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COLUMBIA, Mo. — There was a silky, smooth quality to Missouri’s offense during the Tigers’ 61-6 win over Central Arkansas on Thursday.

From 49-yard deep-ball touchdowns to 31-yard quarterback scrambles into the end zone — and seven offensive touchdowns to just one punt — there was a buttery richness to the way Mizzou moved the ball with new presumptive starting quarterback Beau Pribula.

And like a fresh tub of butter, it was spreadable.

Six different players ran the ball at least once. Nine players caught passes.

“To be a good offense, you’ve got to be able to spread the ball around,� MU coach Eli Drinkwitz said.

His team sure did. Just look at its two 99-yard touchdown drives.

The first one suffered an immediate setback when an explosive run by tailback Jamal Roberts was negated by a holding penalty — the play being called back serving as a harsher penalty than the few inches of backward movement that half the distance to the goal meant, given how close to the end zone the offense already was. But then the offense chugged into form.

Roberts for 4 yards, then 3 for some breathing room. Pribula ran for 11 yards to move the chains on third down. Pribula found wideout Joshua Manning for three completions in a row: 12 yards, 13 yards, 17 yards. Then a couple of targets for tight end Brett Norfleet. Two passes to receiver Marquis Johnson got the Tigers to the goal line. Running back Ahmad Hardy couldn’t break through. A tush-push dialed up for Pribula didn’t work either. But on third and goal, he found Norfleet wide open along the back of the end zone.

Fifteen plays, 99 yards, in 3:30 — wrapping up with just five seconds left in the first half.

The second such scoring drive took even less time.

Pribula got out of the shadow of the goalposts with an 11-yard completion to Johnson. Roberts churned forward for a 9-yard gain. Then on a third and 1, Hardy broke out for a 23-yarder. After a pass to Manning, Pribula found Johnson over the top of the defense for the second time Thursday. The first had been on his first pass of the game, for a 49-yard touchdown, and this one for 44 yards came just short of the goal line. One play later, though, Pribula scampered to his left for a 1-yard score.

Skim over the names and numbers there. All three of Mizzou’s new wave of leading wideouts were involved. Coleman finished with six catches, Johnson five, Manning four. Pribula making plays on the ground and through the air — looking very much the dual-threat quarterback the Tigers need. Both Hardy and Roberts getting touches and finding some juice.

Those chunk plays weren’t happening during one first-half lull, so Drinkwitz got on the headset to talk to his assistants.

“I just said, ‘Guys, we’ve got to figure out how to be more explosive,’ � he said. “… I thought that freed us up. We hit a couple of runs there, Ahmad hit a run, but then we were vertically dialed in our play calls.�

Perhaps shaded by the reality that Missouri could trot just about any of its players against a Football Championship Subdivision team like Central Arkansas and get a win, the spread of the offense stretched beyond those core pieces.

Freshman running back Marquise Davis punched in a touchdown. Fellow running back Tavorus Jones looked lively on a kick return that was called back due to a penalty. Freshman wideout Donovan Olugbode caught all four of his targets, and those came with the first-team offense. Wildcard tight end Jude James turned a short completion into a 40-yard touchdown, tight-roping down the sideline.

And, as Drinkwitz pointed out, “there’s still a lot of guys left.�

Wideouts like Daniel Blood and Xavier Loyd, who ran routes and are likely to contribute in some capacity this season, weren’t targeted. Volume for Hardy and Roberts (10 and eight carries, respectively) would probably look different in a more competitive game.

In that sense, Mizzou only scratched the surface of its offense while putting up 61 points — a tally helped by linebacker Dante McClellan’s 83-yard interception returned for a touchdown, in fairness.

That kind of showing from the offense was a clear bright spot on a night when injuries to quarterback Sam Horn and kicker Blake Craig muddied the enthusiasm.

Both are expected to be significant, and Drinkwitz told the SEC Network's morning show on Friday that he suspects Horn will miss an "extended period of time."

From a vibes-y standpoint, an offensive positive was needed.

“It kind of takes me back to the year of ’23,� Johnson said. “… It means a lot, to me, that everyone’s getting a little taste of the field, everyone’s getting a taste of the football. Everyone’s happy. Nobody’s being selfish. Nobody is on the sidelines being upset.�

Read between the lines there and perhaps there’s a suggestion, backed up by memory, that the offense wasn’t up to par in 2024. Maybe this is the foundation for something different, something reminiscent of the season that put Mizzou in a position to think an explosive, dynamic offense is possible.

One game against an FCS opponent does not guarantee a dominant offense will take the field during the next 11 games. But the Tigers’ performance Thursday certainly suggests a certain caliber of offense is possible for this season.