I’m starting to sense a theme of these year’s Mizzou team, a theme that’s going to make it pretty damn hard to write these DPI posts every week.
That theme, you might be wondering? Mizzou Football 2025 stands on business.
Same, Justin, same.
Look I’m all about the clinical professionalism with which Missouri has operated in these first few games. Outside of one quarter against kU, the Tigers have looked downright scary with the amount they’ve dominated their opponents. They’re efficient offensively,
unflappable defensively, and unbreakable in the face of the limited adversity they’ve faced. Unlike some Mizzou teams in the past — some good Mizzou teams, I might add — these Tigers haven’t shown any gaps in their armor yet.
With that sort of play comes a type of confidence that doesn’t really stoop to disrespect its opponent. Which, to be honest, is sort of scary to face and fun to watch. “Fun” in the sense that it’s fun to watch your favorite team win football games, though, and not the type of fun where I get to poke at the way Mizzou dominates other teams. At some point you start to be mean just for the sake of it, you know?
This week’s DPI is indicative of the business-like dominance Mizzou displayed against Louisiana last weekend. It was the sort of play that made the opponent (literally) throw their hands in the air and fans go, “stop, stop, they’re already dead!” But instead of celebrating, the Tigers lined right back up and did it again.
As a reminder, here are our judging categories and scoring scales.
Category 1: How difficult/impressive was the play? (0-20)
Category 2: How hard did the opposition try? (0-20)
Category 3: How much did his teammates help? (0-5)
Category 4: What did the player do immediately afterward? (0-20)
Category 5: How did everyone not involved react? (0-15)
Category 6: Is there a backstory/context to consider? (0-20)
And courtesy of Mr. 250 himself, Ahmad Hardy, here’s your Disrespectful Index Play of the Week.
Category 1: How difficult/impressive was the play?
I know present to you a series of still images in which you can either barely see or not at all see the subject of this post.
The thing about this series of images that you need to know is that they are taken in rapid succession. So in the span of about a half second, Ahmad Hardy has run five yards through about three players and approximately 600 pounds of muscle. I don’t care who your opponent is… that’s difficult 20/20
Category 2: How hard did the opposition try?
I now present to you another series of still images in which the subject of this post is being rapidly chased by a sea of Ragin’ Cajuns.
The thing about this series of images that you need to know is that it takes place over the distance of 10 yards. So over the course of about a second, Hardy runs 10 yards with four guys in his direct proximity before they manage to drag him down. I don’t care how fast and strong you are, those guys are working to get you down. 18/20
Category 3: How much did his teammates help?
As much as I’d like to give Hardy all the credit here, this was a pretty exceptional run blocking game from the offensive line. Hardy was tailor-made in a laboratory to run in Eli Drinkwitz’s zone scheme, and when the linemen are making those blocks, it’s going to be nigh impossible to stop Hardy from going apeshit. 2/5
Category 4: What did the player do immediately afterward?
Got up and ran back to the backfield. Then punched in a touchdown on the very next play before falling onto his back. Bro looked gassed. Impressive? Yes. Funny? Kind of. Disrespectful? Eh. 7/20
Category 5: How did everyone not involved react?
The best reactions from this category usually come from teammates or fans, but we’ve got a rare gift on this play (of all plays!) to see the opponents react in a manner befitting those who are at their wit’s end.
Honest to God, I can’t remember the last time I saw an opponent of Mizzou’s throw their hands up in the air. For a game that inspired nothing in me but cold devotion to the process, I found it objectively hilarious to watch a player on the opposing team show that level of frustration. As it turns out, getting bulldozed in triple-digit heat is a miserable experience.
To give No. 4 credit here, I definitely would’ve quit after this play. You’re telling me I have to keep trying to tackle this guy after that last run? No thanks, I’ll give my scholarship back thank you very much. 14/15
Category 6: Is there a backstory/context to consider?
It was apparently close to 110 degrees on the field. So there’s one thing to note that I think gives this run (one of his final snaps of the day) some brownie points.
However, I also want to take a second to quietly, at the bottom of a niche football blog post, note that… Ahmad Hardy is starting to make a case as the best running back in the country? So far through three games he’s rushed for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns in a backfield that also has Jamal Roberts and Beau Pribula. He’s the only running back to rush for more than 200 yards in a game so far this season. And he seems to be picking up steam.
I was talking to someone the other day and said something that felt weird at the time, but honestly might be true only three games into Mizzou’s career. Don’t throw things at your screen when I say this but…
Is Ahmad Hardy the most talented Mizzou running back of the 21st century? We’ll see about the longevity, but I’m having a hard time making a case against him based on the eye test. 12/20
For putting the nail in Louisiana’s coffin after already dropping 200 yards and two scores on their head, Ahmad Hardy’s second-to-last run of the game was 73 percent disrespectful to Louisiana, to their fans who sat through the heat and to the turf. Give it a rest, man.
