Good read by BenFRed of StlToday...
OLUMBIA, Mo. — Which one was your favorite?
Was it the 31-yard lightning bolt that broke whatever will Tennessee had left and set the stage for Cody Schrader to be lifted atop his teammate’s shoulders while they chanted his name into the night?
Was it after Tennessee’s costly fumble, when on his 33rd carry, Schrader turned what looked like a run stuffed at the line of scrimmage into a Big Orange pile carried for a gain of 8 yards?
Was it earlier in the fourth quarter, when Mizzou’s little engine that could — coach Eli Drinkwitz prefers ‘Little Superman’ — who stands at a generously listed 5 feet 9 and 215 pounds, was absolutely leveled by 6-foot-2, 340-pound defensive lineman Elijah Simmons, then got up as fast as his tackler did, then shrugged?
“Crud,” Drinkwitz said, “there was one tackle where he got smoked and got up talking trash. The dude has the biggest chip on his shoulder. I’m fortunate, fortunate, fortunate to coach him.”
You have 35 rushing attempts (for 205 yards and one touchdown) and five receptions (for 116 more yards, 86 of which came after the catch) to choose from when deciding which Schrader moment was most backbreaking to the Volunteers in No. 16 Mizzou’s 36-7 dismantling of No. 14 Tennessee here Saturday.
Missouri running back Cody Schrader, center, spins his way into the end zone on a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of a game on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, in Columbia, Mo. Schrader ran for 205 yards and had 116 yards in receptions in MU's 36-7 victory.
David Carson, Post-Dispatch
The MVP can select all of them, considering he earned each one.
“This,” Schrader said, “is an unbelievable feeling. You guys know my story by now. Seeing where I came from, having a team and a brotherhood, you can feel that real love in the locker room. I’m extremely blessed to be a part of this team and I’ll never forget it the rest of my life. That’s my No. 1 moment. In my entire life.”
I’ll pick two.
Both came in the final moments of a tight first half, before the blowout, when trailing Tennessee looked like a fighter eager to hear the sounding of halftime’s bell. Schrader played the part of the better conditioned opponent closing in for two more damaging body blows. He wasn’t tired. Not physically. Not mentally.
Football logic says one of the best times to take a shot deep down the field is after a sudden, positive change goes your team’s way. Often this is a pass to a receiver trying to break vertically toward the end zone. But after Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright fumbled away the ball with 20 seconds left in the second quarter, Tigers offensive coordinator Kirby Moore turned to Mizzou’s best deep threat in this game and increasingly so this season. It’s the former walk-on running back who has churned his way from St. Louis’ Lutheran South High, to Division II Truman State, to Mizzou’s backfield star, to the SEC’s leading rusher and all of the accolades — dark horse Heisman hype? — that can come with such standing.
A simple handoff to Schrader became a 35-yard avalanche that ended with Tennessee players gassed and Schrader raising the roof to Marching Mizzou. No pass needed. And then, two plays later, Schrader gashed the Volunteers for 9 more yards right up the gut, looked up and checked the scoreboard to see the seconds were ticking away, then went down on his own — headfirst, always headfirst — to set up Harrison Mevis for his 46-yard field goal that sent the Tigers into intermission ahead by six points instead of just three.
That Mevis field goal, which came after Schrader’s lone touchdown eliminated Tennessee’s only lead, concluded a statement drive that spoke to Mizzou wanting to give Tennessee four quarters of hell. The Tigers finished the game having scored 33 unanswered points. Rocky Sock.
“What a headsie play,” Drinkwitz said of Schrader’s clock preservation. “Here’s the deal. The way he runs is, you are going to have to sacrifice your body to tackle him. Because he’s sacrificing his. It’s like a big game of chicken — and he ain’t no chicken.”
Has an offensive player been flagged for targeting? What about unnecessary roughness? Tennessee fans had to be wondering, and at one point melted down on social media about a Schrader block that was so precise it left a Volunteer writhing in pain. They claimed he had been punched.
If there is an embodiment of how Mizzou is 8-2, undefeated immediately after losses and still squarely in the mix for a New Year’s Six bowl game — the Citrus Bowl had representatives in attendance Saturday and would be a strong consolation prize if not — you won’t find a better example than Schrader. Like he chips away at opponents early in games before jack-hammering big chunks of yardage against them later, he’s getting stronger as he goes.
