On Saturday afternoon, the Tigers took on the Louisiana Rajin’ Cajuns in a game that felt like it was played in an oven. The on-field temperature was 108 degrees to start the game and some would say that’s perfect football weather. Missouri went on to win the game in blowout fashion, 52-10, marked by impressive performances from Ahmad Hardy, Marquise Davis, and Dreyden Norwood.

Although the opponent was a Sun Belt team in Louisiana, there’s still some things we can learn. Here are three of them:

1. In case you didn’t know, Ahmad Hardy is very good at football:

Ahmad Hardy eclipsed 100 yards or more in his first two starts at Mizzou and the sophomore chose to compound on those performances today, with the 7th single best game from a Missouri running back, ever. Hardy was dominant from the opening snap, finding the holes, not going down at first contact, and showing impressive elusiveness that we may not have known he had. All of fall camp, we heard from Eli and many others that Ahmad Hardy was virtually not tackleable. While Hardy showed that in glim,pses through the fgirst two games, today’s game gave us the best example.

Hardy broke off a 71-yard TD run, where he showed off some underrated speed and tackle-breaking ability. Hardy’s most impressive run was arguably not even a touchdown, as he had a 22-yard run, in which he was met at the line of scrimmage, but broke about six or seven tackles.

So, what was the ending stat line? 22 carries for 250 yards, and 3 touchdowns. I know the opponent is who they are, but that’s a Heisman-type performance. Incredible game from the sophomore.

2. The offensive line is slowly but surely improving.;

Missouri’s offensive line only committed one penalty, which came courtesy of Curtis Peagler. Other than that, they were essentially seamless in terms of discipline. The Missouri offensive line was doing a tremendous job with run-blocking, getting to the second level consistently. Specifically, on a Jamal Roberts run, a large enough hole opened to where you could have put a Cybertruck through it.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, however, which is why I put “Slowly” there. The offensive line did fine in pass blocking, but did give up two sacks, both of which were unblocked. On Pribula’s second touchdown pass of the game to Jamal Roberts (yes, this touchdown was amazing, and you should give Pribula his flowers), Pribula was under extreme pressure and had to throw the ball, while being sacked. Amazing play? Absolutely. Can you afford that risk in SEC play, especially with a good d-line coming to town next week? Absolutely not.

Overall, if I were to grade the offensive line’s performance, I would give them a B. I think they played a significant role in the run game being as dominant as it was today, but there are still a few things needing cleaned up. The growth is there, which should leave fans encouraged.

3. Kicking game? Not sure what to think:

Guys, Robert Meyer has made all of his extra point attempts, apart from one against Kansas that was blocked. His field goals have been fine, but today he missed a 40-yarder, and it looked bad from the start. I’m not saying he’s bad. He’s a true freshman, and you have to give him some slack. However, the 40-yard field goal attempt didn’t inspire much confidence.

It makes you curious, what’s going to happen when Mizzou gets in conference play and ghames are closer, potentially being decided by field goals? I mean, after all, Missouri went for it on 4th and 10 last week at the KU 31. That at least tells me, not much confidence. Drink has stated he likes Meyer inside of 45. That makes getting into field goal range the 28-yard line. That’s in stark contrast to the 40-yard line for Blake Craig. It just makes you wonder how many more fourth downs Missouri will choose to go for this season.

Overall, very impressive performance and this team looks really good. Heck, it’s a team you should be dreaming for. Eli himself said, “Apart from Beau’s interception and the 84-yard TD run, we dominated.” Enough said.