While the team has largely flown under the radar to start this season, Missouri stands alone as the only program to achieve an impressive statistic feat up to this point.
As PowerMizzou pointed out, the Tigers rank 4th nationally in total offense and 5th in total defense, making them the only squad to reside in the top 5 for both categories.
Given Mizzou has out-scored its first three opponents by a margin of 155-47, it’s easy to see why. A 61-6 drubbing of Central Arkansas was followed by a thrilling 42-31 win over Kansas, and on Saturday the Tigers took Louisiana to the woodshed in a 52-10 result.
And while a plethora of players have contributed to Missouri’s initial success, it’s a pair of transfers that are spearheading the efforts, at least offensively.
Penn State transfer and quarterback Beau Pribula made national headlines when he entered the transfer portal during last season’s College Football Playoff, but his gutsy decision is paying off. The dual-threat senior played sparingly behind Drew Allar as more of a running threat over the past two seasons, but he’s become the whole package in Columbia, throwing for 791 yards while completing 76.4% of his passes to go along with 76 rushing yards and 10 total touchdowns through three weeks.
Pribula’s dynamic abilities have been a perfect fit for offensive coordinator Kirby Moore’s scheme, and the same can be said for Louisiana-Monroe transfer Ahmad Hardy at tailback. Fresh off a monstrous 250-yard, 3-touchdown performance against the Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday, Hardy has carried his success from the Sun Belt to the SEC as he leads a deep Tiger backfield, and his efforts have allowed the team to rank 5th in rushing yards per game (302.3). Excelling within the outside-zone schemes that Moore & Co. love to run, Hardy has been a seamless replacement for last season’s duo of Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll.
Meanwhile, a veteran Missouri defense has largely been stingy outside of the first quarter against the Jayhawks, and it only gives up 200 yards per outing.
Of course, the conference slate begins for the Tigers this weekend when they host South Carolina, and that reality has a habit of altering some of these stats for the worse. Still, Mizzou’s 3-0 start has fans thinking about another double-digit-win season in COMO, which would be the program’s first instance of three-straight years with 10+ victories.
Current sports editor with the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. 2024 graduate from Mizzou and college athletics enthusiast.