And if there was an example of how the Tigers took this game personally after back-to-back losses to Tennessee in which former Tigers offensive coordinator turned Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel ran up the score as much as possible, it was Schrader cleaving again and again into a Tennessee defensive line he had grown sick and tired of hearing praised.
Here’s how dominant Schrader was in this win. Mizzou’s hard-earned opportunity to taunt Tennessee for a change was mostly left alone as Drinkwitz and players heaped praise on the team captain who recently was deservingly named to the watch list for the Burlsworth Trophy, which goes to the most outstanding player who started his career as a walk-on.
The success story of the SEC’s most unstoppable surprise running back — prove me wrong — will continue to grow after a nationwide CBS television audience got a taste. Schrader has become one of the most heartwarming transfer-portal wins ever produced. He’s cemented his Mizzou legacy and on Saturday joined the ranks of single-season 1,000 yard rushers (1,124).
He has a fresh place in SEC history after becoming the first conference player to rush for 200-plus yards and total 100-plus receiving yards in one game. By halftime, he had become the only Mizzou player to have more than 90 of each in one game. Only Mizzou’s silky, smooth Devin West (333 in 1998) has produced more yards from scrimmage than Schrader’s 321, which came against what had been, statistically, the SEC’s best rushing defense. Tennessee had allowed an average of only 97.3 rushing yards per game. Schrader had 105 at halftime.
One week after becoming the first player in the past three seasons to rush for 100 yards against Georgia, Schrader chewed through Volunteers like they were Booche’s burgers. He stunned them with a game-opening 38-yard reception and set up Luther Burden’s fourth-quarter touchdown reception by baiting defenders into a play-action fake. He never was down on the ground for more than a moment, often rising to his cleats before his tacklers found their feet, bouncing up faster than one of those bottom-weighted punching bags you can hit and hit again, only to see it rise.
Teammates called him “iconic” and “incredible” as they marveled at his grit, strength and skill. His coach praised him for exemplifying the most important team value — compete — that he preaches to his program. His opponents could do nothing but keep trying to bring him down on a day in which the only thing that ever stopped him was the clock.
He’s still going, and so is his team.
OLUMBIA, Mo. — Which one was your favorite?
Was it the 31-yard lightning bolt that broke whatever will Tennessee had left and set the stage for Cody Schrader to be lifted atop his teammate’s shoulders while they chanted his name into the night?
Was it after Tennessee’s costly fumble, when on his 33rd carry, Schrader turned what looked like a run stuffed at the line of scrimmage into a Big Orange pile carried for a gain of 8 yards?
Was it earlier in the fourth quarter, when Mizzou’s little engine that could — coach Eli Drinkwitz prefers ‘Little Superman’ — who stands at a generously listed 5 feet 9 and 215 pounds, was absolutely leveled by 6-foot-2, 340-pound defensive lineman Elijah Simmons, then got up as fast as his tackler did, then shrugged?
“Crud,” Drinkwitz said, “there was one tackle where he got smoked and got up talking trash. The dude has the biggest chip on his shoulder. I’m fortunate, fortunate, fortunate to coach him.”
You have 35 rushing attempts (for 205 yards and one touchdown) and five receptions (for 116 more yards, 86 of which came after the catch) to choose from when deciding which Schrader moment was most backbreaking to the Volunteers in No. 16 Mizzou’s 36-7 dismantling of No. 14 Tennessee here Saturday.
Missouri running back Cody Schrader, center, spins his way into the end zone on a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of a game on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, in Columbia, Mo. Schrader ran for 205 yards and had 116 yards in receptions in MU's 36-7 victory.
David Carson, Post-Dispatch
The MVP can select all of them, considering he earned each one.
“This,” Schrader said, “is an unbelievable feeling. You guys know my story by now. Seeing where I came from, having a team and a brotherhood, you can feel that real love in the locker room. I’m extremely blessed to be a part of this team and I’ll never forget it the rest of my life. That’s my No. 1 moment. In my entire life.”
I’ll pick two.
Both came in the final moments of a tight first half, before the blowout, when trailing Tennessee looked like a fighter eager to hear the sounding of halftime’s bell. Schrader played the part of the better conditioned opponent closing in for two more damaging body blows. He wasn’t tired. Not physically. Not mentally.
