors former Mizzou womens golf coach Johnnie Imes, and it comes with a chance to keep building after a solid start to the season. Mizzou won the event last year, so this week offers both a home-course advantage and an early test of whether the Tigers can turn that opening-week progress into something more substantial. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Fans Have One Huge Reason To Watch LSU Ole Miss
The LSU-Ole Miss matchup already had plenty of juice as an unbeaten meeting with College Football Playoff implications, but it carries an extra layer because of the coaching story around it. Lane Kiffin is back in Oxford for the first time since leaving Ole Miss, a return that gives the game a different edge even before the teams take the field. For Missouri fans keeping tabs on the SEC race, it is the kind of showdown that can reshape the league picture in a hurry.
Trinidad Chambliss has emerged as a key piece for the Rebels, and LSUs side comes with its own question marks after quarterback Sam Leavitt showed up on the injury report. That leaves plenty riding on how the Tigers handle the moment, especially with both teams trying to protect their unbeaten starts. For Missouri, the appeal is obvious: the result could ripple well beyond Oxford and directly affect the path in the conference and the playoff conversation. [Read more 🡒]