This past Saturday was rough for Mizzou as it fell 34-20 to Texas at home. It was a frustrating game that featured missed opportunities and controversial moments, plenty to reflect on. But before returning to Georgia for the first time since 2023, here’s whose stock rose and fell following the Tigers’ loss to the Longhorns.
Austin Simmons’ draft stock
Austin Simmons has been on fire the past three games. Yes, the Tigers are 1-2 over the past three, but it shouldn’t diminish some of the things that he has put on tape the past three weeks.
His 46-yard throw against Arkansas on Halloween is a microcosm of that. Against Texas, Simmons was Mizzou’s best offensive player. Pro Football Focus thinks so, giving Simmons a team-high 80.7 grade, his highest since MU defeated Florida on Homecoming.
But there are a lot of things that Simmons did that don’t show up on the raw stat sheet. His ability to fit the ball into tight windows and throw with anticipation showed up all afternoon against the Longhorns.
It didn’t help that Mizzou was credited with 8 drops, but while Simmons finished with a 53.5% completion percentage, his adjusted completion percentage finished at 71.8, crossing the 70-percent mark for the second straight week. Texas has one of the stingiest pass defenses in the SEC, ranking fourth following Saturday, but Simmons operated with ease at times.
Simmons’ play has caught the attention of the NFL this season. Last week, it was announced that he signed an agreement to return to Mizzou in 2027, but it allows him to explore the option of going to the NFL. A handful of NFL teams will need a quarterback next season; the Cardinals and Vikings are possibly two of those teams, and they were in attendance at Faurot Field. While Simmons could be a one-and-done in Columbia, which would be a disappointment to Mizzou fans, he’s definitely seen his stock rise throughout the year.
Sterling Webb snaps at edge
Mizzou received unfortunate news at the top of the week as Eli Drinkwitz announced that Langden Kitchen would miss the remainder of the 2026 season with an knee injury. His replacement will likely be Sterling Webb, who replaced Kitchen following his injury.
Earlier this season, after the Florida game, we highlighted his versatility and his ability to step in at edgewith both Kitchen and Smith out for that game. But with Kitchen sidelined for the rest of the year, Webb could take on a larger role.
Against Texas, he lined up for 44 snaps at the position, the most at the position in his collegiate career. He finished with 3 pressures, one short of his season-high against Florida. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs the rest of the regular season against Georgia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.
Kicking competition
Last wee, Blake Craig was a stock riser, providing Mizzou with points in the rain in Fayetteville, but is short lived. Of course, Craig missed twice in a game where Mizzou was driving to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. Earlier this week, Eli Drinkwitz mentioned how the program still has confidence in Craig, but the leash isn’t long.
“We have to create competition. I think that’s natural for every position,” Drinkwitz said. “you have to understand that there’s compeition, and there’s just not too many opportunities that you’re going to get to go out there and make the same mistake twice.”
The opportunity for a kicking change seems to be on the horizon. Will Mizzou turn to Oliver Robbins, who helped fill in for Craig last season? Robins went 3-for-5 on field goals in 2025.
Stock Down
Brunno Reus and Brett Le Blanc
While we may eventually see a kicking change, the specialists overall haven’t performed to a good enough standard, and it goes beyond the current field goal kicker.
“To be transparent, it’s not the players on the field,” Drinkwitz said. “Our specialists have not performed as well as they are capable of performing.”
Drinkwitz highlighted the inconsistencies on the operation times and kicking styles on punts, as well as kicks on kickoff. When specifically referencing the blocked punt, Drinkwitz mentioned how part of the responsibility fell on long snapper, Brett Le Blanc.
“Our operation time was slow, the snap was, were going to the left, operation time was slow, the snap is off to the right and the snapper is responsible for the A gap protection,” Drinkwitz said. “That’s not a great recipe right there.”
While its a small portion of the game, special teams is one of the most important aspects of the game, and when it’s not going well, its catastrophic, as Mizzou learned against Texas.
“They’re part of our team just like everybody else,” Drinkwitz said. “No different than when the quarterback is not playing the way he needs to, we got to call it out. When the left tackle is not playing the way he needs to, we got to call it out. Same thing with those guys, and they know it.”
Sione Laulea
Mizzou didn’t do a great job in defending Arch Manning and the Longhorns’ passing attack on Saturday. As for Sione Laulea, he was involved on the coverage breakdown on Texas’ game-tying touchdown, following the infamous controversial fumble call. He operated as he was playing in cover-2, while the rest of the team played a cover-3, blitz look. As for Laulea, it’s been a rough past three-week stretch for him. His PFF defensive and coverage grades have all dipped below 60 in all three games, while he’s allowed 9 receptions in the same span.
Mizzou’s rush defense
There’s lore behind backup running backs succeeding against Mizzou, and it happened on Saturday. Texas came into the matchup without Hollywood Smothers, who is out for the year with injury. His backup Raleek Brown did step in and have 85 yards on the ground and a score. His shiftiness diced Mizzou up in the run game. Brown found multiple cutback lanes and space through the defense.
As a team, the Tigers missed 9 tackles after just surrendering 4 to Arkansas. Meanwhile, the Tigers’ defense had their second-worst run defense grade (56.6) of the season.
