What Does Mizzou Still Have to Play for? Brady Cook Knows

Reality has hit the Missouri Tigers, but they still believe they have plenty to play for.

Nov 16, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Brady Cook (12) is stopped by the South Carolina Gamecocks on a two-point conversion attempt in the second half at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images / Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

The last 28 days have made for "some of the longest" four weeks of Brady Cook's 23-year life.

Recovering first from an ankle injury suffered against Auburn in Week 8, then from a wrist injury he suffered against Alabama, he's only been on the field for 47% of Missouri's offensive plays during the last month.

"It's been a three, four week stretch here, my last season here, where I haven't played a ton of ball," Cook said after Missouri's lost to South Carolina. "I want to finish."

Cook made his return in the TIgers' third loss of the season on the road to South Carolina. He was listed as doubtful all week. He was pressured 15 times by the stellar South Carolina defensive front and threw 237 yards and a touchdowns while completing 21 of his 31 pass attempts. His sole interception came on a last-ditch effort for Missouri to find a win after receiving the ball with 15 seconds left.

"I'm not thinking about how my body feels," Cook said, "The adrenaline kicks in, the flow of the game kicks in, and you're just doing what you love."

Nov 16, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Brady Cook (12) passes against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images / Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

Missouri's Week 12 loss broke down in thrilling fashion, the same way most of its games have in the 2024 season. Missouri trailed 27-23 with 1:10 remaining and faced a fourth-and-six 37 yards out from the end zone. Cook lobbed a pass to his star receiver, Luther Burden III, who hauled the ball in with just his left arm and raced to the end zone to give Missouri a lead.

Cook emphatically ran down the field, shaking his arms in disbelief. The duo has connected on a number of iconic throws in key moments before, with the 37-yard touchdown set to be one of, if not, the last.

"That's one I'm never going to forget," Cook said of the touchdown. "I know he [Burden] won't either."

But, unlike the pair's fourth-and-17 completion against Florida in 2023, this remarkable completion was only another chapter in a chaotic game at South Carolina, not the end. The Gamecocks travelled 70 yards down the field in just six plays and 47 seconds to retake the lead and secure the win.

"It's never over," Cook said. "You celebrate it, and you're pumped up and you enjoy it, but it's never over in college football."

This season has not played out the way Cook, nor anyone around Missouri. The Tigers stood in the top 10 of the AP Poll for three-straight weeks in early September and were expected to be a top team in the race for the College Football Playoff.

Due to injuries to Cook and others, along with blowout losses to Texas A&M and Alabama, Missouri fell out of the AP's top 25 for the first time since Week 8 of the 2023 season. Missouri's shots at the playoff were slim ahead of the South Carolina loss, but are now extinct.

Reality has hit Cook and the Tigers. Though the quarterback worked his way back against Auburn after suffering an ankle injury on the opening drive. After going to the hospital in the middle of the game, he returned to lead a 17-point comeback. He was, deservedly, built up as a hero for the Tigers.

But next week at Alabama, suffering the wrist injury that would cause him to miss the remainder of the game against the Crimson Tide and the following game against Oklahoma. Prior to the game against Oklahoma, he had started 36-straight games for Missouri despite battling multiple injuries over that time.

"We play for each other, we play for our team," Cook said. "But at the end of the day, you also got to play for yourself too. You're not going to get a lot of these opportunities back once in a lifetime deal, and there's only a few games left."

Having to watch on the sideline has imaginably been an excruciating experience for Cook. Especially when Missouri hosted Oklahoma in Week 11. Cook grew up watching his boyhood heroes Chase Daniels and Blaine Gabbert fight against the Sooners in an iconic rivalry.

The hope to play in the rivalry's first matchup since 2011 hung in the back of Cook's mind during the summer.

He had worked to get his dream job. But he ended up in the same position as he was as a kid, only being able to watch as his backup Drew Pyne led the Tigers to a 30-23 victory.

"Brady Cook, he's my best friend here," Pyne said. "He's been dying to play in this game his whole life. ... I told him, I'd do everything I could to go win that game for him. This team, this locker room, I'm so thankful to be a part of this."

Nov 9, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Brady Cook (12) looks on from the sideline during the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Pyne was by Cook's side to help him through his recovery and Cook was on the sideline during the win over Oklahoma to be an extra set of eyes and offer words of advice to Pyne. The two had already been through too much adversity with each other to forget one another.

"We just got to be behind everyone that's injured," running back Nate Noel said ahead of the South Carolina game.. "We got to play for each other ... Just the hard times together, we gotta go back and reflect on those times and really dig deep and play for each other."

There's two regular season games and a bowl game remaining for Missouri. But the reflection has already begun for Cook in his final season. The ghost of what the 2024 season could've, and maybe even should've been, won't go away easily. But Cook will hope his personal memories will topple the disappointment .

"Even though it didn't go our way," Cook said, "I'll say this, I had a whole lot of fun with my teammates tonight, and that's what I'm gonna remember when I look back at this season."

Read more Missouri Tigers news:

'Just Didn't Have Enough': Mizzou Let South Carolina Out of Its Grasp in Week 12 Loss
Halftime Adjustments Kept Mizzou Alive Against South Carolina Despite Loss