Of all the Missouri Tigers’ transfers, no one has made a jump like Cody Schrader
For players that transfer between Power Five programs, the uniform changes but not necessarily the demands or routines. Missouri has plenty of those with newcomers coming from schools like Florida, Oregon, Clemson, Oklahoma State and others.
But switching from Division II to Division I is something else entirely.
Ask Missouri running back Cody Schrader.
Last season, he led Division II in rushing, rumbling for 2,074 yards at Truman State. After scoring a touchdown in every game and posting five 200-yard rushing games, Schrader decided to measure himself at college football’s highest level.
Missouri took him as a walk-on, and there he was, starting at running back in his first game last Thursday against Louisiana Tech. The first touch didn’t go well, an eight-yard loss on a reception.
But things got better as the game continued. On the first snap of the second quarter, with the Tigers trailing 3-0, Schrader took a handoff, followed excellent blocking and scooted into the end zone for Mizzou’s first points of the season.
“That was an amazing moment,” Schrader said.
Schrader finished with 70 rushing yards on a team-best 17 attempts on a night when he and Nate Peat handled the bulk of rushing game.
The starting assignment was a bit of a surprise.
“I never really knew,” he said. “We were just rotating. They said, ‘Hey Cody, go out there,’ on the first drive it was just a cool moment.”
Schrader is listed at 5-foot-9, 217 pounds. He put up huge numbers at Lutheran South in St. Louis but wasn’t highly recruited. Coaches throughout his path lauded his work ethic and his efforts presented this opportunity. The work and the adjustment to Division I hasn’t stopped.
For instance, Schrader has a full time position coach at Mizzou. Curtis Luper handles the running backs. At Truman, that task was handled by a graduate assistant.
Also, there’s the matter of film study. College athletes can get bleary-eyed breaking down the opponents and their own game. That wasn’t the case at Truman.
“It’s a completely different world and I’m very grateful for it,” Schrader said. “In high school and at Truman it was more just hand the ball to Cody. Now, I’m learning how actually to play running back, how to catch the ball out of the backfield, how to get open, recognize certain blitzes.”
Schrader is about to experience another Division I first, a road trip. The Tigers visit Kansas State in the marquee non-conference game for both teams. It’s the first trip to Manhattan, Kansas for the program in more than a decade, but the veterans have been through the drill.
Truman also went on road trips. But Schrader remembers 16 hours on the bus over the weekend.
“With no AC,” Schrader said. “Definitely team bonding.”
Before his debut, Schrader, unsure what to expect, leaned on wide receiver Barrett Banister for advice. Banister is in his sixth season and also came to Missouri as a walk-on. Don’t let the moment get too big and take it all in, Banister told him. “It’s just a football game at the end of the day,” Banister said.
But one last week that Schrader will never forget.