Austin Simmons leads No. 23 Missouri to 34-10 win over Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- — Austin Simmons threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamal Roberts had 158 total yards and two touchdowns as No. 23 Missouri topped Arkansas 34-10 on Saturday night.

The Tigers (6-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) led 13-7 at halftime despite its offense failing to score. But in the third quarter, Simmons connected on a 15-yard touchdown to Donovan Olugbode and Roberts later added a 2-yard run to push the Missouri edge to 27-7 with 9:47 left.

“It was big. It was a swing of the momentum,” Roberts said of the team’s third quarter. “We just went on a run. That’s something that we like to do on offense, just go on a run.”

Points off turnovers were critical for the Tigers as they turned three Arkansas fumbles and a KJ Jackson interception into 24 points, including a defensive score on Darris Smith’s fumble recovery in the end zone late in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Simmons hit Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown with 7:19 remaining to set the final score. Roberts rushed for 138 yards on 23 carries and caught three passes for 20 yards.

Ahmad Hardy, Missouri’s All-American running back who missed the first seven games of the season after being wounded in the leg during a shooting at an outdoor concert in May, returned to action in the win. He finished with two carries, both in the first quarter, for 5 yards.

“I think we were to the point where he was practicing, he looks good, there’s no medical reason not to play him. It’s just about getting his body back in shape physically,” Drinkwitz said of Hardy. “He’d been running. Just felt like with his movements in practice that he was going to be able to play.”

Jackson was 20-of-34 passing for 229 yards and had a rushing score for Arkansas (3-5, 1-4). The Razorbacks were limited to 59 rushing yards on 36 carries.

Up next

Missouri: Hosts No. 11 Texas on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Arkansas: At Auburn on Saturday, Nov. 7.

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