NASHVILLE, Tenn. — This season, Missouri has relied on setting the tone offensively with its run game. But quarterback Brady Cook broke that norm and made the Music City Bowl his own Monday at Nissan Stadium.
The three-year starter completed 18 of 32 passes for a season-high 287 yards and two touchdowns and added 54 yards on 14 carries in the Tigers’ 27-24 win over Iowa.
It was the second-most yards passing in a game this season for Mizzou. Cook and backup Drew Pyne combined for 310 yards in the season opener against Murray State.
Cook was named the Music City Bowl MVP for his performance against the Hawkeyes. It was the feather in the cap of a storied collegiate career for the fifth-year senior from St. Louis, who finished his MU career with 9,876 all-purpose yards — the third-most in program history — and 8,721 passing yards, the fourth-most in program history.
Cook’s 54 rushing yards paced the Tigers, who finished with just 89 yards on the ground. It was the third time this season MU failed to crack triple digits rushing, the others coming in the loss to Texas A&M (68 yards) and the win over Auburn (81 yards).
“Getting that 10th win, leaving our legacy and going out with a win, going out winning a championship, no matter what the championship it is, we’ve won a championship today,” Cook said. “And that’s what we want to do every single year.”
Mizzou finished the season with three straight victories, helping the program to back-to-back double-digit-win seasons. Coach Eli Drinkwitz said the reason the streak stayed alive was because of the seniors.
“When these guys showed up, it wasn’t this way,” he said. “It was really, really tough. And then, there was people leaving left and right, and I’m sure these guys had doubts. But they stayed, and they fought shoulder to shoulder every day to get to where we’re at. And the underclassmen, they now know what it looks like, but they owe it to them every single day to keep fighting for the legacy that these guys built.”
Monday’s result was full-circle for the Tigers, who lost 27-24 to Iowa the last time the teams played — Dec. 28, 2010, in the Insight Bowl.
Mizzou improved to 10-1 in one-score games in the last two seasons, the only loss a 34-30 road defeat to South Carolina on Nov. 16.
“I think (it stems from a) belief in each other, belief in what we’re doing,” Drinkwitz said. “We prepare really hard for these moments. We truly believe in our elite edge. We truly believe we’re faster, stronger, tougher than you in the fourth quarter. I think there’s a big belief.”
Craig sets Music City Bowl record then breaks it again
Cook was the MVP of the game, but the Tigers’ kicker came up big in the victory.
Both of Blake Craig’s field goals against the Hawkeyes broke the Music City Bowl record for longest field goal. His 51-yarder with 10:10 left in the fourth quarter surpassed the 49-yarder booted by Maryland’s Jack Howes last year and tied the game at 24. Then, Craig broke his own record with a 56-yarder that gave the Tigers the lead with 4:36 remaining.
Craig ended his first season as MU’s starting kicker 24-for-34 on field goals. He went 7-for-8 from 20-29 yards, 10-for-10 from 30-39 yards, 1-for-7 from 40-49 yards and 6-for-9 from 50-plus yards.
When asked what goes through his mind before high-stakes kicks, Craig replied, “I’m going to be completely honest: I black out when I go out for kicks.”
“That explains a lot,” Drinkwitz jokingly responded.
“Before the kick,” Craig continued, “I’m thinking about all the seniors and everything like that. I’m ready to do what I do for them, especially this scenario, their last game.”
Wilderness brotherhood, finishers, team culture
Each year, Mizzou seems to have a mantra for its bowl game. Last year in the Cotton Bowl, it was all about a wilderness brotherhood. This year, Drinkwitz’s team adopted the idea of being a finisher.
When words seem to fail to describe the way the Tigers’ season turned out, Drinkwitz can find the perfect phrases. His latest came from a quote by philosopher and poet Henry David Thoreau.
”All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers.”
“It’s just something (that) I think speaks to us,” Drinkwitz said. “There’s a lot of people to start things in life if they don’t finish, and if you’re going to be a person of significance, if you’re going to be the best at whatever you do, you’ve got to have a finisher’s fight-to-the-finish spirit. ... I just felt like (for) these seniors that have come this far, we just needed to finish. We needed to finish. And that’s what they did for four quarters today.”
It’s a mindset that has embedded itself in the MU locker room and in the practices leading up to games, Drinkwitz said. He’s brought it onto the field, and it’s been motivation that helped push players past their limits and in the final moments of a game.
Drinkwitz recalled a conversation he had with Cook after he took a big hit from Iowa defensive back Xavier Nwankpa with a minute left in the first quarter. After Cook had his head down on the field for a moment, the mentor had another push for his veteran signal-caller in his last game as a Tiger.
“There was one point where you could tell it looked like they were roll tackling pretty good, and it looked like his ankle started bothering him,” Drinkwitz said. “But I just kept telling him, ‘You’re a finisher, man. You’re a finisher. You’ve gotta finish.’”
And finish the seniors did, some members of Drinkwitz’s first signing class at Mizzou. Their legacy may outstretch their own names, however, as Drinkwitz and players have consistently said in the weeks leading up to the bowl game.
“I hope we left behind a great brotherhood,” redshirt senior defensive end Johnny Walker Jr. said. “Years before, to be real, it was toxic. We had to get rid of those players. But now, I just hope the guys know what a team is and team success.”