Football logic says one of the best times to take a shot deep down the field is after a sudden, positive change goes your team’s way. Often this is a pass to a receiver trying to break vertically toward the end zone. But after Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright fumbled away the ball with 20 seconds left in the second quarter, Tigers offensive coordinator Kirby Moore turned to Mizzou’s best deep threat in this game and increasingly so this season. It’s the former walk-on running back who has churned his way from St. Louis’ Lutheran South High, to Division II Truman State, to Mizzou’s backfield star, to the SEC’s leading rusher and all of the accolades — dark horse Heisman hype? — that can come with such standing.
A simple handoff to Schrader became a 35-yard avalanche that ended with Tennessee players gassed and Schrader raising the roof to Marching Mizzou. No pass needed. And then, two plays later, Schrader gashed the Volunteers for 9 more yards right up the gut, looked up and checked the scoreboard to see the seconds were ticking away, then went down on his own — headfirst, always headfirst — to set up Harrison Mevis for his 46-yard field goal that sent the Tigers into intermission ahead by six points instead of just three.
That Mevis field goal, which came after Schrader’s lone touchdown eliminated Tennessee’s only lead, concluded a statement drive that spoke to Mizzou wanting to give Tennessee four quarters of hell. The Tigers finished the game having scored 33 unanswered points. Rocky Sock.
“What a headsie play,” Drinkwitz said of Schrader’s clock preservation. “Here’s the deal. The way he runs is, you are going to have to sacrifice your body to tackle him. Because he’s sacrificing his. It’s like a big game of chicken — and he ain’t no chicken.”
Has an offensive player been flagged for targeting? What about unnecessary roughness? Tennessee fans had to be wondering, and at one point melted down on social media about a Schrader block that was so precise it left a Volunteer writhing in pain. They claimed he had been punched.
If there is an embodiment of how Mizzou is 8-2, undefeated immediately after losses and still squarely in the mix for a New Year’s Six bowl game — the Citrus Bowl had representatives in attendance Saturday and would be a strong consolation prize if not — you won’t find a better example than Schrader. Like he chips away at opponents early in games before jack-hammering big chunks of yardage against them later, he’s getting stronger as he goes.
And if there was an example of how the Tigers took this game personally after back-to-back losses to Tennessee in which former Tigers offensive coordinator turned Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel ran up the score as much as possible, it was Schrader cleaving again and again into a Tennessee defensive line he had grown sick and tired of hearing praised.
Here’s how dominant Schrader was in this win. Mizzou’s hard-earned opportunity to taunt Tennessee for a change was mostly left alone as Drinkwitz and players heaped praise on the team captain who recently was deservingly named to the watch list for the Burlsworth Trophy, which goes to the most outstanding player who started his career as a walk-on.
The success story of the SEC’s most unstoppable surprise running back — prove me wrong — will continue to grow after a nationwide CBS television audience got a taste. Schrader has become one of the most heartwarming transfer-portal wins ever produced. He’s cemented his Mizzou legacy and on Saturday joined the ranks of single-season 1,000 yard rushers (1,124).
He has a fresh place in SEC history after becoming the first conference player to rush for 200-plus yards and total 100-plus receiving yards in one game. By halftime, he had become the only Mizzou player to have more than 90 of each in one game. Only Mizzou’s silky, smooth Devin West (333 in 1998) has produced more yards from scrimmage than Schrader’s 321, which came against what had been, statistically, the SEC’s best rushing defense. Tennessee had allowed an average of only 97.3 rushing yards per game. Schrader had 105 at halftime.
One week after becoming the first player in the past three seasons to rush for 100 yards against Georgia, Schrader chewed through Volunteers like they were Booche’s burgers. He stunned them with a game-opening 38-yard reception and set up Luther Burden’s fourth-quarter touchdown reception by baiting defenders into a play-action fake. He never was down on the ground for more than a moment, often rising to his cleats before his tacklers found their feet, bouncing up faster than one of those bottom-weighted punching bags you can hit and hit again, only to see it rise.
Teammates called him “iconic” and “incredible” as they marveled at his grit, strength and skill. His coach praised him for exemplifying the most important team value — compete — that he preaches to his program. His opponents could do nothing but keep trying to bring him down on a day in which the only thing that ever stopped him was the clock.
He’s still going, and so is his team.
