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1) Against my better judgment, we're going to start by talking about the quarterback. I'm going to say up front, this is not a defense of his play. Brady Cook has to be better than he's been. I know it, you know it, he knows it, his coach knows it. Let's just start with that as the baseline. If you're planning to respond here with "he is not playing well and here's why" we're stipulating that off the top. He's not playing well so far. But this isn't about that.

I'm doing something that I probably shouldn't do. I'm addressing what is in all likelihood a very small, but very vocal minority. I do not think most rational people believe Brady Cook should be benched. But here's the thing: He's not going to be so any energy used on wanting it or talking about it is a complete waste of said energy. It. Is. Not. Happening.

Also, it should not happen. Here's the mistake all of us who are not in the locker room make: We take all emotion and human nature out of it. We just look at the 60 minutes on the field every week and we say "I think this guy played better than that guy so bench that guy and play this guy." (With quarterbacks what we actually say is "I don't like the way that guy played. Play the other guy because I have no idea if he's actually better, I just haven't seen him play poorly yet" but that's a different story). And I can already hear the responses: "Of course we judge it on the play on the field, what else matters?"

What matters is the locker room and the team. The head coach has to make sure he's got all 120 guys, plus the staff, pulling in the same direction. If that's not happening, you don't win. The fans don't matter in that assessment. The media doesn't matter in that assessment. The parents and the girlfriends of the kids don't matter in that assessment. Everyone in that locker room has to be on the same page or you don't win. Sure, there are some exceptions of teams that are good enough to overcome it, but those teams generally have an overwhelming talent advantage and I don't think that''s the case for Missouri in most of the rest of the games this season. So not only do the players have to be talented and play well, but they also have to form a cohesive team.

If you bench a guy who has gone through what Cook has gone through to get to this point, who was the leader of the team that reinvigorated this program by winning 11 games and finishing 8th in the country, who is a two-time captain who has the overwhelming support of everybody in that locker room, what does that say to every other kid on the team? It tells them the coach doesn't have their backs. It tells them they're one bad night from the same fate. And, again, I can already see people replying "Good. I thought every job was supposed to be open dadgummit!" Sure, it's a good thing to say. And technically every job is open. But not every week.

Brady Cook earned the starting job by sitting and waiting his turn for two years. Then, when the starter got hurt, he watched a guy who was behind him on the depth chart, who was never going to be a starting quarterback here, start a game on the road at the No. 1 team in the country. Then, he saw his coach go out and woo every transfer with two arms. Then, he fought off the four-star apple of everyone's eye and won the job again. Then he won 11 games and everyone fell in love with him. Now, he's the quarterback of a 4-0 team that sits No. 11 in the country...and there are people who want to see what the backup can do. It's complete and utter lunacy.

Cook has to play better. That's not being debated. He said it Saturday night. Missouri knows it. But as of today, he's won 15 of his last 17 starts and he's 100% earned the right to be the starting quarterback for every snap he is healthy enough to take. If this team goes to the playoff and does everything you want it to do, Cook has earned the right to lead them there. If this team falls short of those goals, Cook has earned the right to be out there and go down with the ship. He's the quarterback of this team for better or worse going forward. You can agree or disagree with that. If you want to spend your time and energy arguing against it, feel free. It's pointless.

2) I want to compare the attitude toward Cook to that toward another Missouri quarterback. I thought about this yesterday and I find it interesting.

In 2013, Missouri's starter went down. A redshirt freshman came in in the second half of a week five game at Georgia. He threw three passes, completed them all for 23 yards and ran three times for 12 yards. Missouri won the game, thanks largely to a trick-play touchdown on which a wide receiver threw the pass. Over the next four games, with James Franklin hurt, Maty Mauk completed 57/114 passes for 910 yards, 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He ran 31 times for 165 yards and another score. He led Missouri to four consecutive wins and kept the train on the tracks until Franklin returned in week 11. He was the starting quarterback for two wins that sent Missouri to the SEC title game, the loss to Auburn and the Cotton Bowl win over Oklahoma State. There was a full-throated roar during that Cotton Bowl for Gary Pinkel to play Mauk because Franklin was struggling. The coach stuck with his starting quarterback who had gone through a ton over the previous three years to get to this point and Franklin ended up helping Missouri to a 41-31 win that cemented a top ten national finish.

