COLUMBIA, MO. • Before new Missouri football coach Barry Odom chose Josh Heupel to run his offense, he needed to believe that the former Oklahoma coordinator was committed to building a credible rushing attack. At Oklahoma, Heupel’s system was rooted in the lightning-paced, no-huddle, shotgun attack that’s popular across college football with core elements to deliver thunder, too.
Under Heupel’s direction the Sooners led the Big 12 in rushing in 2013 based out of his power-spread style of offense. That’s what Odom envisioned for Mizzou when he hired Heupel in December.
Message delivered.
“For us, here at Missouri, we’ve got to be able to run the football,” Heupel said last month.