Jon Sumrall and the Gators looked ready to crash the national title conversation after blowing out Ole Miss in Week 4. Then they ran into Missouri. The Tigers hosted Florida on Saturday with both teams ranked in the top 25, and Missouri took full control, racking up 560 total yards in a dominant 45-17 win over arguably the hottest team in the country.
Austin Simmons went 23 of 30 for 340 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, while senior running back Jamal Roberts ran for a career-high 211 yards and three scores on 24 carries. After the win, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz was named Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Week, according to On3's Brett McMurphy. More news: Deion Sanders Drops Cryptic Comment on Julian Lewis After Loss to Texas Tech Drinkwitz has quickly become one of the most respected coaches in college football.
He spent one season as head coach at Appalachian State, going 12-1 and finishing in the top 20 in 2019. Missouri hired him that December, and he has since turned the Tigers into a steady threat in the SEC. He became only the second coach in program history to post back-to-back double-digit win seasons in 2023 and 2024, and Missouri rewarded him in November 2025 with a six-year contract averaging about $10.75 million per year, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport.
More news: Pat Narduzzi Takes Shot at Penn State as Nittany Lions Fall From the AP Top 25 More news: Jeremiah Smith Sends Message to Heisman Voters After Historic Game vs Iowa But for all the success Drinkwitz has had, the Tigers have yet to make the College Football Playoff. They came closest in 2023, when they finished 11-2 and No. 8 overall in the final AP poll. But the program has slipped since then, and pressure has been mounting on Drinkwitz to get this team into the postseason.
Missouri is now 4-1 and ranked No. 14 in the country, though he'll need more big wins to keep the momentum going. Next up, the Tigers host Texas A&M before road tests against Ole Miss and Arkansas.
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