Brady Cook didn’t need to do anything else to cement his legacy in Missouri lore. But he did.
The college football postseason is untethered enough that there are a few different ways you can view the bowl games:
- A celebration of the achievements of the current year’s roster
- A chance to see what your team might look like next year
- An opportunity to play for national championships (if you’re in the Playoff, anyway)
Heading into the game against Iowa I didn’t really expect anything substantial to happen, and you might even argue that nothing substantial happened. Eli Drinkwitz was openly referring to the game as an exhibition and, early in the contest, we saw plenty of backups and youngsters playing on defense (that didn’t need to) and plenty of backups playing on offense (that needed to).
But, then, Brady Cook went out and had his best game of 2024, and potentially his career. And it pushed Missouri to a second-consecutive 10-win campaign. And while Cook’s efforts don’t really change anything other than the number of wins in the ‘24 season, it does make such a statement on his character and commitment, as well as the perception of the Missouri program as not only one that can breakthrough and beat the big boys of the sport, but one that also might have some staying power.
After the halcyon days of ‘07-’08 Mizzou hit a rebuild funk in ‘09 with an 8-win campaign before reclaiming a 10-win season in 2010. At the conclusion of the ‘13-’14 SEC East champion runs, the ‘15 team crumbled under a terrible rash of injuries and a freshman quarterback closing out the year.
I have no idea what portends for the Eli Drinkwitz’s ‘25 squad and beyond, but what this team – and Brady Cook – did in their final stanza of ‘24 told me a lot about the commitment this team has and the culture Drinkwitz has built with them. I saw rising stars (hello, Speedy Johnson!) and impressive closing arguments (thank you, Johnny Walker!) in a game that played like every other Missouri game of the year.
It was a rare celebration of what can be and what was for this year. And, I’ll admit it, I actually enjoyed the whole thing. Bravo, ‘24 Tigers.
Let’s take a look at the advanced box score:
Because it isn’t as timing-based as offense, defenses tend to excel after the downtime between the last game and the bowl game, and you usually see low scoring first halves followed by bigger scoring bursts in second half of games once individual offensive units have knocked off the rust. But, for whatever reason, that wasn’t the case here as both Iowa and Missouri hummed along at over 50% success rates each in the 1st Half. The defenses settled in as the game went on and Iowa finally reverted to it’s more run-oriented self.
In tight games you need to look to the margins to figure out how a game broke in whichever way, and while you can point to the lone turnover committed by the Hawkeyes, the thing that turned the game in my eye is something you can’t see in the box score.
With 12:50 left in the 4th quarter Missouri took over on their 46 have the Toriano Pride interception. The Tigers had scored on the previous drive to make it 24-21 Iowa and the pick gave Mizzou all the momentum in the world to drive down the field and complete the comeback. But on 1st down Brady Cook was rushed into a terrible throw that ended up going backwards for a fumble that Nate Noel recovered…18 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Cook ran for 8 yards on 2nd-and-28 and on 3rd-and-20 Jamal Roberts could only claw back 13 yards on a quick pass, meaning Iowa would survive the momentum blast and potentially create some space in their lead over a downtrodden Mizzou squad. But Iowa’s Quinn Schulte decided that, no, Jamal Roberts REALLY needed to be hit again and did so well after Roberts was out of bounds. The late hit gave Mizzou new life and a new set of downs and, even though Missouri on went two yards closer, it gave Blake Craig a chance to tie it up with a field goal.
I don’t know how the game would have gone without Schulte’s gift but I don’t forsee Mizzou getting many more chances at scoring without it. And in a game won by 3 total points, it was absolutely necessary for that to happen. Thanks Quinn!
When Missouri Has the Ball
Since 1999, Norm (dad) and Phil (son) Parker have been coordinating Iowa’s defense with a very simple plan: 4-3 alignment, Cover 2 coverage. That’s it. They create pressure with the front four while the back seven reacts to anything the line can’t get. And it works, way more than it should in the modern game.
It at least gave Missouri and its season-record 12 different targeted skill position players enough trouble at the end of the game but, as usual, it’s able to be beat if there’s a talent that rises up and overcomes the simply effective scheme. So, thank you Marquise Johnson and Theo Wease. Thank you for being faster and better than Iowa’s defense.
Run the Ball
Mizzou ran it at a much lower clip than I anticipated but did surpass the 48% success rate goal I set for them, ending the day with a 51.7% success rate on the ground. Is that mostly because Brady Cook had a 63.6% success rate? Shh. Quiet, you! I don’t remember opening up the floor to questions!
Winner: Missouri
Keep Up with the Chains
The goal was a 45% standard downs success rate and Mizzou finished with a 58.1% success rate on their 43 plays run in standard downs situations. As a comparison, they had 21 plays that were a passing down and finished with a 38.1% success rate.
