Hardy’s 300 yards power Missouri past Mississippi State

Ahmad Hardy rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns as Missouri ended a two-game losing streak with a 49-27 Senior Night victory over Mississippi State. The Tigers improved to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in SEC play before the 20th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium.

Hardy became the second Missouri player to reach 300 rushing yards in a game, trailing only Devin West’s school-record 319 against Kansas in 1998. He carried 25 times and scored from 72, 43 and 10 yards. After halftime, he produced 203 yards.

The performance raised Hardy’s season total to 1,346 rushing yards, fifth most in a season at Missouri, with 15 touchdowns. His 72-yard score answered Mississippi State’s touchdown early in the second half and restored an 11-point Missouri lead.

Freshman quarterback Matt Zollers completed 8 of 15 passes for 112 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in his second career start. He found fellow freshman Donovan Olugbode for a 26-yard opening touchdown, then connected with Joshua Manning for a 34-yard score after Manning broke three tackles.

Missouri’s defense supplied two second-half touchdowns. Toriano Pride Jr. returned a deflected Blake Shapen pass 19 yards for a score, and Marvin Burks Jr. added a 28-yard interception return after Mississippi State went for fourth-and-four from its own 18.

It was the second time in Missouri history that the defense recorded two interception-return touchdowns in one game. Burks also led the Tigers with 12 tackles. Along with Khalil Jacobs’ 10 stops, Darris Smith recorded two of Missouri’s five sacks.

The Tigers finished with a season-high 13 tackles for loss. After allowing three rushing touchdowns and two interception-return touchdowns, Mississippi State fell to 5-6 overall and 1-6 in SEC play.

Why it matters

Missouri stopped its two-game slide and moved to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in SEC play. Hardy joined rare school company, while the defense paired five sacks with a season-high 13 tackles for loss and two touchdowns.

What to watch next

At publication, Missouri’s next scheduled game was at Oklahoma on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 11:00 a.m. on ABC.