If you have been consuming preseason SEC coverage as college football鈥檚 kickoff nears, you already know it鈥檚 being made quite clear there is a Cody Schrader-sized hole in Missouri鈥檚 backfield.
A Tigers offense that entered last season with a lot of questions 鈥 quarterback, offensive coordinator, offensive line, etc. 鈥 has a lot fewer TBDs coming off an 11-win season that secured quarterback Brady Cook鈥檚 role as starter, signaled coordinator Kirby Moore鈥檚 arrival as a dynamic SEC play-caller and entrenched Luther Burden III as one of if not the conference鈥檚 best receiver.
Great.
But who spearheads the ground game now?
And please don鈥檛 say Cook, who can run but needs to be smart with the hits he takes.
Look, I understand why the glossy pages of preseason magazines are fretting. Schrader was a great player and great leader. But this not-so-glossy newspaper print has some advice.
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Don鈥檛 worry too much about this topic.
There鈥檚 one name that should calm concerns. It doesn鈥檛 belong to any Mizzou running back. It belongs to the man who coaches all of them.
All veteran Tigers running backs coach Curtis Luper has done since he signed on with Mizzou is recruit talented ball carriers, figure out who among them has earned the chance to lead the rushing attack, then help the star who emerges exceed even the most optimistic expectations.
I don鈥檛 expect that trend to stop now, no offense to Schrader.
Luper was an original Eli Drinkwitz staff hire, brought on before Drinkwitz鈥檚 first season in 2020. Between then and now, he鈥檚 accomplished something that doesn鈥檛 get nearly enough national attention. Since 2020, Mizzou has produced three of the SEC鈥檚 top 20 single-season rushing performances by a running back. Good, right? The context makes it even more impressive.
Mizzou owns the No. 1 spot on that list, thanks to Schrader鈥檚 1,627-yard domination last season. Mizzou also claims the No. 2 spot on the list, thanks to Tyler Badie鈥檚 1,604-yard total from 2021. That makes Badie and Schrader the only two SEC backs within the past four years to surpass 1,600 rushing yards in a season. And appearing at No. 18 despite the fact the pandemic-impacted 2020 season was limited to 10 games is Larry Rountree III鈥檚 972-yard season at Mizzou.
Mizzou is the only SEC program with three different running backs in the top 20. Georgia didn鈥檛 do it. Alabama didn鈥檛 do it. Mizzou did.
Here鈥檚 another number to know: Schrader鈥檚 big season was the 18th in which Luper has helped produce a 1,000-plus-yard rusher in a long career that has included noteworthy stops at places like TCU, Auburn and Oklahoma State. It鈥檚 not a coincidence, folks.
鈥淟et鈥檚 make it look easy,鈥 Luper told me during a conversation this offseason. 鈥淎nd keep doing it.鈥
Slowly but surely, word has spread that Mizzou is a great place for running backs who aren鈥檛 afraid to compete. Schrader went from Division II transfer and Mizzou walk-on to finishing in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy voting. He answered the concerns about who would replace Badie, just like Badie answered the concerns about who would replace Rountree. Now, it鈥檚 someone else鈥檚 turn, and the talent jostling to become the next answer keeps improving under Luper鈥檚 careful watch.
Mizzou鈥檚 growing status as a running back destination helped Drinkwitz and Luper land four-star freshman Kewan Lacy out of Texas, where he was once clocked running a 10.4 second 100-meter dash. Hungry veteran transfers like Marcus Carroll (Georgia State) and Nate Noel (Appalachian State) arrive eager to prove they can, like Schrader, make the SEC jump.
Carroll ran for 1,350 yards and 13 touchdowns last season and will impose a punishing 5-foot-10, 220-pound frame on tacklers. Noel ran outside zone at App State, a style very similar to Mizzou鈥檚.
Returning Tigers should not be overlooked, either. St. Mary鈥檚 standout Jamal Roberts and Tavorus Jones will get their shots.
Expect to see multiple backs early. If someone runs away with it, Luper will be more than happy to let him run.
Remember, he didn鈥檛 have a sure thing at running back at this point last season. Schrader was an option, not the star. Now some are wondering if Mizzou can rebound from Schrader鈥檚 departure. Same question was asked about Badie. And Rountree.
As long as Luper is at Mizzou 鈥 and Drinkwitz must continue to make sure Luper is at Mizzou 鈥 I鈥檒l press pause on fretting too much.