Missouri QB Austin Simmons stats, grade from Tigers’ win over Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No. 23-ranked Missouri football hammered Arkansas 34-10 on Saturday night at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback stadium, giving the Tigers their sixth win of the season and keeping a path to the College Football Playoff open into November. The storyline of the night, even if the return was a little underwhelming, was Ahmad Hardy’s first appearance since he was shot in the thigh in May. The Tigers gave Hardy two carries, which he turned into five yards in his season debut. Jamal Roberts led Mizzou (6-2, 3-2 SEC) with 138 rushing yards and two total touchdowns, and the Tigers’ defense forced four turnovers in the win over the Razorbacks (3-5, 1-4).  It wasn't the prettiest night from the offense overall. The Tigers got flashes — and more than enough — from quarterback Austin Simmons, but it was the defense and the second-half rushing effort that put an error-prone Arkansas to sleep. Here’s how Simmons performed in MU's win over the Razorbacks: Mizzou QB Austin Simmons stats vs Arkansas Simmons was 20-of-31 passing (64.5%) for 179 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. The quarterback threw his 15th and 16th passing touchdowns of the season to Donovan Olugbode and Roberts. With 16 passing touchdowns on the season, the Tigers have eclipsed their passing-TD total from the full 2025 season before reaching November. Austin Simmons’ best Simmons and Mizzou’s offense came out firing on the opening drive of the second half.  The quarterback dropped a 46-yard pass to Cayden Lee to get Mizzou into scoring range, then Simmons hit Donovan Olugbode at the very back edge of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown The game had got a little bit anxious after an ugly first half. The Tigers were struggling to sustain drives and had relied on their defense to make the plays to give them a narrow lead.  Not after the break.  The Tigers turned Arkansas over two plays after Olugbode’s touchdown and was back in the end zone in three more plays from scrimmage courtesy of Jamal Roberts. Simmons leaned on his accurate left arm and changed the game on a pair of tremendous throws. The Tigers cruised from there. Austin Simmons’ worst Simmons should have been picked off on the Tigers’ penultimate play of the second half. A third-and-10 throw toward wide receiver Shaun Terry II slipped through the hands of Arkansas linebacker Bradley Shaw, who had jumped the route.  If he’d got a hold of it, it was going back for 6 points and an Arkansas lead. Simmons had an extremely accurate start to the game, completing 15 of his opening 20 pass attempts — which probably should have been even better, if not for a couple of dropped balls in the wet weather. But he has, when the offense goes into a hurry-up, shown a tendency to get a little loose with the football from time to time. That play could have changed the game with 21 seconds left in the first half. The Tigers were getting the ball on the other side of the half and had the lead. There wasn’t much need to force it there. Grade: B- The first half was ugly, the second half was much better. You could argue that Mizzou had an over-reliance on screens and short-yardage passes in the first half. The Tigers only ran the ball 14 times in the first half, which was confusing and didn’t let the offense ever get in much of a rhythm or control the clock. Mizzou’s in-helmet communication also seemingly went out for a while in the first half, which may have complicated matters — but that’s us giving the Tigers the benefit of the doubt. The Tigers’ biggest issue on offense was penalties — and a lot of them. Simmons was far from perfect, but there were several other factors contributing to the ugly night on offense that were more damaging than the quarterback.