Four Down Territory
Welcome to Four Down Territory which is a spin-off of Ten Thoughts.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. Missouri's offense has propelled them to a top 25 ranking for the first time in the Eli Drinkwitz era.
On Sunday, it was announced the Tigers are ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll which marks the first time the team had been ranked since 2019 dating back to the Barry Odom era.
I wrote about it the other day, this offense is clicking and it’s only completed three of its last 21 third-down attempts. It went 0-of-8 on third down versus Memphis. Yet, Mizzou easily put up 34 points and 542 total yards. I've never heard of that.
It helps when the players who need to be good are playing great.
Quarterback Brady Cook is playing phenomenally. I mean, I know Luther Burden III is balling out of control, and it's easy to say he’s been the best player (and let me be clear, he is), but Cook is giving him a run for his money.
Cook has completed 72-of-100 pass attempts for 1,073 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s also rushed for three touchdowns.
The big question is how is he racking up these numbers?
Is he dinking and dunking to Burden and the crew, who then run wild on defenses, or is he actually making the throws down the field?
It’s the latter.
He’s averaging a Southeastern Conference-leading 10.64 yards per attempt.
Good for Cook.
Back-to-back 300-yard passing games after not having any in his career. The team is 4-0 and game-by-game he’s starting to lose this game manager tag that a lot of us including myself have called him.
Again, I don’t think that’s a bad tag. Not everyone can be a gunslinger or a Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow-type of player. To be honest, most quarterbacks aren’t.
The reason I called Cook that is because he’s efficient, particularly in the short passing game, he doesn’t turn the ball over (hasn’t had a turnover since Week 8 vs. Vandy of last season), but he wasn't really throwing the deep ball before.
Obviously, there was a lot that went into that. Last season, the scheme and offensive line weren't great, the receivers struggled with separation and Cook had a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.
But If his game involves throwing 76-yard touchdowns more often and or having nine or more 15-yard passes with six of them legitimately being thrown 20 or more yards through the air like they were in Week 4, he’s 100%, not a game manager. He's just a really good quarterback.
As Stephen A. Smith would say, Burden is a “baaaaaaaad man.”
Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne has thrown for 561 yards and four passing touchdowns. Burden has 34 receptions for 504 yards and three touchdowns. He’s four yards away in Week 1 from having four straight 100-yard games to start the season.
He’s averaging 126 receiving yards per game and is on pace to finish the season with 102 receptions for 1,512 yards and nine touchdowns.
The last player to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season was J’Mon Moore in 2017. The last player to go for 1,500 or more yards was Danario Alexander in 2009.
Lastly, running back Cody Schrader probably deserves some love from the Mizzou faithful.
He's leading the league in rushing with 403 yards to go with his two touchdowns, and he is on pace for 1,209 yards. He fumbled in the first half versus Memphis, but Drinkwitz and Co. really trusted him because they kept giving him the rock and he rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown in the second half.
If the run game can supplement everything else the team is doing offensively, the sky is the limit.
2. Mizzou has to put teams away better.
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