The Missouri Tigers gave their Homecoming crowd another reason to celebrate Saturday night, rolling past UMass 42–6 to improve to 5–0 on the season.
Quarterback Beau Pribula shook off an early interception and delivered one of the most efficient passing performances in program history. The Penn State transfer completed a school-record 21 consecutive passes and finished 26 of 29 for 241 yards and a touchdown.
“I think he does a really good job with his accuracy,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “It’s good to be undefeated with things to improve. That’s the mentality of our coaching staff and players. During the bye week, we’ve got to sharpen our edge.”
Running back Ahmad Hardy continued his remarkable season, rushing for 130 yards and three touchdowns before leaving briefly in the first quarter with an injury scare. It was Hardy’s seventh straight 100-yard game, keeping him among the nation’s top rushers. Freshman Jamal Roberts added a 9-yard score on Missouri’s opening drive, while Marquise Davis broke free for 77 yards in the fourth quarter. In all, the Tigers piled up 268 rushing yards.
“Those boys got to eat together,” wideout Kevin Coleman Jr. said of the Hardy-Roberts tandem. “You don’t want one guy getting all the carries. It’s a one-two punch, like Montgomery and Gibbs in Detroit.”
Coleman himself was Pribula’s top target, hauling in 12 catches for 108 yards.
UMass had its lone highlight early when linebacker Timmy Hinspeter picked off Pribula and returned it 63 yards to set up a short touchdown pass from AJ Hairston to Max Dowling. But Missouri’s defense slammed the door from there.
Safety Santana Banner came up with a third-quarter interception, setting up a short touchdown drive, while the Tigers’ front seven suffocated the Minutemen ground game, holding them to just 19 rushing yards.
“We really focused on sticking to doing what we do,” Banner said. “Nothing special, just everyone doing their one-eleventh.”
Hinspeter was a bright spot in defeat for UMass, recording 17 tackles, a sack, and the interception.
With the win, Missouri enters its bye week undefeated before hosting No. 17 Alabama in a pivotal SEC showdown on Oct. 11.
Check out our photos from the game from Paul Baillargeon.
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