Missouri’s 2025 season fell apart for a lot of reasons, but one of the quieter culprits was the kicking game.
After Blake Craig went down with a torn ACL early in the year, the Tigers simply stopped trusting the long ball, and it showed.
A Painful Season, A Valuable Lesson
Craig entered his second year as Missouri’s starter coming off a strong redshirt freshman season, where he made 70.6 percent of his field goals and connected on six of nine attempts from beyond 50 yards.
The 2025 opener against Central Arkansas looked like more of the same. Craig nailed all three extra points, then added a 49-yard field goal and a 55-yarder. Those two kicks would end up being the longest Missouri made all season.
Shortly after that game, Craig tore his ACL while trying to make a tackle on a kickoff. He missed the rest of the year, and Missouri’s kicking suffered without him. The Tigers attempted just two field goals of 50 yards or more the entire season, and their kickers combined for only three makes from 40 yards or beyond, the fewest of any team in the SEC.
Despite the tough road back, Craig said he has no regrets. He explained that watching from the sideline taught him to appreciate the game more and made him a better teammate and a better person overall. He said he would go through the injury again if it meant coming out with that same perspective.
New Stadium, New Coach, Fresh Confidence
Now fully healthy, Craig heads into 2026 with a few changes around him. Memorial Stadium’s north end zone construction is nearly finished, closing the bowl and altering wind patterns in a way Craig believes will actually help his accuracy.
He also has a new position coach in John Papuchis, who previously worked with All-American kickers at Florida State and Nebraska. Craig said Papuchis brings high energy and high standards, which he welcomes as he works his way back into game shape.
With Craig healthy and confident that he can kick from any distance, Missouri’s coaching staff appears optimistic about the specialists unit heading into the season.
If his recovery holds, the long field goals that disappeared from Missouri’s playbook in 2025 could quickly become a weapon again.
