Tyler Badie rushes for over 200 yards again, is having historic season for Missouri
Running back Tyler Badie is nearing a historic mark for the Missouri Tigers.
With his performance in a 31-28 win over South Carolina on Saturday, Badie, a senior, has 1,239 rushing yards this season, which ranks fifth in program history — behind quarterback Brad Smith (1,406 yards in 2003 and 1,301 in 2005) and running back Joe Moore (1,312 in 1969) and running back and current No. 1 on the list Devin West (1,578 in 1998).
Badie is just 339 yards away from West’s all-time record. Doing so is well within Badie’s reach with two regular-season games plus a possible bowl game left.
“That dude’s tough as nails,” Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “I mean, if there’s a better running back in our conference, I can’t wait to see them.”
When Mizzou has needed a spark on offense throughout the season, it has turned to running Badie. That remained true against the Gamecocks.
Badie finished with 209 rushing yards and one touchdowns on 34 carries, along with 22 receiving yards on five catches.
It was his fourth game with at least 200 rushing yards this season, which is the most in program history for a season and for a career at Missouri.
“At the end of the day, my biggest thing is just getting to a bowl game for our seniors and just finishing the season strong right now,” Badie said.
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Tigers holding onto a 24-14 lead, Badie took the handoff from quarterback Connor Bazelak, found a hole to his right and dashed 19 yards into the end zone.
“I believe in my actions and I believe in myself,” Badie said. “So every day I step out there, I know I trust myself, I know what I can do, I know what I’m capable of, and I’m gonna show it to you guys.”
Later in the quarter, Bazelak threw his second interception of the game into the arms of linebacker Brad Johnson. The costly mistake put South Carolina in the red zone at the 20-yard line with 5:16 remaining. The Gamecocks eventually scored, making it a three point game at 31-28 late.
At that point, Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz elected to take Bazelak out of the game and put in backup Brady Cook. Badie came through with a huge gain to keep the game in the Tigers’ hands, rushing 30 yards up the middle on second-and-4 to put them at the South Carolina 36-yard line. Mizzou was able to pretty much run out the clock from there.
“I want the ball in my hands,” Badie said. “If that’s the way that it’s gonna go, if that’s the way I’m gonna help my team, that’s what I’m gonna do, you know what I mean. At the end of the day, I’m just gonna keep running the ball. And if Coach leans on me, I’mma answer to him and just be there for everybody.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 9:21 PM.
