Mizzou football puts a bow on fall camp

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The 2026 edition of Mizzou fall camp is officially in the books, as the Tigers held their final scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday night.

After that scrimmage wrapped up, head coach Eli Drinkwitz talked to local media members about some of the biggest storylines from fall camp, including the status of All-American running back Ahmad Hardy. The big update is that Hardy will not be able to play in the season opener, as he continues to recover from the gunshot wound he sustained to his leg in early May.

There is currently no official time table for when the star running back may hit the field for MU again, but, in the meantime, Mizzou is not lacking in talent in the backfield. The Tigers returned veteran running back Jamal Roberts for the 2026 season and brought in an exciting young talent in Xai'Shaun Edwards.

Overall, Coach Drinkwitz said he is proud of his team, after they had an 'excellent' fall camp and came out of it mostly healthy.

There were plenty of guys that Drinkwitz and staff hoped to see make a jump in this preseason camp, including wide receiver Donovan Olugbode, offensive linemen Whit Hafer and Jack Lange and starting quarterback Austin Simmons.

"We wanted to see Austin Simmons make a jump, you know, from the spring and understanding of the offense and spreading the ball around. I think he tonight was his was his best scrimmage opportunity that he's had," Drinkwitz said.

You can watch the full press conference with Drinkwitz in the video player below.

The biggest thing that coaches and players have said is impressive about Simmons is his ability to learn from a mistake and not make it twice. It appears that he was able to do that for MU on Saturday night, as he bounced from a scrimmage, just one week prior, where he had two interceptions.

On Saturday night, Drinkwitz said the biggest difference he saw in Simmons was that he started fast.

"I mean, first drive, I think he was no incompletions and threw about a 35, maybe a 40-yard touchdown to Caleb Goodie down the middle of the field, which was awesome. [Then], came back next drive and threw a back shoulder to Donovan [Olugbode] for a touchdown which was really good. You know we trailed a little bit after that. We didn't quite have the same attention to detail with the entire offense, had a couple of false starts that hampered some drives, but overall I thought he did a nice job of just learning his teammates, knowing the situations, being comfortable within the offense, understanding checks, you know, and maneuvering the offense the way we need to."

"He definitely made a good jump. I like the way he's playing right now, playing at a high level and just continuing to be accurate with the football and have confidence how he plays," receiver Donovan Olugbode said.

You can watch the full press conference with Olugbode in the video player below.

Olugbode, a rising sophomore, was also one of the players that Coach Eli said made a big jump throughout fall camp. He said he felt like he improved the most in his 50/50 catching, as well as his run after the catch ability.

He also said that, as a team, there's been a lot of growth in this preseason.

"Probably just playing with a lot more energy, both offense and defense, both sides of the ball," Olugbode said. "Just playing with a lot more energy and poise. All new guys we got in, just everybody playing confident and with energy."

Cornerback Chris Graves Jr. is a guy that's had to go against Olugbode throughout this fall camp and said his hands are what makes him so difficult for opposing defenses to deal with.

"He has very good routes. He's a smart, smart player, but definitely his hands. He makes a lot of good one hand catches," Graves Jr. said.

You can watch the full press conference with Graves Jr. in the video player below.

Coach Drinkwitz said the defense also had a good night in this final scrimmage of fall camp, as well, coming away with a couple of interceptions. One of those takeaways came from Auburn transfer safety Kensley Louidor-Faustin, while the other was from Graves Jr., himself.

"I believe it was third and five, they were backed up and I played off, sat at the sticks, read the quarterback and he threw the slant to me," Graves Jr. said.

Before the season begins in just a short time, Graves Jr. said that he still wants to work on his ball skills, as 'Death Row Defense' has a mission of creating more takeaways in the 2026 season.

Mizzou will kickoff the year against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. at Faurot Field.