In 2014, Franklin was gone and Mauk was the starter. He completed 53.4% of his passes for 2648 yards, 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He ran for 373 yards and two scores. Missouri lost to Indiana in week four and was shut out 34-0 by Georgia in week six in a game in which Mauk went 9/21 with four interceptions. The Tigers wouldn't lose again until the SEC title game and Mauk would cap his career with an MVP performance against Minnesota in the Citrus Bowl.

At that point in time, Maty Mauk's career record as a starter was 15-3. That stats weren't overly impressive. He had accounted for 4321 yards of total offense and 39 touchdowns in 18 games. He had a really good running game and a great defense and he did what he needed to do for his team to win football games. The wheels all came off in 2015, but to that point, Missouri fans were in love with Maty Mauk. And I completely understand why. A decade later, there are still many fans who will put Mauk above some of the quarterbacks who followed him (including one who set the SEC record for single-season touchdown passes) because he won a lot of games. Some of them were a direct result of his play, quite a few of them weren't. But because of the team's record when he was the starting quarterback, his career is elevated in the minds of many Missouri fans.

You can argue whether that elevation is justified or not, but it happens. Now contrast that with what we're looking at with Brady Cook. The record is exactly the same over the last 18 games as Mauk's was. The numbers are quite a bit better: 66.8% completion rate, 4263 yards passing, 4679 yards of total offense, 37 total touchdowns, 7 interceptions. But some want to have the conversation about whether Drew Pyne should get a shot. Point 1 here was that it's an irrelevant conversation; Point 2 should show you why. Personally, I think Brady Cook is a better quarterback than Maty Mauk was, but that's not even the point. I find it interesting that one was continually propped up by the fanbase while the other has been continually beat up. Maybe it's simply the passage of time. But I don't remember anybody, even after the four-interception shutout loss to Georgia, calling for Mauk's job. They shouldn't have then and they shouldn't be now.

I dont mean like maybe significantly or whatever but just like dealing with some stuff that is disrupting his normal flow in the game sometimes. Obviously he was limping towards the end of the Vandy game (before he went beast mode on a good first down QB keeper run), but was just thinking maybe part of it is that hes just off on his timing because of some injury of some sort. He has the confidence I think to lead the team obviously and the trust with the receivers, its jsut a little off. So, im just curious if hes got a little something, probably on top of maybe coming out this season putting too much pressure on himself to throw 400 yard and 3 TDs a game.

Anyone have a RV parking pass available for the OU game?

Thinking back to last year, was Mizzou a better team in weeks 3-6 when Brady was slinging the ball all over the place or later in the season when we were pounding the ball with Shrader? Cook was great for a stretch and a big passing game is pretty, but I think the team was in much better shape when it was pounding the rock and using a nice, effective passing game to compliment the ground game.

This year’s team is no different. The line looks better at run blocking, and Noel has what it takes to be impressive with Carrol supplementing. A strong run game opens up the pass, and also shortens the games and gives the defense less time on the field. One could assume that this would limit the exposure to broken plays from the secondary.

It looks to me like Moore and Drink are tying to make this a pass first offense, which seems a bit backward. Time to embrace the true identity.

I don’t think all of his misses were entirely his fault. Yeah, it comes down to him ultimately, but if you watch the snap and hold they were inconsistent all day. Our holder was having to look snaps into his body, which isn’t ideal.

That whole unit needs to be better.

Trip to Fayetteville in 2025 will be spicy.

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While it would be nice to have Illinois beat Penn State in Happy Valley, and for Louisville to end the Notre Dame dream, this is really the best game of the year so far. What say you?

The latest on a lot of big names over the weekend:

After another fun and frustrating weekend of football, I qued up the the College Football Enquirer and it got me to thinking... we have been so focused on Mizzou, the playoffs, NIL and whatnot that we seem to be cruising through this season looking at things from the 50 foot level. Yes, Mizzou is frustrating; we expected more production form the offense at this point, Drink is making rookie mistakes (or covering for them), and the meat of the schedule is coming up...

But pull up to 30,000 for a few minutes and listen to the opening of the Football Enquirer... I think the guys make some great observations.

