A little more punch downfield, a little less self-inflicted damage, and Missouri’s offense starts looking a whole lot more dangerous.
That’s the path the Tigers are staring at if they want to climb from a solid unit to one of the nation’s best in 2026. The ingredients are already there in pieces. Missouri ran the ball well in 2025 and finished 8-5, but the offense never quite found the extra gear that separates good from elite.
The clearest place to start is the passing game, especially the deep ball. Missouri’s downfield attack was barely there last season, even by old Big Ten West standards.
In SEC throws of 20-plus yards, the Tigers finished 16th in both completions and attempts. Meanwhile, five of the teams near the top of that category included Mississippi, Tennessee and Vanderbilt - all three of whom were among the top 10 scoring offenses in the country - plus Alabama and Texas, both College Football Playoff teams.
The top three scoring offenses in the FBS also showed what that kind of aggression can look like. North Texas finished 19-for-49 for 758 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception on throws of 20-plus yards.
Notre Dame went 27-for-61 for 961 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. Indiana posted 29 completions on 55 attempts for 955 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception.
Bruce Arians is famously quoted saying, “No risk it, no biscuit.”
Missouri’s offense didn’t hunt explosives enough, and that has to change if the Tigers want a bigger payoff in 2026.
The other issue is the kind of mistakes that kill drives before they ever have a chance to breathe. Missouri’s quarterbacks were sacked 28 times in 13 games last season, which came out to 2.2 sacks per game. That ranked eighth in the SEC, even though the Tigers had the second-fewest passing attempts in the league and were 105th nationally in that category.
Sacks don’t always land at the feet of the offensive line, either. Of Missouri’s 28 sacks, only 42% were charged to non-quarterbacks. Only Florida, Oklahoma and Georgia had a lower percentage, with Georgia’s sample size coming in at just 19 total sacks.
That points to a quarterback issue as much as anything else: too many plays where the passer put himself in harm’s way. One example came against South Carolina, when Marquis Johnson was wide open on a deep post in the third quarter, but Beau Pribula bailed from the pocket with time to throw and took a sack instead, ending the drive. Another came later in the year at Auburn, when Pribula again left a clean pocket rather than hitting Breff Norfleet in the flat, and the possession died with a sack.
Now it’s Austin Simmons who has to help clean that up in 2026. He has 118 career collegiate dropbacks and five sacks in that sample, so his ability to avoid negative plays will be worth watching.
Missouri also has to finish better once it gets inside the 20. The red zone missed chances in 2025 showed up in the tightest games. Against Auburn, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, the Tigers had four red-zone possessions that produced no points, plus another drive that ended with a field goal after stalling at the 3-yard line.
Those empty trips mattered. If the interception against Auburn doesn’t happen, that game probably doesn’t go to overtime.
If Missouri scores from the 2-yard line on 4th and goal at Vanderbilt, the playoff picture likely looks different deeper into the season. And if the Tigers convert a field goal, or go for it on 4th and goal from the 3-yard line, against Oklahoma, they’re not chasing two scores in Norman.
Missouri’s red-zone scoring rate fell well short of where it had been in 2023 and 2024. In both of those seasons, the Tigers were a top-10 team nationally in red-zone scoring percentage. Last year, they slipped into the middle of the pack.
Then there’s the part that almost goes without saying: the run game has to stay strong. Missouri’s rushing attack was the SEC’s best in 2025, and that kind of production is a big reason the offense has a real ceiling. There wasn’t much to complain about in the ground game beyond Ahmad Hardy’s three fumbles, while XaiShawn Edwards had two.
But keeping that level of success going in 2026 will matter just as much as reaching it did in 2025. Health is a major variable.
The status of Ahmad Hardy is unknown, as is right tackle Josh Atkins. Austin Simmons has shown some ability to run, but he has an injury history, and Missouri has not had a full healthy season at quarterback since 2023.
That part is out of the Tigers’ hands. Everything else is not.
Missouri doesn’t look far away from becoming a much more explosive offense. This isn’t about needing a total roster overhaul.
It’s about execution: hitting more shots downfield, avoiding the drive-killing mistakes, finishing in the red zone and keeping the run game rolling. If the Tigers do that, there should be plenty of fireworks in the newly renovated Memorial Stadium this fall.
In Other News...
Why Two Auburn Transfers Could Change Mizzou's Defense Fast
Missouris defense is already looking at a couple of familiar SEC names to help shape the 2026 season, and both came out of Auburn with roles that could translate quickly in Columbia. Robert Woodyard Jr. arrives with the kind of linebacker profile that usually earns immediate trust, while Kensley Louidor-Faustin brings the sort of versatility that gives a staff options in the secondary and at the STAR spot.
For Missouri, the appeal is obvious: Woodyard projects as a fast path to stability in the middle, and Louidor-Faustin could give the Tigers a movable piece who fits multiple looks without needing a long adjustment period. The bigger question is how quickly both can turn that promise into lineup certainty, because if they settle in the way Missouri hopes, the defense may not need much time to look different. [Read more 🡒]
Jevon Porters Mizzou Return Ended In Another Painful Twist
Jevon Porters return to Missouri was supposed to give the Tigers another familiar name in the frontcourt, but the season quickly turned into a stop-and-start stretch after a leg injury cut into his role. He had begun the year in the rotation, and his last appearance came against Bethune-Cookman, where he scored 6 points in 16 minutes before his minutes and availability became a bigger question.
Porter later requested a medical redshirt, then entered the transfer portal, a sequence that made it clear his path at Mizzou had shifted again. His name now turning up on the Memphis Grizzlies summer league roster suggests the college chapter is closed, adding another painful twist to a family basketball story that has already carried plenty of Mizzou-related injury and availability issues. [Read more 🡒]