Four Down Territory
Welcome to Four Down Territory.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. What does Cody Schrader’s historical performance remind you of?
There's something different about seeing someone around you put in an insane amount of work that makes you stop and think, how are they doing this? Whether it be someone at your job or your significant other and all the responsibilities they may be able to handle at once. You may find yourself admiring them.
When Missouri running back Cody Schrader ran the ball 35 times for 205 yards and a touchdown and also had five receptions for 116 receiving yards in the same game against the No. 13 team in the country with a top-25 defense, even I admired the performance. How could you not look at that and not think to yourself, what this guy is doing is incredible?
In that game alone, he became the first Missouri player since Devin West in 1998 to amass over 300 scrimmage yards in a game, the first Mizzou player with 90 rushing yards and 90 receiving yards in a game (he did that in the first half), the first player with 100 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game and the first player in Southeastern Conference history to record 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game.
There’s something special about realizing halfway through a performance that you’re watching history be made.
For me, I knew Schrader was having a big day, but it wasn’t until he had that 35-yard run with about 20 seconds left in the first half that I started thinking he was going to have some type of historical day.
Any team that gets the ball back with that little time left inside their own red zone, isn’t realistically expecting to be able to score. They may try a play or two, but how many times do we see a big play happen to set up a field goal in that situation? It’s not uncommon or anything, but what usually happens is a team runs a play and gets little to no yards and then takes a knee on the next play and halftime begins.
The Tigers were able to go into halftime with a 13-7 lead after getting a field goal, and that started with Schrader's big run. At halftime, Schrader had 105 rushing yards and 93 yards receiving.
Entering the game, he had 75 receiving yards combined in the first nine games of the season.
The rushing yards are impressive. Anytime a back can cross the century mark it's a good day. Anytime they can cross it before the second half it's a great day. But when a back can do that and put up almost 100 yards of receiving in the same half, that's uncharted waters.
That's when the press box started trying to find obscure Mizzou stats to see where Schrader ranked in various categories.
When I think about last Saturday's game it takes me back to Oct. 2, 2016.
It was a Sunday. I was 17 years old working at Penn Station in Charlotte, and luckily my store had two TVs. So, people could watch the games.
Of course, every Panthers game is going to be shown and my friend at the time was a huge Panthers fan. Keep in mind, this was months after the Panthers had just lost to the Broncos in the Super Bowl. So, to most Charlotteans, the games were treated the same way people in Kansas and Missouri treat Chiefs games now.
Well, on that October day they were playing the Atlanta Falcons and my favorite receiver of this generation, Julio Jones, torched the Panthers for 12 receptions, 300 yards and a touchdown.
He had four catches for 94 yards in the first quarter. That’s when I turned to my friend and laughed because I knew it was going to be a long day for his team, and it was. The Falcons won 48-33, and Jones became the sixth receiver in history to have 300 receiving yards in a game in NFL history.
When I was in the press box at Faurot Field on Saturday. I had the same thoughts about the Vols as I did for the Falcons.
It was a butt-kicking and Schrader was leading the charge. It was one of the craziest performances I've ever watched in real-time.
2. Two-Liter Drink(witz) best win.
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