Ahmad Hardy, the transfer running back from UL Monroe, has already left a large impact on the Missouri Football Program and the country as just a sophomore. But there is one area where he isn’t getting enough credit. On Dec. 13th in New York City, esteemed members of the College Football community will meet to crown the winner of the Heisman Trophy, but Hardy will most likely not be in attendance. To most, he is just seen as an afterthought — which isn’t what he deserves.
After transferring to the program for this season, in just ten games, in which he shares snaps with fellow sophomore Jamal Roberts, Hardy has rushed for 1,346 yards. Over just 197 carries, which translates to just under seven yards per rush, which puts him at the best spot in the country. In 2023, another transfer, legend Cody Shrader rushed for 1,627 yards. If we are thinking predictively, including Missouri’s bowl game, Hardy is on pace to break the single season record by over 122 yards, and would finish the season with 1749.8 yards — which is mind boggling. That’s on the Missouri level, but even if we take a macro view, Hardy is still at the top.
Leading all of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the biggest division in College Football, Hardy has 200 yards more than the next Power Four conference, that being Kewan Lacy who transferred to Ole Miss from Missouri. From here I have laid out the statistics, but one of the key factors in this argument is not how running backs are being overlooked, but how Hardy is.
According to the FanDuel Sportsbook, as of Nov. 20th, the player with the 7th best odds to win the Heisman is another running back, Jeremiyah Love from Notre Dame, a CBC High School Alum. The question I ask is: Why does Love get +3500 odds (Meaning on a wager of 100 dollars, if Love would win the Heisman, you would receive a payout of 3500 dollars) to win College Football’s biggest honor, but Ahmad Hardy who is the better running back, is nowhere to be seen.
Comparing the two rushers, Love has twenty less carries than Hardy, but still, his average rush per carry is .4 yards lower. In addition, Hardy has one more touchdown, and over 200 more yards.
But, why is Hardy overlooked? It’s simple: because he plays for Missouri. Jeremiyah Love plays for Notre Dame. While I’m not saying that if Notre Dame and Missouri played today, Missouri would win, I know that Hardy’s path to his rushing performance this season has not been easier than Love’s. During this season, in both Notre Dame and Missouri’s 10 games, Missouri has faced, on average, the 66th ranked rush defense, but Notre Dame, 68.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me calling for Ahmad Hardy to be a Heisman favorite, but I’m just trying to get more people to see what they are missing out on: A transfer running back, who is doing things that haven’t been done before at the University of Missouri. Don’t miss out, and make sure that you watch Missouri’s game this weekend against Oklahoma and stay tuned to see how far Ahmad Hardy goes.