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So far, this has been an amazingly fun season. It is popular to bag on the B12 here... but that KSU v BYU game (and accompanying fan reaction) was a blast, Colorado v Baylor was another fun one (as were their fans!), Sanders and Sanders and Hunter are like watching All American on the CW (Dramatic coach, QB with skill and a mouth, and a two-way who is really a two-way and who like to hit and take a hit)! Then you have drama from the rest of the nation: Nubs getting beat by the Illini in OT (hope is lost once more!). Tennessee beating 0u, but not in the "we're the best team in the nation" style many expected. USC v Michigan was a fantastic game. OSU almost coming back against Utah in the last quarter, Buffalo beating N Illinois and Bowling Green v aTm were all fun. Don't forget kU losing to WVa in the last second (watch the highlights... the euphoria turned to disaster for kU is satisfying). Stanford v Syracuse was amazing, and how about James Madison destroying whatever that was North Carolina tried to put on the field was something that we could not have expected before the game. And there was so much more!

We get lost in NIL and playoffs and rankings and we lose sight of the big picture.. this is a FANTASTIC season, and as much as I hate to admit it, it has a lot to do with the PORTAL... you read that right, the portal. Sure, NIL is great for the top teams, and the Marshall coach had some fun with it last week... as did the tOSU players:

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Post Game Coach Huff had to say: "Actually, one of the (Ohio State) players on the way off asked, 'You got any biscuits?' " said Huff. He didn't have any biscuits, but he had plenty of praise. "If they can stay healthy," he mused about Ohio State's potential before trailing off. "Actually, I don't even know if they need to stay healthy. They can probably just put their fifth guy in."

But the NIL is not everything. The portal is where the difference is being made, even for these teams that don't have fantastic NIL. You look at some of these G level teams and lower level P teams and they are getting players from the portal to replace the guys who go to the top teams for NIL. And they are having success with it in ways we did not expect. They know what these kids can do instead of taking a gamble on a recruit for their level... and they seem to be seeing greater success for themselves, and for the fans. And maybe, just maybe this portends well for the sport in general, especially for those who can't play in the NIL big leagues. (Oh, and we have seen NIL rich schools blow it too... so money is not everything).

As an older guy who likes the dream about "how it was," I was really down on the future of NCAA football given all the money. And for those focused on the playoffs being the only thing worth shooting for (which I am afraid many on here may be) they may be missing the forest for the trees. The playoffs are going to be huge. NIL will determine the top 15-20 teams more than recruiting will. And the reality of it is that many teams are going to be left out and fall out of contention before the halfway mark... but if that is all that matters to you, you may miss a lot of the joy and spectacle that makes this sport what it is. It's not just about championships... though they are nice... it is about the competition, about the kids struggling, about the experience of James Madison and Marshal... it's that on any given Saturday...
________________

As for Mizzou... it was a disappointing weekend. But the team is 4-0 and probably more appropriately ranked than they were a week ago. Cook had some issues, but there is no QB controversy. Burden is a huge talent who still takes plays off, but who can change a game in a moment. Craig missed a few, he's a kicker... but dang the kid can boot them and the coach should not be relying on 3's over 7's anyway! Drink made some mistakes, but it would not surprise me to find out he is covering for mistakes and confusion at the assistant level. Good coaches do that. And on and on... but you know what? They found a way to win on a day when as a whole they earned a d+. Good times are ahead if they can get a few things figured out.

Oh.... and that powerhouse to the west is 1-3.

Have a great Monday!
MIZ!!!

I know some schools have already decided to do away with them. Should Mizzou consider this?

I think this could be contributing to the offense stalling out. It is causing them to be too deliberate between plays. And it seems to be confusing Cook. He seems to be struggling to hear the comms (and we haven’t played a road game yet) and I wonder if the pre-snap information coming from the OC is causing more harm than good. Instead of just playing ball, he seems to be so much more robotic and unsure of himself out there.

Everything looks deliberate and programmed with this offense. There is no flow or feel for the game. I am wondering if this potentially has something to do with it?

Dm if you would like to buy

Send me a DM if interested. $250

after saturdays disputed craig miss..why not a cam on each post? they are cheap and small, ala the marker cams…seems like a no brainer

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YIKES!

Needing a parking spot in Lot W

Love hearing the truth spoken

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Tickets found and purchased.

11 am on ABC

2 Walsworth Columns Club All Inclusive Tickets for Auburn
Section 205L Row 4L Seats 3 & 4
Buffet before and during the game included
$700

1 Lot J Space 52 Parking Pass for Auburn
$300

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Dennis Gates offered Bynum while visiting Link Academy today. Bynum played with Aaron Rowe on MOKAN during the EYBL circuit this year, he averaged 11.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Bynum holds a ton of offers has taken visits to Colorado, Iowa, Iowa State (unofficial) and Nebraska and has others set up with LSU, Ohio State and Xavier. Originally from Omaha, Neb.