You would think Ahmad Hardy would be the subject of today’s post, right? I thought so.
To be fair to Mr. Hardy, our resident Doak Walker semifinalist, he had one hell of a game. Three-hundred yards? Pretty good! But there was something about his dominance on Saturday night that felt a little clinical. You know what I mean. Both of his big touchdown runs saw him cut back around the defense and, quite honestly, burn past them with a speed I didn’t know he possessed. Sure, he had a few other bruiser
runs, but Hardy’s execution on Saturday night was about as good as you could hope. He followed his blockers, got low, spun out of trouble, reserved the turbo boosters… it’s about as good a performance you’ll see out of a running back.
The problem is, that’s not disrespect. That’s dominance. And while that’s great, we need to turn our attention elsewhere. Fortunately, picking out this week’s play wasn’t too hard, and it came courtesy of a fellow sophomore.
Category 1: How difficult/impressive was the play? (0-20)
Category 2: How hard did the opposition try? (0-20)
Category 3: How much did his teammates help? (0-5)
Category 4: What did the player do immediately afterward? (0-20)
Category 5: How did everyone not involved react? (0-15)
Category 6: Is there a backstory/context to consider? (0-20)
And, courtesy of local boy Joshua Manning, here’s your Disrespectful Play Index play of the week.
How difficult/impressive was the play? (0-20)
I think this play is sneakily great because of how the throw doesn’t lead Manning into any sort of momentum. He doesn’t necessarily come down flat-footed, but Manning immediately finds himself within striking distance of a few Bulldog defenders with good angles on him.
One of the things I love about this YAC is how Manning immediately gets north-to-south. We’ve seen a tendency in his runs to over-complicate things, but he plants well here and drives forward to cut off the angles the defenders have on him. No. 10 might have been able to get to him a little quicker, but Manning’s strength means you have to get him square to wrap him up. Even a quicker read might have ended in disaster for our guy… and let’s be clear, it kind of ends in disaster anyway.
And, honestly, this is where things get delicious from a disrespectful point of view. When you’ve got three defenders closing in on you, it’s one thing to juke around them. It’s another to send them cascading into one another like big, floppy bowling pins.
No. 3 bends in a way that I can’t recall a human body ever bending before, while No. 10 summersaults over No. 1, who becomes the first of three defenders to belly flop on the turf, and the first of two to get a cleat to the face.
So yeah. Great run with a lot of slap stickery that would make the Three Stooges proud.
18/20
How hard did the opposition try? (0-20)
Give credit to Jeff Lebby. He might be one Egg Bowl from getting canned, but his players don’t have any quit in them. While Manning danced around tacklers, they made sure he didn’t go by totally untouched… just moderately so. The turf, though? Might need to do some repairs there.
That’s a whole lot of damage for them to combine for maybe one-fifth of a tackle attempt? You have to respect putting your body on the line for the cause though, excellent work gentlemen. I hope they have good chiropractors in Starkville.
20/20
How much did his teammates help?
You know how much we appreciate a solo effort. No blocks. No screens. Just juking and driving.
5/5
What did the player do immediately afterward?
This feeds into the next category, but I found Manning’s linkup with Olugbode after the touchdown quite wholesome. That is, if the NIL money is right, the future of the Mizzou receiver room, and Saturday night showed us what that could look like when all pistons are firing. Manning finds Olugbode afterward and the two share a moment that simultaneously made me laugh – c’mon Donovan, what’s the dance, my friend – and also gave me the warm and fuzzies. Underclassmen receivers, unite!
14/20
How did everyone not involved react? (0-15)
I’m docking Olugbode here for that goofy ass dance, but again, I was heartened by the fact that he immediately went to his partner in the receiver room and gave him his flowers. Or whatever that move is supposed to be.
12/15
Is there a backstory/context to consider? (0-20)
Not exactly, though it was nice to see Manning get back in the end zone. His sophomore year hasn’t been the breakout that I think some of us might have hoped, but you can still see all the promise in the world when he gets the ball. There was something sort of poetic that all five Mizzou touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball came courtesy of underclassmen. The future of this offense is ridiculously bright if the staff can keep them all together.
9/20
Joshua Manning’s touchdown catch and YAC Attack was 78 percent disrespectful to Mississippi State, their clangy old cowbells and, in a roundabout way, the turf on Faurot Field.
