Texas’ trip to Columbia on Nov. 7 could arrive at a very different time for Missouri’s backfield than anyone expected a few months ago.
The Tigers have gotten by just fine so far, with Jamal Roberts doing the heavy lifting. Through seven games, he has piled up 867 yards and eight touchdowns, including a monster 211-yard, three-touchdown performance against Florida that made the case he belongs as a real SEC starter. Missouri is 5-2 and has leaned on the run all season.
But the more dangerous version of this offense may be on the way. Eli Drinkwitz said Sunday that Ahmad Hardy will practice this week for the first time since May, when he was shot in the upper leg while leaving a concert in Mississippi and needed emergency surgery.
“After consulting with our medical team, Ahmad Hardy will return to practice this week,” Drinkwitz posted. “Our medical staff will determine his return to game action.”
That does not mean Hardy is ready for game snaps right away. Drinkwitz has said before that Hardy needs a two-week ramp-up of full-speed practices before Missouri even considers using him in a game. Whether that exact timeline holds once he gets back on the field this week is still unclear, but the calendar lines up in a way that matters for Texas.
Missouri goes to Arkansas on Halloween night first, and Hardy is unlikely to play in that one. After that, the Longhorns are next in line, and Nov. 7 falls right at the edge of that two-week window.
If Hardy does make it back in time, Texas could be dealing with the best running back in the SEC from a season ago. In his first year at Missouri after transferring from Louisiana-Monroe, he carried 256 times for 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns, leading the conference in rushing and earning consensus first-team All-American honors.
Even with his status up in the air for months, the accolades kept coming. Hardy was named a first-team preseason All-American and a first-team preseason All-SEC selection, all after the shooting, when there was no certainty he would play at all in 2026.
A healthy Hardy alongside Roberts would give Missouri two proven SEC backs behind an offensive line anchored by preseason All-American left tackle Cayden Green. That is a much different test for the Texas defensive front than the one Missouri has shown this season.
Still, there is room for caution from the Longhorns’ side. A player coming back from that kind of injury after eight months away is not likely to be all the way back immediately, and Drinkwitz has acknowledged the time it takes for the body to adjust after a repair like Hardy’s. A limited, rusty Hardy is a very different problem than the version Missouri imagined before the season.
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