The Battle Line rivalry has a new slot on the schedule in 2026.No. 23-ranked Missouri football will travel down to Fayetteville for the second straight season to play Arkansas this coming Saturday to play one of its three permanent SEC rivals, which it will see on the schedule for each of the next four years — but not necessarily in the spot we're used to seeing the game.
This year marks the first time the two teams won’t play each other in the final week of the regular season, with the Tigers set to close the 2026 campaign against Oklahoma and Arkansas set to face LSU.
Mizzou (5-2, 2-2) is looking for a bounceback win on the other end of its idle week. The Tigers were trounced by Ole Miss, 31-3, in their last appearance on the field Oct. 17 in Oxford, Mississippi.
Arkansas (3-4, 1-3), which also was idle this past Saturday, ended a 14-game SEC losing streak two weeks ago with a road win at Vanderbilt. The Razorbacks are now coached by Ryan Silverfield, who met with the media Monday in Fayetteville to preview the game against the Tigers.
Here’s what Silverfield said about Mizzou and the team’s key players and matchups ahead of Saturday’s game:
Ryan Silverfield on Mizzou QB Austin Simmons: ‘Extremely efficient’
It’s lefty-on-lefty this week at quarterback in Arkansas. Both the Tigers, with Austin Simmons, and the Razorbacks, with KJ Jackson, have left-handed starting quarterbacks.
“Austin Simmons is extremely efficient,” Silverfield said. “He's very accurate.”
Simmons has vastly improved Mizzou’s passing offense in his first year with the program.
The Tigers are averaging 268.3 passing yards per game, which ranks fourth in the SEC. The Tigers were last in the league last year for passing yards per game (188.0), attempting only seven total passes for 25 yards in their win over Arkansas last year.
Simmons has 14 passing touchdowns, which is just one less than all of MU’s quarterbacks threw for in all of 2025, and two interceptions, one of which was in garbage time at Ole Miss.
“When you go a whole season like he has, throwing, what was it, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions? That just speaks volumes about his decision-making and him putting the ball in the right place and what he's been able to do with it,” Silverfield said. “I think you tie that in with their effective run game, you sit there and say, ‘OK, there's a reason why they're a top 25 team in the country.’"
On Mizzou’s recent dominance in series
The Battle Line Rivalry has been dominated by Mizzou.
The Tigers have won nine of the past 10 games in the series, and Eli Drinkwitz is 4-1 since taking over the program, with all of his previous games against the Razorbacks coming while Sam Pittman was the head coach in Fayetteville.
“I try to avoid talking about recent history here,” Silverfield said. “Obviously, I always appreciate former players, always appreciate the entire history of Arkansas football. I think everybody realizes how important that is to me and this program, but we have not talked about the recent failures ... versus Missouri. That has zero reflection or zero effect on what we're going to do moving forward.
Added Silverfield: “Ultimately, it's the next game. It's very, very important for us to go out there in a rivalry game and put our best foot forward, just like it would be any game. But we don't harp on it too much as a program, as a team. We talk about it, but I think they're just excited to go back out on the field this Saturday.”
On Mizzou’s rushing offense
A reporter speculated that Ahmad Hardy might return this week for Mizzou, which isn’t currently the expectation. Hardy — who has missed the opening seven games of the season while he continues to recover from a gunshot wound — is not expected to feature against the Razorbacks despite returning to practice this week.
More: Will Ahmad Hardy play this week? Why Mizzou star’s return still may take time
Silverfield’s team likely will face Jamal Roberts out of MU’s backfield, and the Arkansas coach recognized the challenge — Hardy or no Hardy — that he presents.
“I think if (Mizzou) wanted to hang their hat on one thing as a program offensively,” Silverfield said, “it’s running that wide zone, and it doesn't matter who the running back is.”
Roberts currently ranks No. 2 in the SEC with 867 rushing yards on the year. Last season, Hardy led the conference with 1,649 rushing yards. He was the third Mizzou back to lead the conference in rushing over a five-season span.
“I think that’s part of the scheme. It’s something they really trust,” Silverfield said. “If they’re gonna say, ‘if we’re going to have 80 plays in a game, we’re going to run the ball 45 times. We’re going to find a way.’ Sometimes it’s three yards, and then the next thing you know it’s 30 yards. They’re trusting their scheme.
“It’s something they’ll hang their hat on, and as you watch Missouri’s run game this year, it actually gets stronger in the fourth quarter, which is one of those deals — they just keep relying on it and relying on it.”
On Missouri’s run defense
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Mizzou’s run defense has had an up-and-down past few gameweeks.
The Tigers held Texas A&M and Florida to near-negligible rushing totals during home wins, but Ole Miss put up 250 yard on the ground against the Tigers in a 31-3 thumping on Oct. 17.
Silverfield said he saw the numbers from the Ole Miss game as “skewed” because of the lopsided scoreline and the Rebels’ ability to lean on the run late into the game.
“Prior to that,” Silverfield said. “Mizzou has been (one) of the most dominant run defenses in college football.
Added the Arkansas coach: “They just really gap sound. I mean, their D-lineman will be sitting there playing a three-technique, and he remains a three-technique. Can't run the ball there. As soon as you go to put it in the playside A-gap, the tackle will rip, shed, and make the tackle for a one-yard gain or a loss. So, they're very gap sound. They're really good with their hands.
“Their linebackers come downhill, make plays. Their safeties, … whether it's the boundary safety, the free, depending on the rotation, rock and roll safety rotation based off what they're doing, even some of their cover six stuff — they're coming down making plays. They've been very, very sound with what they want to do in the run game.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: What Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield said about Missouri football