Ahmad Hardy's rise: From lightly recruited Mississippi prospect to SEC sensation for No. 20 Missouri

After transferring to Missouri in the offseason, the 5-foot-10, 205-pound running back has emerged as the talk of the SEC, and perhaps all of college football. He's gone over 100 yards rushing in six straight games, dating back to his freshman season at Louisiana-Monroe, including a 250-yard effort against Louisiana and an arguably more brilliant 138-yard performance last week against South Carolina, when he led the No. 20 Tigers to a 29-20 conference-opening win.

Hardy is the nation's second-leading rusher with 600 yards through his first four games, 24 yards behind UT-San Antonio's Robert Henry, who has had the benefit of beating up on the likes of Texas State and Incarnate Word.

“I didn't think he was going to be this good. Let's be honest,” said Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, whose team faces UMass this weekend. “The dude is running through guys like he's a dump truck. He's a Clydesdale among a bunch of fillies. It's unbelievable.”

Hardy's highlights against South Carolina seemed to be endless.

Early in the second half, after the Gamecocks had taken a 17-12 lead, he broke no fewer than six tackles on a 38-yard rumble to start the drive. Five plays later, on first-and-goal at the 5-yard line, he appeared to be stood up at the line of scrimmage — both of his feet were off the ground — and managed to spin off the pile and into the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown.

“I didn't even know I was off the ground until I started spinning and my legs started kicking,” Hardy said.

“I've never seen that on tape before,” Drinkwitz added.

Who has?

"You watch anybody, whether it's Central Arkansas or Kansas or Louisiana, he's really good at contact balance and he can break tackles and he runs physical," South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said after the game. “He was the Sunbelt freshman of the year last year for a reason. He's been a great addition to them in the portal.”

Hard to believe Hardy was so lightly recruited out of Lawrence County High School in Monticello, Mississippi. He wasn't even a top-50 prospect in the state, and Louisiana-Monroe turned out to be his best option for college ball.

Then he ran for 1,351 yards as a freshman, the 12th-best total nationally, and the big-time schools suddenly came calling.

He wound up choosing Missouri, where Drinkwitz has developed quite a running back factory. Two years ago, Cody Schrader set the school record with 1,627 yards rushing — he's now with the Jacksonville Jaguars — and last year, Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll ran for nearly 1,500 yards in a quintessential thunder-and-lightning pairing.

Hardy has shared some of the load this season, too, making his numbers even more impressive. He only had 22 carries against the Gamecocks because Jamal Roberts also was effective; he ran 13 times for 76 yards and a score.

“It's just a mindset we've got. We're a tough team. We're going to run it, and when they know we're going to run it, we're just going to execute,” Hardy said. “We know what's expected. We expect to win, and that's what we're doing.”

Just like they have been for years. The Tigers have quietly been to four consecutive bowl games, and they've had at least 10 wins each of the last two seasons, when they spent time inside the top-10 of the AP Top 25 college football poll.

But they lost longtime quarterback Brady Cook to graduation last year, along with Noel and Carroll from the backfield. Left tackle Armand Membou was drafted sixth overall by the New York Jets, standout wide receiver Luther Burden III was picked in Round 2 by the Chicago Bears, and right tackle Marcus Bryant selected in the seventh round by the New England Patriots.

So expectations were tempered for the Tigers this season. They weren't even ranked in the preseason Top 25.

Yet the outlook has changed. Along with Penn State transfer Beau Pribula at quarterback, and several other transfers who are making their mark, Hardy has Missouri rolling along through a six-game season-opening homestand.

Next up is UMass, then comes a week off, before a potentially pivotal game against No. 17 Alabama on Oct. 11.

“We don't look down the road. We don't look behind us,” Pribula said. “It's one week at a time.”

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