Payton Johnston
Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy pushes away from defense in a game against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2025, at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. Missouri scored a touchdown in every quarter, with two in the second.
After the hectic Border War weekend, the No. 25-ranked Missouri Tigers football shifted attention to its Week 3 opponent, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. The Tigers entered the game as 27.5-point favorites and more than covered the spread.
The 52-10 win improves Missouri to a 3-0 record on the season. The Tigers are averaging 51.7 points per game through three weeks behind their top transfers.
The offense ran through Ahmad Hardy in a game where he set his single-game rushing record in two and half quarters. It was previously set in his freshman season at Louisiana Monroe with 207 yards against Marshall. Hardy finished this contest with 250 yards and three touchdowns on 11.4 yards per carry, and credited his blockers for his big day.
“The guys up front, shout out to the O-linemen,” Hardy said. “Those guys were setting the line of scrimmage and we were running the zone pretty good.”
Graduate quarterback Beau Pribula connected with junior wide receiver Marquis Johnson in the first quarter on a slant in the red zone. Johnson dove towards the goal line with the ball extended, but the ball was knocked out and taken back 98 yards by the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defense. After review, it was determined that Johnson broke the plane before the fumble, resulting in a touchdown for Johnson and the Tigers.
Entering the second quarter, the Tigers held a 14-0 lead and put together their fastest touchdown drive of the game to extend the lead further. After two Kevin Coleman Jr. catches and a 17-yard Jamal Roberts rush, Pribula got the touchdown himself from 14 yards out on a designed quarterback run.
Roberts was producing big plays in the running and passing game. Pribula found him in the flat with the pocket collapsing, with Roberts proceeding to go 38 yards after the catch to the end zone.
The offensive scoring streak was broken on the fifth drive when Pribula threw his first interception as a Tiger. Louisiana redshirt junior linebacker Cameron Whitfield picked him off as the quarterback tried to target junior wide receiver Daniel Blood on the left sideline. The Ragin’ Cajuns got the ball on the Missouri 22 yard line and walked away with a field goal to make the score 28-3.
The Ragin’ Cajuns responded after the Tigers went up 35-3 as redshirt junior running back Zylan Perry took the opening play 84 yards to the house. Before the breakaway touchdown, Louisiana only had 27 yards of offense.
Outside of the one chunk play by Perry, Louisiana’s offense only totaled 37 yards for the game. Missouri’s defensive unit totaled two sacks, eight tackles for loss and four pass breakups.
“I thought for the most part [the defense] played really well and kept them behind the sticks,” Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz said postgame. “I think we were able to create some havoc on third downs.”
A 22-yard field goal by freshman kicker Robert Meyer put the Tigers up 38-10 at the half. Hardy ended the first 30 minutes of play with 187 rushing yards on 11.7 yards per attempt. Coleman Jr. corralled all seven of his targets for 70 yards.
The second half was packed with freshman quarterback Matt Zollers handing it off to Missouri’s freshman running back Marquise Davis. After receiving five carries through the first two weeks, Davis finished the game with 20 rushes for 113 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers now move forward toward their first conference opponent in the No. 11-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Faurot Field.
Edited by Killian Wright | [email protected]
Copy edited by Emma Harper | [email protected]
Edited by Alex Gribb | [email protected]