Cody Schrader went from Missouri walk-on to SEC's best running back - ESPN

When he wasn't running roughshod through Division II defenses at Truman State, Cody Schrader had no interest in watching other games on television in his spare time.

It didn't matter who was playing, be it teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC or anybody else on college football's biggest stages.

«I didn't pay attention to any of the big-time Division I football games just because I always saw myself being able to play at that level and play in the biggest games even if nobody else did,» Schrader told ESPN. «I was mad about it. I wouldn't watch, couldn't watch.»

Now fans across the country are watching Schrader on those big stages, and defenses on those «big-time Division I football» teams are struggling to stop the 5-foot-9, 214-pound dynamo. In his second season at Missouri after transferring from Truman State as a walk-on, Schrader leads all FBS players with an average of 129.4 rushing yards per game.

His 1,499 rushing yards is 365 more than the closest SEC player this season, and he became the first player in SEC history to rush for 200 yards (205) and have 100 receiving yards (116) in the same game in Missouri's 36-7 pummeling of Tennessee.

Schrader has been one of college football's most captivating stories, one that will reach a climax Friday night when No. 9 Missouri takes on No. 7 Ohio State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (8 p.m. ET, ESPN and the ESPN App).

«If you know Cody, I don't think he'd change anything about the way his career has unfolded.» said Gregg Nesbitt, Schrader's coach at Truman State. «The ability has been there all along, and then there's the work ethic, which you can't duplicate, and I'm not talking about [just] a great competitor, but an elite competitor. And for some guys at that level,