Winner: Missouri
Finish Your Dang Drives
6 scoring opportunities at 3.5 points per opportunity for a total of 21 was the goal and Missouri finished with 5 scoring opportunities at 5.4 points per opportunity for a total of 27. That’ll do!
Winner: Missouri
When Iowa Has the Ball
Iowa’s offensive output feels wrong. Obviously it’s accurate, I charted the thing myself and double checked it to make sure my inputs matched up. But after Brendan Sullivan scrambled around for what felt like 50 yards and threw for what felt like 300, it turns out he hit on two explosive passes (the one on the first drive for 29 and one on the last drive for 19), had only six passes go for more than 9 yards, and only popped off three runs that went for more than 4 yards while getting tackled for negative yardage five times. We just remember the times he was successful because any successful Iowa offensive play is the equivalent of, like, 10 successful offensive plays for a normal power conference offense.
Stop the Run
Mizzou’s goal was to keep Iowa’s rushing success at 40% or less and the Hawkeyes finished at 51.4%. Not great overall but the second half rushing success was at 41%!
Winner: Iowa
Turnovers!
They didn’t get to +2 in the turnover department but the one they did get was enough to give Mizzou a chance to tie it and, eventually, win it.
Winner: Iowa (on technicality)
The Little Things
Kirk Ferentz is a master of “The Little Things” as he constructs his teams in a way where they almost exclusively win games on the margins, i.e. starting field position, turnovers, and points per scoring opportunity. His Hawkeyes enjoyed a nearly 10-yard advantage in average starting field position and generated 10 points through special teams alone, but were outdueled in yards per play and points per scoring opportunity. Also, running a ragged play on 4th down and getting annihilated more than any team I’ve ever seen going for it on 4th-down doesn’t help.
On the demerit front, I didn’t really have any problem with the penalties called (other than the fact that they happened in the first place which…whatever, it happens). Also, if Brady Cook only had to deal with even half of the five drops on the day, his line probably would have finished with a 62.5% completion percentage, 300+ yards, and around an 8.8 ANY/A. Alas.
Extra Points
- Both offenses shot out of the gate hot (well, minus Missouri’s first drive of course) and rode it through the end of the 1st half. But while Mizzou might not have been clicking at the same rate as Iowa, the Hawkeyes burned out first and farther than the Tigers did, wilting to 41% in the 3rd and a measly 21% in the 4th while Mizzou stated above 40% all day.
- Missouri excelled in 1st-downs, and did pretty well on 2nd. Almost all of the passing success occurred thanks to Kirby Moore getting a little unconventional by throwing to set up the run and trusting Brady Cook to scramble if the passing options weren’t there. Meanwhile, Iowa was fairly steady on in both 1st and 2nd down as well but suffered on 3rd (just like Mizzou).
- If the success rate by quarter didn’t convince you of the narrative the yardage by quarter chart certainly will. Mizzou was steady all four quarter while Iowa was “BOOM” in the first two quarters and “BUST” in the last two. And, yes, Iowa ran exactly twice as many plays in the 3rd quarter as they did in the 1st and finished with the same amount of yards. Yikes.
The 1st down generating champs of the game were unquestionably Cook -> Johnson (6!) and Brady Cook running it (4). Keep in mind, Marquis Johnson entered this game with six 1st-downs gained total on the year and left with 12 overall. But the 1st-down makin’ champs of the year go to the usual suspects: of the 234 first downs gained on the year Marcus Carroll finishes first with 38, followed by Nate Noel’s 35 and Cook -> Wease for 32.
Conclusion
Missouri has back-to-back ten win seasons for the first time since 2014 and has the chance to do the first ever back-to-back-to-back ten win season for the first time ever next year. But, regardless of what next year brings, this season should unquestionably be viewed as a success, even if the ultimate goal of the Playoff was not met. It’s very hard to win ten games in a year in the SEC, let alone at Missouri, and your Tigers are in esteemed company as they head into another season with Eli Drinkwitz at the helm. There will be a lot of questions that need to be answered by the ‘25 roster but, for now, we can enjoy the next nine months with pleasant thoughts of ten ugly wins and the potential to do more this fall.
And with that, thus concludes another tour of a Missouri football season with Nate Edwards. As is typical of this time of year, I’m very glad that it’s over and am looking forward to step back from this team and this sport for just a little bit.
Thank you again for your continued readership and clicks on our little pirate ship of a website. If it weren’t for you I’d just be a weirdo in my basement yelling at nobody about my spreadsheets but, thanks to you, I’m a weirdo in my basement yelling at somebody about my spreadsheets.
We’ll get to it again with the usual breakdown of Missouri’s roster and opponents for the upcoming year in a few weeks. Until then, be good. M-I-Z.