Mizzou quarterback relishes the journey to a full circle Cotton Bowl moment
ARLINGTON, Texas. (KMIZ)
Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook grew up loving his hometown team. If there was a Tiger basketball game on TV that night, he was watching it. If the football team was at Faurot Field, so was he.
The St. Louis native grew up watching all the big moments, including an unforgettable 2013 letdown at Memorial Stadium when Andrew Baggett's missed kick against South Carolina contributed to the team coming up just short of a perfect season.
"It's not a great memory, but for some reason it always sticks out," he said, jokingly.
As the Tiger quarterback approaches his start in Mizzou's first Cotton Bowl appearance in about a decade, on Friday, he took some time to look back on those moments. Just about a 10 years ago, Cook and his family were watching Gary Pinkel and the MU football team take on Oklahoma State at AT&T Stadium. Now, in his junior year, he will make his own start in that same venue.
"That’s when my stomach starts getting a little—anxiety kicks in about now," his mom, Amy Cook said.
Cook has put together quite a 2023 campaign in the black and gold. The quarterback finished as the third-ranked passer in the SEC through the regular season with 3,189 yards, along with 20 touchdowns. He also finished as a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, in addition to earning multiple national weekly honors throughout the season.
Needless to say, he proved himself right. He showed Tiger football fans that he is the guy to lead the MU offense, despite the doubters.
"I been knew he had it in him since I’ve been here. I've been saw the dog in him. He never gonna give up, give it all he’s got, no matter what," wide receiver Luther Burden said.
The success and accolades didn't come easy to Cook, though. He battled though a 2022 season that featured a lot of low moments for head coach Eli Drinkwitz and company, all the while playing with a torn labrum.
“It was really hard, especially because it happened week two versus Kansas State and from that week on it was really, really hard physically and mentally," Cook said.
The Tigers finished that season 6-7, overall, with a loss to Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl. Through that adversity, although football is a team sport, a lot of criticism blew in the starting quarterback's direction.
“What are you gonna do? You just want to scream sometimes," his mom said.
Cook's longest supporters - his parents, family, friends and Coach Drinkwitz - always knew the talent and passion he brought to football, which is a big reason why Coach Eli continually put his trust in the kid from St. Louis, Mo.
Although his journey to a 10-2 season and Cotton Bowl berth wasn't easy, Cook can now look back and see that growth that it resulted in. He's become an expert in blocking out the noise and more of a vocal leader for this Tiger football team, as a two-time captain on the squad.
“I’m just so proud of him because just like a lot of nay-sayers, but he just works," fellow captain Darius Robinson said.
No. 9 Mizzou and No. 7 Ohio State will kick off at AT&T Stadium at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec, 29 and when they do, it'll complete a dream that Cook could have never imagined, even in his days going to games at Faurot Field.
Friday's New Year's Six game is all that's on the quarterbacks mind, at the moment, but you can't help but look forward to 2024. With the power of a fan base and a talented locker room behind him, sky's the limit for QB1 and the Tigers.
“To see that support...because I didn’t truly feel that last year and, you know, I didn’t know if I was ever going to," Cook said. "Like I said, I just never would have thought.”
