What's Happened to Mizzou's Run Game?: The Buzz

Watch the video above as Missouri football reporters Joey Van Zummeren and Michael Stamps give their thoughts on what has led to a sharp decrease in rushing production from the Missouri offense.

The following clip is from MissouriOnSI's post-game reaction from Missouri's win at Auburn.

Missouri's backfield of sophomore Ahmad Hardy and redshirt sophomore Jamal Roberts stormed on to the scene this season.

After Hardy led the nation with 730 rushing yards through the first five weeks of the season, it seemed as if he would be a prime candidate for the Heisman Trophy and the engine for the Missouri offense throughout the season. Roberts provided a good second punch to Hardy, rushing for 143 against Kansas and 76 against South Carolina.

But since fully transitioning from non-conference to Southeastern Conference play, Missouri's run game has almost completely disappeared. The Tigers' running back duo tallied 63 yards against Auburn in Week 8 and 102 against Alabama in Week 7.

After averaging 7.52 yards per carry in the first five weeks, Hardy has averaged 3.35 yards over the past two games.

The biggest factor in the drop off seems to not be a mysterious fall off from Hardy or Roberts, but rather the Missouri offensive line being exploited by the step up in competition. Neither of the running backs have had much room to get past the line of scrimmage.

There was a point early in the season where head coach Eli Drinkwitz said that Hardy and Roberts had to be "their own blocker" to evade free defenders at the second level. But in those situations, Hardy and Roberts thrived, being able to use their ability as a downhill runner.

The difference from those early protection issues and the recent issues is the fact that the struggles are coming straight at the line of scrimmage. In order to run the outside zone as efficiently as Missouri would like to, the offensive line needs to move back the defensive line. Against Auburn, that clearly wasn't happening. 15 of Hardy's 24 carries went for 2 or less yards.

There's no reason to believe Hardy and Roberts aren't as talented as they both showed early in the season. But there should be concern over whether or not Missouri's offensive line will be able to fix these issues that are currently preventing the run game from accomplishing the same efficiency it reached early in the season.

Here's the morning buzz for Monday, Oct. 20.

Weekend Mizzou Results

Friday's Scores

• Volleyball: Missouri 3, Ole Miss 1

Cross Country

• The No. 19 Missouri men's cross country team finished second, while the No. 21 women's team secured third at the pre-national invitational. The men's team claimed silver in the 8k defeating No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 3 Loyola-Chicago and No. 22 Arkansas. The women's team placed third over No. 30 Tennessee, No. 23 Boston College and No. 3 Florida to earn their podium finish.
• BYU freshman Jane Hedengren set a new course record at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in the 6k with a time of 18:42.30, which was over 24 seconds faster than the previous record.

Saturday's Scores

• Softball: University of Washington
• Football: No. 15 Missouri 23, Auburn 17

Swim & Dive at Purdue

• While the Tigers came up short overall, they totaled eight individual wins and a relay victory. Sophomore Karolina Bank stood out with three wins with gold in the 100 breast, 200 breast and the 200 medley relay. Bank participated in the relay with Sydney Bales, Grace Hanson and Katie Kuehn.

Sunday's Scores

• Volleyball: Missouri 3, LSU 1
• Soccer: Tie - Missouri 0, No. 11 Arkansas 0

Monday's Mizzou Schedule

• Women's Golf at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, Kapolei, Hawaii

Did you notice?

• Missouri women's basketball has added its fifth player in the current recruiting class with the commitment of 4-star forward Khloe Ford. The 6-foot-3 standout from Hoover High School in Alabama brings size and skill to the Tigers' 2026 class.