A Fan’s Notes: A Hard Reset in Tuscaloosa

Oct 28, 2024 | Uncategorized

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Missouri quarterback Brady Cook (12,) who was out with an injury for most of the game, watches Missouri play in the fourth quarter of a game against Alabama on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (CAL TOBIAS/ROCK M NATION)

Some notes, thoughts, and observations from the other side of the country, as we wait Brady Cook’s future and try to come to terms with this rocky 2024 season.

Earlier in the spring, I wrote a column on these electronic pages about how even a successful 2024 season would not be as purely fun as the 2023 season, thanks to the heightened expectations that come with success. I was imagining a campaign as similarly successful as last year; I didn’t have it in me to imagine the stress that would come with multiple injuries to Brady Cook and a pair of national spotlight shellackings.

And here Missouri sits, at 6-2, clinging to a top 25 ranking, heading into the bye with a 10-2 reprise still possible, yet with the online chicken littles ready to fold the program and sell Faurot off for scrap.

Things were dire for the Tigers in Tuscaloosa. Five years of bad quarterback recruiting evaluations and overall bad (and unlucky) management of the QB room finally reared its ugly head. Drew Pyne, the band aid option Mizzou picked up in the spring, was no bandaid at all, and only poured salt into the wound of the clunky offense. The team is essentially eliminated from its preseason goal of making the inaugural 12-team playoff, and the last hopes of those dreams crumbled slowly over the course of three hours.

But a 10-2 season is still on the table. Brady Cook’s health and patching up the offense around him will determine how realistic that goal is. In the coming months, the team will play in a bowl game, and has the opportunity to make it a pretty good one. They will put a star player in the first round of the next NFL draft. They will sign a high-caliber recruiting class, and head into the transfer portal shopping window with a typically hefty NIL budget. They will break ground on a massive stadium renovation.

This upcoming November might be amazing for Mizzou football. Remember, Eli Drinkwitz’s ballclubs have always closed well in real seasons, earning their sixth wins in 2021 and 2022 and storming into the New Year’s Six last fall.

Or it might be really, really frustrating on the field. If the rest of the season goes poorly, it is going to take a lot of mettle to remind myself of all the good things around the program – and there are plenty of them – to get through these four Saturdays without going crazy. I hope you can find that mettle too.

Some other thoughts from my desk in New York City….

I’m serious about 10-2. I know the knee jerk reaction from watching Drew Pyne toss easy passes into the breadbaskets of wide open Alabama defenders is to meltdown and call the program over, but all four remaining games are winnable and none will require a heroic passing attack to earn the victory. The scariest game remaining might be the trip to South Carolina and their hellacious edge pass rushers.

I was frustrated at the playcalling on Brady Cook’s final possession, which began with about ten minutes remaining in the second quarter. Mizzou’s defense was playing well, and Bama only led 3-0. Missouri moved the ball on the ground to cross midfield, facing a 2nd and 7 from the Alabama 44. This is prime “go for it” range. On second down, from the far left hash, Cook missed on a deep ball down the right to Marquis Johnson, and then missed on a similar route to Burden on third down. They punted for a touchback after.

There are two flagrant mistakes here. Take a shot on second down, sure, but then on third down either run the ball or run something safe to make a manageable fourth down attempt. You would absolutely go for, say, 4th and 2 from the Alabama 38. The other mistake is that both routes required back shoulder throws, which you don’t have the geometry to execute from across the far side of the field; not with half of a quarterback who had clearly injured his hand at this point. Also, Cook has been off on back-shoulder throws this entire season.

Picking at play calling is low-hanging fruit, but this was a clear botch at the time.

Mitchell Walters replaced Cayden Green full time. After they split UMass almost evenly, Green played all but a few snaps at left guard against Auburn, and then Walters flipped into that role against Alabama after Green started. I’m not sure if it was an injury – Green didn’t play so egregiously as to warrant a full-benching. When the Tigers went to an extra blocker on their goal line plays, which was previously Walters’ role, Tristan Wilson came onto the field.

At this point the level of performance is pretty similar between the two, so it is not make-or-break. But worth watching.

PFF has mostly demerits for Missouri defenders on Saturday, and there were more than a few rough moments. But considering the assignment and the lack of support from their cohorts on the other side of the ball, I felt good about the defense, especially in the first half. The next three offenses Missouri faces are all fairly beatable, and I feel better about the defense’s chances to keep the game competitive a la the Auburn affair.

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