Missouri’s season opener is here, and the Tigers will be taking the field without the one player who defined their offense a year ago.
Running back Ahmad Hardy, coming off a first-team All-American season, will not play against Arkansas Pine Bluff as he continues recovering from a gunshot wound he suffered back in May.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz gave the update himself during a fall camp recap over the weekend, and he didn’t sugarcoat the uncertainty.
He said there’s no real timetable, that it comes down to how Hardy’s body responds day to day, and that the medical staff is being cautious rather than rushing him back onto a field where, as Drinkwitz put it, people are trying to hit him at full speed.
A Tough Blow to a Loaded Backfield
Hardy’s absence is a big deal in Columbia. He led the entire SEC in rushing last season with 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns, numbers that earned him consensus All-American honors and a finalist spot for the Doak Walker Award.
He was also tabbed as a preseason All-American and preseason All-SEC pick heading into this year, so the expectations were sky high before the injury news even became public.
Drinkwitz said Hardy was medically cleared from the gunshot wound back at SEC Media Days in July, and at that point the estimate for a return to football activity was somewhere between five and eight weeks.
That window has since come and gone without a clear green light, and as of the latest camp update, Hardy is still doing rehab work on the side rather than practicing with the team.
In the meantime, the load shifts to Jamal Roberts, who was Hardy’s backup last season and ran for 753 yards and six scores of his own.
Roberts was voted a team captain by his teammates this offseason, and Drinkwitz has praised how he’s responded to the added responsibility. Transfers Xai’Shaun Edwards and Malae Fonoti are expected to round out the depth behind him while Hardy works his way back.
There’s no indication anywhere in actual reporting that Hardy is weighing a departure from Missouri or that his camp is shopping him elsewhere. If anything, recent coverage suggests the opposite, with Hardy previously shutting down any talk of tampering interest from other programs and reaffirming he considers himself a Tiger.
For now, the story in Columbia isn’t about Hardy’s future loyalty. It’s about health, patience, and whether Missouri’s offense can hold steady in the SEC without its best playmaker.
Drinkwitz has made clear the team isn’t going to gamble with Hardy’s long-term well-being just to rush him back for one game, even a marquee one. Fans will be watching closely for updates as the Tigers move into conference play later this month.
