FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Ahmad Hardy ran for 149 yards and a touchdown while Jamal Roberts ran for another 100 yards and a score to lead Missouri to a 31-17 win over Arkansas on Saturday.
Hardy, who entered the game third in FBS in yards rushing, gave the Tigers (8-4, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) the lead, 20-17, on a 57-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Missouri added a field goal and a 67-yard punt-return touchdown from Kevin Coleman Jr. in the fourth quarter to go ahead by two scores.
Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula threw for just 25 yards on 4-of-7 passing, but gained 78 yards on 16 carries, picking up Missouri’s second-quarter touchdown that tied the game at 14.
Arkansas (2-10, 0-8) had taken the lead on the previous possession after the ball slipped from Pribula’s hands as he cocked his arm to pass. Linebacker Bradley Shaw grabbed the fumble and returned it 32 yards to give Arkansas a 14-7 lead.
The Razorbacks managed just two drives that went for more than 26 yards. They finished with 246 yards of total offense, despite entering the game averaging 474 per game, good for 10th in FBS. Interim head coach Bobby Petrino started redshirt freshman KJ Jackson at quarterback and let him run the first two drives of each half before replacing Jackson with usual starter Taylen Green in each half.
Jackson went 11-of-17 passing for 126 yards with a first-quarter touchdown pass to O’Mega Blake. Green completed 6 of 13 passes for 59 yards.
Missouri’s 322 yards rushing marked the second-highest total for the Tigers this season and the most in an SEC game.
Winless again
Arkansas’ 0-8 SEC record marked the third such season since 2018. Only one school in the conference has more than two winless seasons in league play since the SEC expanded to an eight-game schedule in 1994 (Vanderbilt - 9).
The takeaway
Arkansas has been without a head coach since firing Sam Pittman on Sept. 28. Interim coach Bobby Petrino did not win a game in his trial thereafter and no names have been strongly attached to the Razorbacks’ job.
Missouri has firmly established themselves in the second tier of the SEC under coach Eli Drinkwitz. Missouri’s eight regular-season wins provided for the third winning season in a row, marking the first time that’s happened for the team since 2009-11.
Up next
Arkansas’ season is finished.
Missouri waits on its bowl destination.
