COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Growing up in Mississippi, Ahmad Hardy dreamed of starring on the gridiron in his home state. On Saturday night, Hardy made a statement.
Hardy had a career-best 300 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 25 carries, and Toriano Pride Jr. had a 62-yard fumble return and pick-6 to help Missouri beat Mississippi State 49-27 on Saturday night.
“I’m from Mississippi,” Hardy said. “A lot of teams didn’t recruit me coming out of high school, so it was kind of personal. But then, again, like I told the guys, the seniors, I was doing it for them.”
Hardy’s 300-yard rushing performance was the second in Missouri history trailing only Devin West’s 319-yard outburst versus Kansas in 1998.
“I thought the o-line and tight ends obviously prevented penetration, allowed him to get to the second level, but then he did the rest,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “Once the holes started, they were playing quite a bit of man to man, which prevents overlapping the defense, and I think his speed really surprised them.”
Missouri (7-3, 3-3 SEC) freshman Matt Zollers, making his second career start, was 8-of-15 passing for 112 yards and two touchdowns and threw an interception in his first career win.
Blake Shapen completed 19 of 33 passes for 199 yards, threw a pair of interceptions and added a pair of rushing touchdowns for Mississippi State (5-6, 1-6), which needs a win over Mississippi on Nov. 29 to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2022.
Hardy raced into the end zone from 43 yards out with 11:11 remaining in the fourth quarter to shatter his previous career-high of 250 rushing yards and give him his third career three touchdown game.
Pride returned an interception 19 yards for a touchdown to give Missouri its largest lead of the night at 35-17 with 4:39 to play in the third quarter.
That play came a little more than a minute after Hardy, who scored on a 10-yard run late in the first half, raced to the end zone from 72 yards out.
“Whatever reaction you had is the same reaction I had,” Missouri defensive end Chris McClellan said about Hardy. “It’s super impressive, and it’s good, but sometimes I’ll just be like, ‘Ahmad, slow down so we can get a break, we just got off the field on defense.’
“But, no, it’s great being on the team with him, and I’d rather play with him than against him.”
Trevion Williams stripped the ball from Hardy, and Malick Sylla recovered it near midfield with about a minute into the third quarter. Ten plays, Shapen scored his second rushing touchdown of the game from 3 yards out to cut Missouri’s lead to 21-17.
Mississippi State reached the Missouri 2 on a 16-play drive, but Ethan Myers’ low snap on a 25-yard field-goal attempt ricocheted off holder Marlon Hauck’s left knee. Pride recovered the fumble and returned it 62 yards to the Bulldogs’ 23 yard line with 5:03 remaining in the second quarter.
“That just gave us eternal life,” McClellan said. “It’s good to have that kind of one-two punch. We call it going on the run here, whenever we get a stop and the offense goes and scores. It’s good to see us playing complimentary football like that.”
Off target
Tigers defensive end Nate Johnson was ejected for targeting with 8:56 remaining in the first quarter after delivering a helmet-to-helmet hit on Shapen, and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter was ejected for the same offense with 8:52 remaining in the second quarter.
The takeaway
Mississippi State: Dominated time of possession against a Missouri team that entered play fourth in the nation and first in the SEC in time of possession averaging 33:34. However, turnovers proved fatal for the Bulldogs as both of Shapen’s interceptions were returned for touchdowns, and Missouri scored on the ensuing drive after Pride’s fumble return.
Missouri: Dominated the turnover battle and the running game to earn its 23rd straight win against an unranked opponent since falling to Wake Forest in the 2022 Gasparilla Bowl.
Up next
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs host No. 6 Ole Miss on Nov. 29 in the Egg Bowl marking the 122nd meeting between the in-state rivals.
Missouri: The Tigers play Saturday at No. 11 Oklahoma.
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By DAVID SOLOMON
Associated Press
