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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Chew on some crackers, swig some water. It’s time for a blind quarterback tasting.

The names of these two quarterbacks will be revealed shortly, and if you watched ESPN’s “College GameDay� on Saturday, you might have seen this exercise already. But try to set aside quarterback names for half a minute and sample these stats from the first bit of the college football season.

Another nonconference win, another week of stalling before the meat of the 2025 schedule arrives.

Missouri (5-0, 1-0) beat Massachusetts 42-6 on Saturday, winning solidly if a bit sleepily in its homecoming game. As always, the Post-Dispatch is looking back at the game through Pro Football Focus' array of grades and advanced stats.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri football added a recruiting win to its 5-0 start to the season, flipping a commitment from another Southeastern Conference program to its growing 2026 class.

Micah Nickerson, a defensive end who'd been committed to Mississippi State, changed his verbal pledge to the Tigers on Sunday. Nickerson visited MU last weekend.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Can a room of quarterbacks be like a baseball starting pitcher and bullpen? Let Missouri’s signal-callers and their Saturday night usage be Exhibit A.

Beau Pribula was the starter, logging a quality start — almost three quarters, however that can be transposed into innings for metaphor’s sake — with only a few pitches left dangling over the plate. Matt Zollers was the setup man, hardly seen as he held on for a series. Tommy Lock was the surprising closer, finishing out the fourth to fulfill an opportunity the MU coaching staff felt he earned.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — For a homecoming game, for a fifth straight win, for a 17th straight sellout, Saturday night inside Faurot Field seemed rather sluggish.

Not sleepy, per se. The No. 20 Missouri Tigers (5-0) racked up more than 500 yards of offense to beat the Massachusetts Minutemen (0-4) 42-6, staying undefeated in 2025 and wrapping up a nonconference slate in undefeated fashion. While the game lacked the drama of top-end clashes like Oregon knocking off Penn State or Alabama closing strong against Georgia, it wasn’t really a snoozefest.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Easy? Breezy? A wee bit sleepy?

In expected fashion, No. 20 Missouri cruised pass Massachusetts for a 42-6 win on Saturday.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Eli Drinkwitz, the coach of the undefeated Missouri Tigers, wants his team to approach this week’s game like they’ve lost one.

No. 20 Mizzou faces a steep drop-off in competition level from last weekend to this weekend. Last time out, MU beat South Carolina 29-20 to open Southeastern Conference play.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — There will be few better times to be a college football fan than the evening hours of this Saturday.

After a day of interesting games like No. 21 Southern California at No. 23 Illinois, No. 22 Notre Dame at Arkansas, and No. 4 Louisiana State at No. 13 Mississippi in the Magnolia Bowl, the real treats take over the airwaves.

Missouri sophomore running back Ahmad Hardy displayed competitive defiance in his signature moment from last weekend’s SEC opener against South Carolina.

His 5-yard touchdown run displayed several incredible elements, including balance, athleticism, determination and strength. But primarily his run, like so many of his runs early this season, was an act of dogged resistance.