COLUMBIA, Mo. — The No. 25-ranked Missouri Tigers played their best football game of the season on homecoming Saturday, upsetting the No. 8 Florida Gators, 45-17.
Mizzou forced the second-best offense in all of FBS to play its worst game yet under first-year head coach Jon Sumrall.
Florida came to Columbia an early-season contender for the national title. The Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC) leave town with their first loss of the season — and many questions.
Meanwhile, host Missouri (4-1, 1-1) bounced back from its first loss of the season at the hands of Mississippi State last week.
Here are some takeaways from a stunning outcome in Columbia:
Mizzou finally puts together a good start
Missouri had one of its best starts of the season against the Gators, and that was a prime reason for the Tigers’ win.
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They had a goal-line stop to hold Florida to a field goal on its first drive and opened the game on offense with a field goal of their own.
After taking a 10-3 lead, MU had a fourth-down stop at Florida’s 32 but couldn’t translate that into points — Blake Craig missed on a 50-yard field-goal attempt. But the Tigers ended the first half with an excellent drive for a touchdown to make it 20-10 at halftime.
The Tigers started fast in the second half, as well, increasing their lead to 17 points, 27-10, in less than three minutes.
Coaches always want their teams to start games quickly on both sides of the ball. And this was Missouri’s best start yet.
Defensive experimentation holds Florida’s run game hostage
With the absence of defensive ends Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen, Mizzou used a four-man front with three defensive tackles to combat Florida’s dynamic rushing attack. Sterling Webb was the third DT who played on the edge in their base package.
The approach worked very well.
The Tigers held the Gators to 43 rushing yards in the first half. By game’s end, heralded UF back Jadan Baugh had just 13 yards on 12 carries. Florida finished the day with 42 rushing yards; UF’s total-yardage total of 325 total yards Saturday was boosted by a garbage-time TD.
Physicality from the Tigers’ defensive line allowed the linebackers and safeties to penetrate open gaps and rack up tackles for loss. Missouri had 10 TFLs as a team, with safety Kensley Louidor-Faustin contributing three.
MU stifled Florida’s run game and forced third-and-longs. The Gators were just 6 for 16 on third down.
Led by Simmons, Missouri’s offense flies high
Missouri’s aerial assault was fluid against the Gators, with Austin Simmons having one of his best games of the season.
He was his best self, polished and decisive in throwing for 340 yards and two TDs on 23-of-30 accuracy. He finished one yard shy of his college career high, set in a game against Georgia State last season.
Simmons made some phenomenal throws all over the field, including to his primary receiver, Cayden Lee. Lee tallied 110 yards on eight catches.
One of Simmons’ best throws of the day was a 47-yard TD to Donovan Olugbode (six catches, 94 yards). It came on a broken play where the ball was snapped early. Simmons found Olugbode streaking down the field wide open.
The Tigers’ ground game wasn’t consistent with Jamal Roberts as the lead rusher. But his 77-yard run helped Mizzou clinch the game at the end of the third quarter. He also had an 80-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the cherry on top.
Big plays boosted Roberts’ rushing totals to 211 yards on 24 carries with three TDs.
The Tigers finished the game with 560 total yards, their most against an FBS team all season.
Tigers bully Gators at line of scrimmage
On both sides of the ball, Missouri dominated the line of scrimmage.
On offense, Florida caused some pressure when MU didn’t have extra blockers in the passing game. The Tigers used motion and positioning to give Simmons extra protection, enabling him to sling it around the yard anyway.
Missouri’s ground game wasn’t consistent in moving the chains, but it sure came through in the second half.
The MU defensive line dominated and gave the Gators fits all day long.
Defensive tackles Jason Dowell (two tackles, 1.5 TFL, sack) Marquis Gracial (two tackles, 0.5 TFL) and Webb (two tackles, sack, two QB hurries) were all productive in Missouri’s adjusted defensive look.
Defensive end Daeden Hopkins was only credited with two QB hurries, but he created penetration in the run game and was in Philo’s pocket in the pass rush.
Missouri finally beats a ranked team under Drinkwitz again
The Tigers set several program records and milestones in Saturday’s upset of Florida.
It’s Missouri’s first win against a Top-25 team since the Tigers beat No. 24 Boston College in September 2024.
Also, the win boosted MU head coach Eli Drinkwitz’s record against ranked teams to 8-20. It’s his biggest SEC win since a 41-0 shutout of Vanderbilt in 2020.
The last time Mizzou beat a top-10 team at home was in 2010, when the Tigers beat Oklahoma. It’s the program’s sixth home win over a top-10 team in 63 games. Missouri had last beat a top-10 team in the 2023 Cotton Bowl, defeating Ohio State.
The Tigers held Florida to its fewest points in an MU-UF game since 2018. Meanwhile, MU’s point total matches a win over UF from 2017 — and 45 is the most points scored by either team in a game in this series.
