In the final game before conference play, Mizzou football put on a show and moved to 3-0 on the season in an 52-10 stomping of the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.
All season, Eli Drinkwitz has stressed the importance of starting hot out the gate, and the Tigers reinforced this mentality at the start of both halves. Leading the way was none other than star running back Ahmad Hardy.
As the Sunbelt Freshman of the Year last season, Hardy already had experience against the Ragin’ Cajuns when he was a member of the University
of Louisiana Monroe Warhawks. In that game, he put up 172 yards with a touchdown. Today, he almost eclipsed that record in the first quarter alone.
By the end of the half, the running back notched 187 yards and two touchdowns. He ended the day with 250 yards, three touchdowns, and an average of 11.4 yards per carry.
Mizzou’s defense also allowed Hardy and the offense to pad onto the score. Over the first five drives of the day for the Ragin’ Cajuns, the Tiger defense allowed just one first down on a pass interference call against Stephen Hall.
It was a first half of dominance in various aspects. The offensive line created gaps for runners and didn’t commit a penalty until Curtis Peagler was called for holding at the start of the third quarter. For most of the first half, the defense held Louisiana to under twenty hards, until Zylan Perry exploded for an 84 yard rushing TD. And Beau Pribula showed off both his cannon and legs throwing 15-22 with 174 yards, 2 TDs. Only one questionable throw for a tipped interception marred his performance.
In the second half, some fresh legs and new faces hit the field for the Tigers. After a quick Ahmad Hardy score to open the half, Marquise Davis took over the role. Ultimately, Davis had 20 carries for 113 yards, the running back’s first game north of 100 yards rushing.
Defensively, Mizzou slammed the door on the Ragin’ Cajuns in the final quarter. In their last three possessions of the game, Louisiana punted all three times. In their 11 drives on the day, they only had a 70+ yard drive once (thanks to Zylan Perry) and scored twice f0r an 18 percent success rate.
The Tigers final scoreline displayed the lopsided dominance with a final tally of 606 total yards, 427 of which were rushing, recording 32 first downs, notching an average of 7 yards per play and only committing one offensive penalty over their 43 minutes of possession.
Mizzou will look to carry this momentum into SEC play which begins next week. The first test will be against South Carolina next Saturday, September 20 at 6 or 6:30pm, and be broadcast on either ABC or ESPN.
