FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No. 23 Missouri football (5-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) is set to take on Arkansas (3-4, 1-3) at 6:45 p.m. at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. It's been raining in Fayetteville all day, and is expected to continue raining throughout the game. Both the Tigers and Razorbacks are fresh off bye weeks, which Missouri players used to recover from injuries.

The most notable recovered Tiger is All-American running back Ahmad Hardy, who is set to make his season debut after spending the first seven games recovering from a gunshot wound suffered in May. Hardy returned to practice Monday and is making the trip to Fayetteville. ESPN's Marty Smith reported that the bullet that struck Hardy is still in his leg.

Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, Hardy won't start but is expected to receive "a handful of carries." The least amount of carries Hardy had in an SEC game last season was 12 against Alabama. He rushed for a program-record 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns on 256 carries in 2025. His then-backup — but now-starter — Jamal Roberts is expected to maintain starting responsibilities against Arkansas. Roberts has rushed for 867 yards and eight touchdowns on 167 carries through seven games as the starter this season.

Missouri will look to get its first SEC road win since beating Arkansas in its regular-season finale in 2025. The Tigers emerged victorious 31-17 off the backs of a combined 257 rushing yards between Hardy and Roberts.

Missouri lost its previous two conference road matchups this season, falling 31-24 to then-No. 24 Mississippi State in Week 4 and losing 31-3 to then-No. 9 Ole Miss in Week 7.

Missouri's run game struggled mightily against the Rebels, tallying a season-low 39 yards on 1.5 yards per attempt. Against a Razorbacks defense that allows an SEC-worst 4.37 yards per carry, Roberts will look to bounce back while Hardy will aim to find his footing.

Starting quarterback Austin Simmons will be playing the Razorbacks for the first time in his career as a starter, looking to bounce back after his first performance with zero touchdowns of the season, throwing for 339 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception.

Arkansas enters the game with feasible momentum, having earned its first SEC win of the season by beating Vanderbilt 31-21 and falling just 24-17 to then-No. 15 Tennessee the week before. Missouri, if it plays up to its standard, should take care of business against the lowly Razorbacks, but the SEC is the conference of ultimate parity — upsets are all but abnormal.

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