Columbia. MO – It’s in the air, that feeling of hope. One that now just seems to amplify a bit more every single week. 

On Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field, Missouri amplified that feeling around campus once again. In one of the most statistically dominant matchups the Tigers have seen in a while, as Missouri took down the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 52-10. 

The Tigers’ pure domination started on offense, where they outgained Louisiana 606-121 in total yardage, 32-4 in first downs, and 42:51-17:09 in time of possession. 

That total domination then carried over to the defensive side of the ball, where Louisiana was held to a mere 4 passing yards to the Tigers’ 179. Mizzou also managed to keep Louisiana at a 1-11 clip on third down conversions all day, resulting in a mere ten points all afternoon for the Cajuns, with three of those points coming off the lone turnover of the day for the Tigers. 

“I really try to challenge our guys to demonstrate an elite edge, demand it from themselves and others. Then also be disciplined and dominate their opponent,” said head coach Eliah Drinkwitz. “Outside of two plays in that game, the interception by Beau and that one run, it really felt like we dominated that game. Obviously, the time of possession, and we had two 100-yard rushers.”

The Tigers’ domination on Saturday afternoon now only builds on the mounting hope surrounding this football team around Columbia. 

Following an overshadowed offseason, which saw Mizzou bring in one of the best transfer classes in the country while replenishing certain position groups that were plundered by graduation or the draft. The Tigers began the season with a bang, taking care of an FCS side in Central Arkansas State 61-6. Then, taking down Kansas in one of the most hyped up Mizzou football games in over a decade by a score of 42-31. 

With the win and the fashion at which it was executed, the Tigers now stoke the flame once again as they head into SEC play. 

“That is definitely the environment we’ve tried to create around here,” said Drinkwitz. “I’d challenge our fan base, the South Carolina game is not a sellout yet. So what are we waiting on? That’s going to be an opening SEC game, and it needs to be much more rowdy and much more raucous than the KU game. This is the SEC, and we have a really good football team. We need to continue to build that homefield advantage that we know we can take to another level because we know it’s there.”

It hasn’t, however, just been on the local scene where the Tigers have received their flowers. With national powers taking notice, most notable of all, of course, being the AP, which ranked Mizzou at No. 25 in the past week’s national poll. 

Following a successful stab by SEC Nation just a week ago, the rumors of ESPN’s College Gameday coming to Como also appear to be swirling. 

Multiple players, such as Pribula (Maxwell Player of the Week), Brett Norfleet (John Mackey National Tight End of the week), and Dominick Giudice (Outland trophy player of the week), also received national honors following the team’s win over Kansas. One guy who may be in line to receive a weekly award could be Ahmad Hardy, the Tigers’ prized transfer running back recorded an other-worldly 250 yards on just 22 attempts for three touchdowns on 11.4 yards per carry. 

Hardy would be the one who got the onslaught started for Mizzou as well. The runner dashed in from seven yards out for the first score of the game to make it 7-0 Mizzou with around 8:26 to go in the first quarter. 

“It was all the guys up front,” said Hardy. “Shout out to the lineman. Those guys were setting the line of scrimmage, and we were running the zone pretty good. That’s what we did, and we did it until we stopped.”

While Louisiana proceeded to go three-and-out on its first three drives of the game, the Tigers would pick up another score. This time it was Pribula across the middle to a streaking Marquis Johnson, who, under further review, put Mizzou up 14-0 late in the first quarter. The review came when it was originally ruled that Johnson fumbled as he crossed the plane of the goal line; it was there that Louisiana’s Marion Eleam returned the “fumble,” 98 yards for a touchdown that would have tied the game. 

At the opening of the second quarter, it was the rushing attack again that got things moving for Mizzou, but this time it was Pribula who took it in. The Mizzou QB’s score made it 21-0 at the opening of the second. 

The Tigers quickly struck back again on the ensuing drive as Pribula completed a 39-yard TD pass to Jamal Roberts, which made it 28-0. 

One of Missouri’s few miscues came to follow as on the Tigers’ next drive, Pribula would toss his first interception of the season to Louisiana’s Cameron Whitfield deep in their own territory. 

The Cajuns, however, wouldn’t go much of anywhere and had to settle for a field goal to make it 28-3. 

Luckily, on just the second play on the next drive, Hardy took off for a 71-yard touchdown run to extend the Tiger lead to 35-3. 

“He’s a tough runner,” said Drinkwitz. “He has a refusal to get tackled. He’s got really good vision, I think, other than maybe the counter play on the first drive, I think he hit every hole the way you to. Yeah, I mean, he just got the game ball, so pretty special performance by him. And you know, the key for us is going to be able to get him back physically.”

Following Hardy’s rush, Louisiana finally struck back. The Cajuns slashed at the Mizzou defense as Zylan Perry took off for an 84-yard score to make it 35-10. 

A Robert Meyer field goal before the half made the score 38-10.

On the first drive of the second half, it was Hardy once again who pounded the rock nearly single-handedly, aside from a few runs from Jamal Roberts that ran it in for the seven-yard touchdown to once again extend the Tiger lead and give Mizzou a 45-10 advantage. 

Following the score, Hardy would retire for the day with three touchdowns and 250 yards to his name, not even halfway through the third quarter. 

From then on, the freshman pairing of Marquise Davis and Brendon Haygood took over the reins in the backfield with the ever-salient job of running out the clock. Though Davis was able to get his in the fourth quarter by running in the final touchdown of the day for Mizzou to bring the score to 52-10. 

Davis, the four-star true freshman from Cleveland, Ohio, finished his day with 113 yards and a score on 20 attempts. Haygood ran four times for 12 yards.

Five-star freshman QB Matt Zollers also got into the game late in the third quarter, although he didn’t see much action through the air, going 2-2 with five passing yards. 

However, probably the most impressive out of any of the second units may have just been the defense that held Louisiana scoreless throughout the entire second half of play. 

“Yeah, I thought for the most part we played really good,” said Drinkwitz. “Behind the sticks, we were able to create some havoc on third downs. I like the way Corey (Batoon) mixed it up. Obviously, we played a lot tighter coverage, other than the one PI. I wish you could say everything but one play, but we did give up a big play, and that’s got to get taken off the tape.”

In total, the Tigers’ defense allowed just one full drive by the Cajuns for a score – along with the ridiculous aforementioned yardage splits, the Tigers should hope that the momentum on the defensive side of the ball is able to carry over into next week’s SEC opener against South Carolina. 

“It definitely builds confidence,” said Norwood. “For us as a team, we have to go in this week, have good practices, and get ready for a good team in South Carolina.”

The Gamecocks will come to town next Saturday after they broke a four-year streak of losses to the Tigers last season with a 34-30 win. While Mizzou will look to carry their momentum and bring the good vibes once again as they attempt to open the season 4-0 for the first time since 2023.