Mizzou running back Ahmad Hardy (29) runs in open space versus Mississippi State on Nov. 15 at Memorial Stadium. Hardy is 68 yards short of surpassing Mizzou’s single-season rushing-yard record.
Mizzou running back Ahmad Hardy (29) runs in open space versus Mississippi State on Nov. 15 at Memorial Stadium. Hardy is 68 yards short of surpassing Mizzou’s single-season rushing-yard record.
Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy was on the cusp of becoming just the fourth unanimous All-American in program history Thursday. Only Danny LaRose (1960), Roger Wehrli (1968) and Michael Sam (2013) have previously earned that honor as a Tiger.
Hardy racked up first-team selections from the American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Football Foundation, Associated Press and Sporting News with an ascendant sophomore campaign, but he didn’t receive the final accolade to make it unanimous. The Football Writers Association of America gave him second-team honors behind Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love out of the St. Louis area and Ole Miss’s Kewan Lacy, a former Tiger.
With four of the five major selectors naming him to a first team, Hardy is still considered a consensus All-American. That makes him the 15th Mizzou player to receive that recognition.
“I know All-American is supposed to be the best players all around or something like that,” Hardy said Tuesday. “I feel like it’s pretty good.”
Hardy has rushed for the second-most yards in the country (1,560), the fourth-most touchdowns (16) and leads all players in rushing yards per game (130.0). A staggering 1,111 of those yards have come after contact, according to Pro Football Focus.
He still has an opportunity to make more history for Missouri.
If Hardy can record 68 rushing yards in the Gator Bowl against Virginia on Dec. 27 in Jacksonville, Florida, he will be the new single-season rushing record-holder at the school. Cody Schrader holds the current mark after totalling 1,627 yards in the 2023 season.
“I actually didn’t know that,” Hardy said. “I had one of those goals in my mind when I came here, but I didn’t say it. But hopefully I get it.”
From the tiny town of Oma, Mississippi, Hardy still has two years of eligibility left after this season, though he will be eligible for the NFL Draft after next season.
It seems unlikely that Hardy will join the array of players planning to leave Missouri in the transfer portal that opens Jan. 2. He alleviated those worries with an answer to a question this week.
“Not yet,” Hardy said on whether other schools have called. “When I was in the portal, they (were), but I think they know I’m a Tiger.”
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