(Photo credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images)

Ahmad Hardy rushed for 250 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries Saturday as No. 25 Missouri hammered visiting Louisiana 52-10 in Columbia.

Hardy scored on runs of 7, 71 and 7 yards for the Tigers (3-0), while quarterback Beau Pribula threw for 174 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, two through the air. Backup running back Marquise Davis added 113 yards and a score on 20 carries as Missouri outgained the Ragin' Cajuns 606-121.

Pribula completed 15 of 22 passes with an interception before leaving in the third quarter. Kevin Coleman was his favorite target, hauling in eight passes for 84 yards. The Tigers finished with 32 first downs, converting 9 of 13 third downs.

Most of Louisiana's offense came on one play, an 84-yard touchdown run in the second quarter by Zylan Perry with 3:27 left. The Ragin' Cajuns (1-2) used two quarterbacks and neither was effective. Starter Daniel Beale hit 1 of 8 passes for 5 yards and backup Lunch Winfield was 1 of 6 for minus 1 yard.

Hardy's first 7-yard touchdown run initiated the scoring with 8:26 left in the first quarter, capping a 10-play drive that lasted more than five minutes. Pribula hit Marquis Johnson for an 11-yard scoring strike on the next possession.

Pribula hit paydirt on a 14-yard run 42 seconds into the second quarter, followed by his 39-yard touchdown pass to running back Jamal Roberts. After Tony Sterner got Louisiana on the board with a 34-yard field goal, Hardy made it 35-3 with 5:41 left in the half on his 71-yard scoring jaunt.

Following Perry's touchdown run, Missouri mounted a late drive and Robert Meyer converted a 21-yard field goal with five seconds remaining for a 38-10 halftime lead.

Hardy tacked on his third score on a 7-yard run at with 10:02 left in the third quarter and Davis barged in on a 2-yard run with 7:02 left in the game.

The game was moved up three hours due to forecast high temperatures in the mid 90s. Temperature at the 12:02 p.m. kickoff was 89 degrees.

--Field Level Media