Missouri will close out its nonconference slate in Week 3 by hosting Troy, the reigning runner-up in the Sun Belt conference.
The Tigers have played the Trojans four times before. Though Missouri lost in a 2004 game at Troy, the Tigers have won all three of the previous matchups in Columbia by an average margin of 33.3 points.
The 2026 meeting shouldn’t be much different.
For Missouri, it represents the final opportunity to tune up before Southeastern Conference play, with the Tigers set to take on Mississippi State in Week 4. It could also be an opportunity to give younger, unproven players a substantial amount of playing time.
Missouri’s starters now have more than a full game of playing time under their belts this season after they grabbed a 38-21 road win at Kansas following a blowout against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Columbia.
Missouri has shown some flaws that it can look to improve upon against the Trojans. One of those areas is the run game. The Tigers will have the chance to test and evaluate their running back depth, which is under threat.
"That's probably the biggest point of concern we have right now with the depth chart," Drinkwitz said of the running back position ahead of Week 2.
Missouri entered the season, and continues to be, without star running back Ahmad Hardy as he recovers from a gunshot wound he suffered in May. In Week 1, one of Missouri’s top rotational options, Malae Fonoti, suffered a season-ending ACL injury.
To start the year, Missouri arguably had the best running back room in the country. Now, out of the four players the Tigers expected to contribute at the position, two remain.
"So, in the running back room, yeah, I don't feel great,” Drinkwitz said. “But it is what it is. We'll do the best we can."
Xai’Shaun Edwards, who was set to split the No. 2 duties with Fonoti at the start of the season, now will be heavily relied on as the main option behind Jamal Roberts, who has taken the starting duties while Hardy recovers.
Edwards, a transfer from Houston Christian, took 10 carries for 45 yards against Kansas. Against Troy, Edwards should have even more of an opportunity to improve his vision and get in sync with the MU offensive line. Edwards rushed for 1,019 yards and 12 touchdowns on 194 carries in 2025.
Anthony Favrow, the next man up behind Edwards, should also be able to take valuable reps. The former walk-on has only taken nine carries in his collegiate career, eight of which came in Week 1.
Missouri will also look to get more out of its offensive line, which has struggled to open up holes for its runners at times in each of the first two games. The Tigers might opt to give starting left tackle Cayden Green the week off. He had a minor procedure on his meniscus on Sept. 1, causing him to miss Week 1 but return for Week 2. Green was eager to play in a rivalry game and made extra strides to be available for it.
"Not very many people thought he could come back and play, and In his mind, there was never a shadow of a doubt."
Against Troy, however, Missouri and Green might see it as an unnecessary risk and opt to have sophomore Jack Lange take the start again.
Defensively, Missouri’s pass rush has the opportunity to create havoc. In 2025, Troy allowed the most sacks in the nation, giving up 4.21 per game. The Trojans allowed four sacks in their season opener against Sam Houston.
Against Kansas, Drinkwitz was pleased with the pressure MU enforced in the second half, but thought in the first half that it needed to be more disciplined in order to prevent space for the quarterback from opening up.
The Trojans’ starting quarterback is sixth-year player Will “Goose” Crowder, a former three-star prospect who started his career at West Virginia. Crowder’s career has been riddled with injuries, but the strong-armed quarterback has been efficient when healthy. He’s started the year by completing 26 of his 51 pass attempts for 366 yards and four touchdowns.
Tasked with leading the offense is coordinator Adam Austin, who led the Tarleton State offense to being the highest scoring unit in the FCS in 2025.
On special teams, Missouri also has stuff it will want to get off the tape before beginning conference play. Against Kansas, Missouri had two kicks blocked and was called for a unnecessary roughness penalty on a kickoff.
“Special teams was not good tonight in any form or facet, and that’s going to get cleaned up," Drinkwitz said Friday night.
For Missouri, Troy won’t be the same test that Kansas was. Nor will it be the important first-look that Arkansas-Pine Bluff was.
But it will be the final opportunity ahead of conference play for a team that still has questions to figure out.
The Tigers will host the Trojans at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
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The Tigers will host Troy at 6 p.m. Saturday, and during the game, they will celebrate 100 years of Memorial Stadium. A lot of memories, some involving football and others not, were made over the remarkable century.
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