Week 5 was fun for Mizzou football. Homecoming occurred, and the Tigers’ 45-17 win over a top-10 Florida team propelled them to the doorstep of being ranked within the top 12.
After an exhilarating loss at Mississippi State, the vibes are completely flipped as Mizzou welcomes a Texas A&M team that fell from the AP Poll completely with losses to Kentucky and LSU, before finally rebounding against Arkansas.
In the previous weeks when examining what trends have been rising, we’ve also looked at the reverse.
But, sometimes, there’s not much to complain about, or surprisingly negative. Yes, we can poke at the fact that the Tigers missed another field goal, or how the secondary gave up some plays again.
But, more interestingly against Florida, we saw different players rise up and contribute to one of the most defining wins of the Eli Drinkwitz era, and in one case, a player contributing out of his normal position.
So, after the Tigers’ first SEC win of the 2026 season, here’s five Tigers whose stock rose heading into A&M week.
Jason Dowell
Jason Dowell is one player from the 2024 recruiting class who’s gradually seen his snap count increase throughout his time in Columbia. Compared to the 2025 season, he’s seen his snap count increase from 31 in three games to 142 in four in 2026.
His snap count has been on the rise this season, with the number hitting the 30s in the past three weeks. Against Florida, he played a career-high 34 defensive snaps, 25 coming in pass rush situations per PFF. He finished with a sack and three pressures, one where he drove the Gators’ center straight back into Aaron Philo’s pocket early in the fourth, forcing the junior to check down, resulting in an incompletion. More importantly, the impact in the run defense was noticeable, forcing Jadan Baugh to bounce a couple of runs outside, where they were stopped immediately.
Two weeks ago, Donta Simpson and Jalen Marshall saw their career-high in snaps. This week it was Dowell. The Tigers defensive tackle depth allowed for the team to do something unique on the line…
Sterling Webb’s versatility
With Langden Kitchen and Darris Smith both out on Saturday against Florida, Mizzou had to lean on its edge depth. Surprisingly, the Tigers asked Sterling Webb to bounce to the outside, yielding good results.
He finished with four pressures, the most since his six against Auburn last season. He also put a beautiful pass rush move on Florida’s tight end to get home for a sack on Philo.
From Matthew Gustafson’s Tiger Talk Notes and Quotes: Aggies Edition:
On shifting Sterling Webb out to defensive end against Florida: “Just another great example of the brotherhood doing whatever it takes to find a way to win. We utilize this line a lot: there’s a way to win every game, you just have to find it. And I credit our coaches, [defensive tackles] coach [David] Blackwell and [defensive line] coach Chop [Harbin] and [edge rushers] coach [Brian] Early for finding a way to … we have the depth at d-tackle, so let’s slide Sterling out into the boundary and let him do the things that we need to do front-wise in order to stop the run. And then for him to get a transition to a sack was pretty big. It was pretty awesome.”
Jeremiah Beasley and Dante McClellan
Eli Drinkwitz mentioned how physical of a game it was between the Gators this past weekend. Robert Woodyard Jr. exited the game early in the first quarter, returned, but left again in the fourth quarter. He enters this week as questionable on the depth chart. Even Nicholas Rodriguez stepped aside for a few plays on Saturday.
This tested Mizzou’s linebacker room’s depth. Another member of the 2024 recruiting class, Dante McClellan saw a career-high number of snaps with 31 and finished with a PFF tackle grade of 77.8. Jeremiah Beasley also saw a career-high in snaps, with 30 against the Gators, and has exceeded his total number of defensive snaps from the previous two years with 99.
If Woodyard is unable to go against the Aggies, the two will be relied on once again in a larger role alongside Rodriguez. In an increased role against an SEC opponent, the results were good as Mizzou held Florida’s offense in check.
Caleb Goodie Sr.
Last week, Caleb Goodie Sr. was a stock-down candidate with just 15 offensive snaps against Mississippi State and nine versus Troy. But things can change week-to-week in football. Goodie finished with two receptions for 67 yards and a score after having just one reception for five yards heading into the game. The way he was schemed opened fit his skillset as his speed was on full display against the Gators.
The involvement of a third wide receiver in this offense goes a long way for this entire offense. Goodie excelled at Colorado State and Cincinnati. He has the experience to do the same thing in Columbia.
