“Good luck”: Mizzou defenders don’t envy those trying to tackle Ahmad Hardy

After Ahmad Hardy posted a 1,300-yard true-freshman season that included more than 1,000 yards after contact, it was an expectation that he would be hard to tackle.

But was it all a mirage as he moved up to face SEC competition instead of Sun Belt competition?

Tiger defenders don’t think so.

“He’s definitely tough to bring down, you know? I mean, he’s one of those guys where, I mean, he’s not looking to go down. He’s not looking to be that guy, and he’s not afraid of contact either,” seventh-year safety Jalen Catalan said. “So, and then you’ve got to come with a mindset to hit him. … I’m glad he’s on my team, and I can’t wait to see him run that ball on the 28th.”

Hardy enters his sophomore season as the expected bell cow back of the Missouri Tigers. And even the coaching staff had seen enough to know he is going to live up to his billing as one of the toughest backs in college football.

“Held Ahmad Hardy out. … He proved to us in the last scrimmage, we don’t have to tackle him live again,” Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz said after the Tigers’ second scrimmage.

Comparisons

Drinkwitz has seen a lot of running backs in his time as a coach. And Catalon has seen a lot in his first six years of college football. That experience even includes four years in the SEC as he started his career at Arkansas before transferring to Texas for one year and UNLV for another.

And in all that time, has Catalon seen a back he could compare Hardy to?

“I think Hardy’s own, own person, you know?” Catalon said. “I mean, at the end of the day, he does have tangibles that you can look and say, you might go here, (or) go there. But at the end of day, I like him, because he has his own form of running, you know? And I think it, it makes him unique. So I’m glad everybody gets a chance to see that come August 28.”

Hardy will have some work to do for the Tiger offense starting with the season opener against Central Arkansas on Thursday.

With a quarterback competition and an offensive line that was fluctuating through fall camp, the Tiger run game is going to be a key.

And expectations are high for the Freshman All-American who earned a spot on the watchlist for both the Maxwell Award (awarded to the “most outstanding player in the sport”) and the Doak Walker Award (presented to the “Nation’s premiere running back). 

With all that hype, it’s easy to see why Tiger defenders aren’t envious of those trying to stop him.

“I haven’t got that chance yet,” Missouri linebacker Khalil Jacobs said of trying to tackle the 5-foot-10, 206-pound back. “But … he definitely makes the first guy miss. So good luck to everybody that’s trying to do that.”

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