Missouri Tigers College Football Pregame Quote, 12/26/2023

Q. (Question about Offensive Coordinator Kirby Moore.)

RB CODY SCHRADER: Not just him, the whole offensive line. Their improvement has been insane, being straight blunt. They really worked hard this year and Kirby came in with Coach B (Brandon Jones) and the whole coalition. And everybody on the offensive staff has come together. And really, I think they are meshing well, which has kind of shown in the team, the confidence in us.

Coach Jones is really leading that and doing a great job along with Connor Tollison, leading that offensive line. Kirby is the silent killer. You don’t see much of him, but all he cares about is the ball. And that bleeds into our team.

Q. You’ve given a lot of praise to your offensive line all season. Can you give us a little bit of an inside look into what your relationship is like with them and how strong and how much work ethic they’ve had to be able to show the improvements that they have this year?

RB CODY SCHRADER: I think they took last year personally. I don’t think any of us were happy with how we performed last year, and executed. When Coach [Brandon] Jones came in, and everybody else in our little group I call the coalition, they worked hard this summer, this offseason. And I made it a priority of mine to get to know those guys closer. Before every play, after every touchdown, dap them up, celebrate with them, make them feel they’re involved, because they don’t get the praise, don’t get the shine. But our offense wouldn’t work without them.

I’m so proud of them. Those guys took it personally: Javon Foster, X (Xavier Johnson), being there for my last game, they’re excited to go out there and put the icing on top.

Q. What stands out to you about Ohio State’s defense?

RB CODY SCHRADER: They play smash-mouth football. They hit. They’re very detail-oriented. They don’t have a high pressure, and they really — that D line is special. I think they’re a really good group, really dominant group. They play behind their four-man rush. It’s going to be a challenge for us.

Q. What has been your emphasis or points of focus so far?

RB CODY SCHRADER: Execution, play fast, be really good in our execution. I’m really confident in the game plan, the preparation we’ve had. We’ve had a month to prepare. I feel confident, I feel good. Now it’s just up to us to execute.

Q. Last year you won six games, I think it was. This year you’re giving everybody the business. What’s the change? You guys are really dialed in. You guys are very physical.

RB CODY SCHRADER: I think the biggest change I’ve seen is the closeness of our brotherhood and the trust that we’ve built. I think last year there was still maybe a little distrust. We had a lot of new players from the portal. It was kind of a newer team.

We didn’t really gel as well and we had other whole offseason together to bond, build that relationship. I think at the end of the day when you love your brother next to you, you’re going to fight and go to war at a different level. I think that’s what we did.

Q. You came on as a walk-on at a small college. Now you’re the talk. You gave Tennessee the business, a 100-yard receiving game, a 200-yard rushing game. What do you think about that for this game? Think you can dial that up for this game?

RB CODY SCHRADER: I let that be the past. I’m just focused on this opportunity. Every game’s different. They’re going to present different things that we haven’t seen before. It’s up to us to go out and execute.

Q. I wanted to ask you, when you think back to those days at Truman, did you ever think you would be playing in a game like this on a stage like this?

RB CODY SCHRADER: No, I haven’t. It’s been surreal. It’s more than I ever thought my career would be. I’m just extremely blessed, grateful for this opportunity and now I’m just ready to go and win this football game.