Hochman: Brady Cook isn’t cookin’. Mizzou quarterback doesn’t look like 2023 self
COLUMBIA,Mo. — Brady Cook doesn't look like Brady Cook.
Yes, sure, Cook and the No. 7 Missouri Tigers won Saturday at home — albeit in two overtimes — to Vanderbilt, 30-27. Great. They defeated a team they were favored to beat by 181⁄2 points. But the bigger issue coming out of the win is the Tigers' quarterback, who missed deep passes (yet again), struggled on key passes, looked tentative at times and didn't have the explosiveness in his legs to escape for run yards.
No, I haven't lost faith in Cook. Guy already is a Mizzou legend and his passion to win — and to improve — is at an elite level.
But this isn't going to cut it.
Heck, it barely cut it against the perennial worst team in the Southeastern Conference.
"I'm a little disappointed in how I performed, how the offense performed, straight up," Cook said. "But at the end of the day, we found a way to win."
The best thing after what happened this Saturday is that Mizzou (4-0) doesn't have a game next Saturday. The bye week gives the Tigers two full weeks to rediscover the offensive cohesion that led to 11 wins in 2023. These are a crucial two weeks of practice, preparation and soul-searching. And, depending on how Mizzou reacts, crucial two weeks in Mizzou history. This is the year, folks. This is the year Mizzou is expected to make the College Football Playoff. And they sure don't look like a CFP team right now.
Coach Eli Drinkwitz, to me, said a lot by not saying a lot. In the postgame press conference, asked about Cook's day, the often-talkative coach said the very minimum: "He was 23 for 37 for 226 yards. And two touchdowns. You know, obviously the three sacks are an issue. You know, efficient. He's 1-0 in the SEC."
Cook, to be fair, wasn't the only Mizzou player who was somewhere between "off" and "awful" on Saturday. Mizzou played the first half as if it was still waking up. But if an offensive lineman is off, maybe they can hide that; if the quarterback is off, it's hard to hide ... even if your running back rushes for 199 yards.
That actually happened — Nate Noel broke tackle after tackle and broke off the best game of his life.
"Without him, we don't win that game," Cook said.
Cook just looked unsure with some of his decisions, even when he had a couple extra seconds in the pocket. Not on every play, but on enough plays that it was an issue. His timing wasn't there, time and again: a first-quarter deep ball to Theo Wease Jr., a terribly short pass on third-and-6 from the 6, and a couple deeper balls to Luther Burden III, who did get at least a hand on them in coverage, which raises a question about his route and intensity in those occasions.
And goodness, there was a third-down pass to Jamal Roberts that was so off, the fans booed (for the second time).
This game reminded me of the 2023 win against Middle Tennessee State. They won, yes. But just 23-19 against, again, Middle Tennessee State. I asked Cook about that day, and he said Saturday felt the same way.
"I actually thought about that," said Cook, the St. Louis native. "I think everybody knows we can. We can be a lot better. We need to put ourselves in better situations, and at the end of the day, we just need to go execute the game plan and score more points."
The good news is that Mizzou responded from that Middle Tennessee State game with a big win against Kansas State ... and by the Cotton Bowl, Cook was the savior of the Tigers, who would defeat Ohio State for an 11th win.
But the reality is that on Saturday against Vanderbilt, Cook's offense scored just 20 points in regulation. Cook, yes, threw a nifty touchdown pass to Burden in the first overtime. But in the second overtime, Cook had the ball on third down with five yards to go from the 20-yard-line.
Cook tried to throw a touchdown pass. He fired an overthrown ball to Burden in double coverage. Wease, meanwhile, was wide open, per Mizzou's radio broadcast.
"I thought our best opportunity was to give (Burden) a chance," Cook said.
Mizzou settled for a field goal, but then Vanderbilt's kicker missed his field goal attempt to end the game.
"I don't think we did well in overtime," Drinkwitz said. "Kicked another field goal in the red zone. We've got to take a hard look at what we're doing in the red area and figure out why we can't sustain drives and why we're not able to convert third downs. So that's on me as the head football coach, and I've got to do better job finding answers. ...
"We got to go take a hard look at the Missouri Tigers, and we got to figure out why we're not executing the third downs the red area, why we're not kicking field goals, why we're missing tackles, why we're busting assignments. ... What I'm concerned about is our team enjoying a win and being 4-0, which is as good as we can be record wise, but we're not as good as we can be play wise. And we're going to have to settle in on that and figure out what we got to do to improve. It starts with me, and it starts with that being the message to the team."
But on the field, it starts with Cook.
Cook must do better.
Cook knows it.
Sports columnist
