Rapid Reaction: Ahmad Hardy goes nuclear as Mizzou runs over Mississippi State
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Missouri completed 8 passes and scored 49 points.
Yes, the Tigers recorded 2 defensive touchdowns in their 49-27 win over Mississippi State on Saturday, but that wasn’t the story of the game.
Ahmad Hardy was.
On 25 carries, Hardy authored one of the best rushing performances in SEC history. His first touch of the game went for 34 yards. He then had runs of 22, 43, and 72 yards. When it was all said and done, Hardy, who joined the 1,000-yard rushing club in Week 11, piled up 300 yards and 3 scores on the ground. In the process, he moved into the top 5 on Mizzou’s single-season rushing list.
He needs 281 yards to tie Cody Schrader for the program’s all-time record. And Mizzou (7-3, 3-3 SEC) has 3 games still to play this season.
Hardy’s 300 rushing yards were the sixth-most in SEC history. The record, shared by Vanderbilt’s Frank Mordecai (1978) and Arkansas’s Darren McFadden (2007) is 321.
Redirect a couple of Jamal Roberts’ carries to Hardy, and he might have broken it. Roberts finished with 45 rushing yards on 9 attempts. He also had 2 explosive runs.
Mississippi State couldn’t stop Mizzou’s rushing attack regardless of who was leading it. The Tigers averaged 14 yards per carry in the first quarter. They averaged 10 per carry in the third and 8.1 in the fourth. Factoring out sacks and a couple of kneel-downs, Mizzou ran 35 times for 350 yards.
Because of the explosiveness of the Mizzou offense, the Tigers only made 1 red zone trip all day. MSU quarterback Blake Shapen was picked off twice, but the Tigers returned both for touchdowns.
After nearly upsetting Texas and then knocking off Arkansas to end its conference losing streak, Mississippi State (5-6, 1-6 SEC) has been blown out in back-to-back weeks. The Bulldogs need a win in the Egg Bowl to reach bowl eligibility.
Mizzou closes out the regular season with road games at Oklahoma and Arkansas
Missouri 49, Mississippi State 27
Here’s the Mizzou-Mississippi State box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Matt Zollers vs Blake Shapen
A statistical breakdown of how Missouri quarterback Matt Zollers compared to Mississippi State’s Blake Shapen:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
