FAYETTEVILLE — Having Jamal Roberts in the backfield at Missouri was already going to take a strong gameplan from Arkansas defensive coordinator Ron Roberts to slow down.

Prior to Missouri's bye week, Roberts was pacing the nation in rushing with 167 carries for 867 yards and eight touchdowns this season.

With the potential return of Ahmad Hardy, who suffered gunshot wound to his leg on May 10 that required emergency surgery, is an extra development the Razorbacks could possibly need to prepare for. However, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz did say that his star running back could need up to go through two weeks of practice prior to him seeing snaps this season.

Coming into the season, Hardy was considered a Heisman Trophy candidate after rushing for 1,649 yards, and a Tigers single-season record 16 touchdowns in 2025. Missouri led the SEC and finished No. 8 nationally in rushing yards per game last season at 228.3 rush yards.

In last year's 31-17 victory at Razorback Stadium, Hardy recorded 27 carries for 157 yards and a touchdown against Arkansas to keep the Battle Line Rivalry trophy in Columbia for the fourth straight season.

There's no telling what Roberts will say during his weekly meeting with the media on Tuesday, but it should at least provide some insight on what plan he will implement to slow the Tigers rushing attack.

Prior to the Tennessee game, Volunteers running back DeSean Bishop was humming after a 220-yard, three touchdown performance against Auburn. That led to an all-time Roberts quote about what he'd do if the Razorbacks gave up another 200 yards on the ground for a third time in four games.

“My God, I’m gonna throw up in the press box if they rush for 200 (yards),” Roberts said. "Whether he (UT head coach Josh Heupel) is gonna make it a spread ball game and throw it, I don’t know. Or is he going to make it 12 personnel and try to punch us in the face? He’s got a really good defense. I get it. And that very well could be his plan. If it is, let’s go slug it out. I think it’s the strength of our defense.”

How Arkansas plans to slow Missouri's rushing attack down is going to be something people marvel about if the defense is able to accomplish that feat. The Razorbacks did slow Tennessee to nearly 80 yards below their average in Fayetteville, keeping the game very close into the fourth quarter, but ultimately fell to the Vols 24-17.

Vibes around the football complex remained high as Arkansas ended its 14-game SEC losing streak against Vanderbilt on Oct. 17 with a 31-21 victory in Nashville.

Does that have any coorelation to what will be seen on the field come Saturday at Razorback Stadium? It's entirely possible the Razorbacks come in with extra juice and continue to improve on a run defense that now ranks in the 70s nationally by giving up over 144 yards per game and 19 touchdowns on the season.

With back-to-back 200-yard performances, Missouri was riding high into Oxford prior to the bye week, but fell 31-3 as Ole Miss held the Tigers to just 39 total yards. That might've been a one-off night where Drinkwitz's team was just a tad off because the Rebels tout the No. 94 ranked run defense.

Stopping Missouri's run game is just one of the two phases offensively Arkansas will have to figure how to stop. Making the Tigers one dimensional is a major key to victory as the Austin Simmons-led offense averages 268.3 yards per game, 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions in his first year with the program.

Arkansas currently ranks No. 75 nationally in pass coverage by giving up 213 yards per game, six touchdowns and forced five interceptions. The secondary has improved, but this might be the best passing offense the Razorbacks have seen this season and that's not to be taken lightly.

Opposing quarterbacks are completing 64.7% of their passes against the Razorback defense (No. 104, FBS), 8.1 yards per attempt (No. 119, FBS) but have created opportunities by forcing turnovers with four interceptions in the past two games.

Keep in mind that Arkansas has taken advantage of freshmen quarterbacks George MacInytre and Jared Curtis, which could inflate those numbers. Wins are wins no matter how anyone wants to chalk it up, but with this being a rivalry game and fans probably showing up well in support this could be a trap game for Missouri.

The Tigers will have a murderer's row worth of games in November against Texas, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma left to go. Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield isn't treating this game any different than he has despite the rivalry game logo.

"Yeah, listen the Battle Line state trophy, right? I heard it’s over 4-feet tall. Is that correct? And I know their head coach [Eli Drinkwitz] is from this great state. Coached against him in ’24, actually," Silverfield said. "But, listen, for us, it’s … I know a lot of fans said this is a big one. They're all big, and for us, it's a nameless, faceless opponent with so much respect to them.

"They're a ranked team coming here, and the opportunity for us to go out there and perform at our highest level. And listen, I love traditions. I love rivalry games. I love all those things, and I will continue to talk to our team about some of those things because I don't ever want that to get lost. But out there during practice, we're not sitting there thinking about a trophy. We're just out there seeing how we can improve and go out there and be our best."

Arkansas will host No. 23 Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 31 with kickoff set for 6:45 p.m. CT and will air on the SEC Network.