Mizzou, Cody Schrader prove they’re real deal in win over Tennessee
By Josh Yourish
The Missouri Tigers finished last season at 6-7 and that team’s greatest accomplishment was giving Georgia a bit of a scare in a 26-22 loss. This year’s Missouri team lost to Georgia 30-21 in Week 10, but in Week 11, the Tigers proved that their hot start was real.
Missouri established itself in the top tier of the SEC with an emphatic 36-7 home win over No. 13 Tennessee. At No. 12, the 8-2 Tigers are already ranked the highest they have ever been in College Football Playoff history. No. 14 in the AP Poll is the highest ranking since 2014, and they’ll certainly be on the rise in both polls.
It wasn’t just Eli Drinkwitz’s team that’s making Missouri history, on Saturday, his star running back made history of his own. Cody Schrader carried the ball 35 times for 205 yards and a touchdown. That’s a career day on the ground for any running back, but what he did through the air truly made it a day to remember.
Schrader caught five passes for 116 yards. That’s 321 all-purpose yards for the senior. He was just the 10th player in FBS history with 200+ rushing yards and 100+ receiving yards in a single game.
Cody Schrader is the 10th player in FBS history with 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in a game.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 11, 2023
He is the 3rd player to do it vs an AP-ranked opponent, joining Devin Neal last season vs Oklahoma State and Christian McCaffrey in 2015 vs USC. pic.twitter.com/WbBX4oSfER
The Tigers already have two losses, first two LSU, in a shootout, then the Week 10 loss to Georgia. This breakout season for Drinkwitz, his fourth at Missouri, might be coming a year too soon, with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams next season.
Still, Missouri deserves mention as one of the very best teams in the country, and the Tigers should climb into the top 10 of the CFP rankings this week, especially with No. 10 Penn State losing early in the day.
The team that this game helps the most is Georgia. The Bulldogs have held the top spot in the AP Poll, but the CFP committee has not respected their schedule thus far. A win over Ole Miss on Saturday night will likely give Kirby Smart’s team enough of a boost to pass Ohio State, but Missouri’s performance against Tennessee makes the Week 10 win even more impressive.
