2 weeks Ago By By Eli Hoff St. Louis Post-Dispatch
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Cruel was the déjà vu that dogged Missouri in defeat. Starting quarterback Brady Cook jogged to the No.
21 Tigers’ locker room in the first half of Saturday’s loss to No. 15 Alabama. It was a parallel to his exit from last week’s comeback win over Auburn.
Cook, of course, returned to the previous game to spearhead the rally. But against the Crimson Tide (6-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference), that wasn’t in the cards. Cook — who started despite the ankle sprain he suffered a week ago — was ruled out with an upper body injury at halftime, and Mizzou (6-2, 2-2 SEC) stumbled to a 34-0 defeat.
It's the Tigers' first scoreless outing since a 2019 game against Georgia. MU’s offense failed to launch under Cook, and once backup Drew Pyne entered the game, it imploded. The Tigers gained just 2.
9 yards per play with their starting quarterback in the game, and then three interceptions thrown by Pyne were a knockout blow. The defeat will likely bump Missouri out of the AP Top 25, which it has been in since Week 8 of last season, and spells disaster for any remaining chances of Mizzou making the College Football Playoff. Offense absent The biggest question mark entering the game had to do with one player and one joint in the Mizzou sideline: Would Cook be able to play through a high ankle sprain suffered last week? The answer, for most of the first half, was yes — albeit as part of an overall stunted offense.
Cook looked unencumbered by his ankle while escaping the pocket frequently early in the game, which was a good sign for Missouri, save for the fact that he regularly had to roll out to avoid pressure. His ankle’s first test came on the second play of the game, which was MU’s first attempt. Choosing the element of surprise — arguably at the expense of common sense — the Tigers dialed up a flea-flicker pitch back to Cook that turned into a sack.
He threw the ball on five third down plays in the first half, completing none of them as most of those wound up being roll-outs to the near sideline with no real options to find on the run. It got worse for Mizzou: Cook jogged to the locker room in the second quarter with an upper body injury, requiring Pyne to enter the game. Missouri was down 6-0 at that point after two field goals from the Tide, but that turned on a dime with the quarterback change.
Facing a third down with 6 yards to gain, Pyne tried to force a deep pass to wideout Luther Burden III. The backup either misjudged Burden’s route or missed badly. Regardless, he threw directly at a defensive back who wasn't even covering Burden — an interception that built MU’s coffin.
Alabama’s Malachi Moore returned the pick to the Tigers’ 35-yard line. Quarterback Jalen Milroe found a soft spot in Mizzou’s zone for a 28-yard pass that set up a 3-yard punch-in score for ‘Bama running back Jamarion Miller. His touchdown gave the Crimson Tide a 13-0 advantage at halftime, kept intact by MU kicker Blake Craig missing a desperation 59-yard field goal attempt at the end of the second quarter.
Cook had returned to the sideline without his helmet ahead of that final first-half drive, but he was ruled out during halftime. Brief flash of defense Part of what made Pyne’s interception so costly for Missouri was that the Tigers had played well defensively during the first half. They didn’t give a third-down conversion either, thanks to key moments of playmaking in those situations.
Cornerback Nicholas Deloach Jr. deflected a Milroe pass on one third down, recovering from the slot position to make the play. And defensive end Johnny Walker Jr.
sacked Milroe twice on third downs in the first half. Alabama and Mizzou were a combined 0 for 12 on third downs at the break. But the Crimson Tide found four plays of 20-plus yards in the first half hour of game time while MU’s longest play of that period was only 13 yards.
Second-half knife twists Much like during Missouri’s collapse against Texas A&M a few weeks ago, a long run conceded early in the second half seemed to be the backbreaker. Milroe weaved through the MU defense for a 32-yard scramble on the third play of the third quarter, setting up a rushing touchdown for himself a couple of snaps later. Milroe improvised something of a counter play, flipping a designed run around to dive across the pylon for a score.
Before Pyne had even touched the ball in the second half, the Tigers trailed 20-0. And his next drive behind the wheel of the offensive didn’t go much better. Mizzou started to assemble a drive, but Pyne tried to force a pass to Burden along the left sideline.
He underthrew his target, which became the second interception of the day for the backup quarterback. Pyne’s third pick came 99 seconds later. He rolled out on a play action pass and, facing pressure, missed tight end Brett Norfleet for another interception.
The Crimson Tide scored off the turnover for a 27-0 advantage. JR Blood, a graduate transfer from Southern and the older brother of wide receiver Daniel Blood, replaced Pyne at the start of the fourth quarter. 'Bama running back Justice Haynes dropped the hammer by lowering his shoulder for a bruising, tackle-breaking touchdown in the fourth quarter that made the lead 34-0.
Missouri had a chance to score on a fourth and goal from the 1-yard line with four minutes and change left in the game, but was stuffed..
