Missouri (6-6) has a little over two weeks left to prepare for Wake Forest (7-5) in the Gasparilla Bowl, but the team will look quite a bit different than it did a few weeks in the regular season finale versus Arkansas.
The Tigers have lost nine scholarship players to the transfer portal and a couple of guys to the NFL Draft as of this writing.
Since the season is winding down, let's take a look at who should be the candidates for Mizzou's Offensive Most Valuable Player award.
The Candidates
1.) Luther Burden III
Luther Burden III did everything shy of playing defense for the Tigers. "Touchdown Luther" was the Tigers' second-leading receiver behind Lovett and racked up 38 receptions for 329 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed 17 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns and returned a punt for a touchdown.
His last six games, when he posted 20 receptions for 215 yards and five total touchdowns (one rushing), were better than his first six games when he recorded 18 receptions for 104 yards and three total touchdowns (one punt returned).
2.) Brady Cook
Quarterback Brady Cook is a big reason why the Tigers sit at 6-6. Like Burden, he struggled in the first six weeks and led the Tigers to a 2-4 record heading into the week seven bye. Then he the Tigers to a 4-2 record after that and was arguably the team's best player the last three weeks of the season.
In the 17-14 week eight win over Vanderbilt, Cook played decently and led them to 17 points before going scoreless in the second half and then carried that same performance through the third quarter of the week 10 matchup versus Kentucky. Mizzou entered the fourth quarter of that game down 3-14 before Cook scored two rushing touchdowns to give the Tigers a brief 17-14 lead.
From the fourth quarter of that game until the end of the season Cook could be looked at as the team's best offensive player based on his production. He completed 55 of 86 passes for 714 yards and seven touchdowns while adding 41 rushes for 315 yards and a rushing touchdown.
3.) Dominic Lovett
Lovett finished fourth in receiving yards in the Southeastern Conference with 846 to go along with 56 receptions and three touchdowns. He was the first Mizzou 800-yard receiver since Emanuel Hall in 2018 and had four 100-yard receiving games with three of them being 130-yard receiving games.
He was the focal part of the offense and when Brady Cook had a chance to get him the ball he usually made a play. Lovett being the only Missouri position player to be named to the All-SEC (second) team should tell you everything you need to know about the type of player he was for the Tigers.
Who do we think will win?
PowerMizzou's pick: Dominic Lovett
Who should win the award? Lovett. Despite his departure, there's no denying he was undoubtedly the best and most explosive offensive weapon the team had and Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz actually said as much during the season.
The arguments for Burden and Cook are there though.
Lovett was the most explosive player on offense, but it can be argued that Burden was the most dynamic. The five-star freshman had a featured role in the receiving game, run game and was the team's best punt returner despite a few other players getting a chance to field punts.
Burden provided a type of pizazz that not many other freshmen could. It's also no coincidence that the team went 4-0 in games he scored a touchdown.
Again, Cook was just as much a part of the team's 2-4 start as he was to the 4-2 finish to end the season. If you look at the Auburn game when kicker Harrison Mevis should've made that 26-yard field goal at the end of regulation or if running back Nathaniel Peat didn't fumble at the goal line in overtime Mizzou could have added a victory to the win column.
Cook didn't play great, but he put them in a position to win at the end of regulation. The same thing can be said for the roughing the punter penalty versus Kentucky which could've led to the Tigers having excellent field position with a three-point lead in the fourth quarter. That penalty doesn't mean nearly as much if Cook doesn't score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter he had.
Everyone has a case for the award, but Lovett should be the one who wins 一 even if he decided to leave Missouri for another program.
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