I had season tickets and couldn't tell you a meaningful detail about a single game.

Last season I had them. I got ripped at the tailgate as often as not because the games were just hellish.

That doesn't sound like he's too committed to me. "I'm going to let the season play out" what's that mean? No shit?

I really hope he's just trolling those fans.

Sam Horne is running neck-and-neck with Cook for the starting spot.

Players vote on captains, so while I figure Cook is the starter I wouldn't use him being voted Captain as super strong evidence that he's starting.

Where did you hear that about Horn? I've heard nothing of the sort.

I read a whining article about Mizzou getting Nwaneri. They were mad because Missouri allows in state recruits signing with in state schools to sign NIL deals in high school, which, according to them, was the only reason that he went to Mizzou. Maybe it's true. Don't care. It's nice to see the Tigers getting top in state talent to stay home.

If Cook is the starter fire up the coaching hot board.

PowerMizzou’s football beat reporter, Jarod Hamilton, reported it yesterday in practice notes. Running even on reps with the 1s. Specifically talked about his mastery of the j offense showing great progress from last year.

One thing I forgot about Horn is that he’s a type 1 diabetic. That’s a big adjustment for college and, I suspect, one of the reasons his parents wanted him to have a year to acclimate.

I think Cook will start the season but it will be Horns by the end of the season.

Going to be a tough one to swallow. If only we could watch practices and witness first hand that he is the best QB...it's hard to fathom, I just can't picture him making better, quicker decisions and throwing more accurate passes with the necessary pace than the other guys. Show me...

Sure hope so...he is a Mizzou grad though :hmmm:

I can.

At a certain talent level, it's mostly situation dependent. As we've discussed above, look at those 'Bama quarterbacks or Stetson Bennett. Those guys just got to play on Rookie sliders.

Last season Cook was playing on All Madden settings.

Now we're still Mizzou - I'm not expecting Cook to get the Rookie treatment. But All-Pro is extremely doable and Pro might be. Get the level of the team around him up to the point that he's dealing with easier sliders and he's going to look WAY better and at that point experience will play up. It'll play up perhaps more than raw talent will.

So if Mizzou has a quality team, I think there's a VERY good chance that Cook's the best quarterback option for the first week or even few weeks. And I think at the same time, Horn or Garcia may be able to build up experience base well enough for the talent to then leapfrog him, especially as the schedule gets harder into conference play.

I just can't see any utility in planting flags early here. Cook, if he continues to struggle, will lose the job. Because if the team is a good team, they won't leave him in there to hold him back. And if the team is a mediocre/bad team (and last year's was) then you may just need to toss the most raw talent you have under center to try to make chicken salad from chicken shit.

I wouldn't get spun up either way right now. But talk to me in week 4/5 and we'll start to have some answers.

The person I checked in with would know if his grades were an issue. They are not.

Precisely my point.

Funny thing is I actually legit forgot he even was starting until you mentioned it in that post. I even remembered Method Man and Berkstresser.

Kind of impressive.

Since Missouri HS kids can get NIL can he cash out then committing to OU?

Uhh, if Cook is legitimately the best QB in the program right now that's a pretty big blunder by Drinkwitz. Unless you're expecting a massive leap forward from him it's probably going to be marginal improvement at best, and even marginally improved Cook isn't nearly good enough for this stage of college ball.

Yeah, I've kind of been wondering about that myself. Whats to stop these kids (or their parents) from cashing in early then flipping to their preferred school after chilling at Mizzou for a season to double dip.

Well they have to play at least one season, because they are only eligible to get that money if they sign their NLI. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only way to get out of that NLI is if the coach leaves.

I just can't believe how bad he was last year. He had 5 games where he didn't throw a TD and 5 games with only 1 TD. 9 of his 14 TDs came in 3 games. He had a 4 game stretch where he ran the ball 39 times and gained 3 total yards.

Nothing about his play last season was even slightly encouraging. I didn't watch every single minute of every single game, but I didn't see any flashes of greatness from him. I don't get it.

The K-State game was the absolute worst, he was putrid.

With his experience last year there is a small chance of improvement but my god I don’t know if I can watch another season of cook at qb wasting a fantastic defense. I’m holding out hope on Horn but with drinkwitz he’s so damn stubborn at qb.

You know what was worse than Cook?

The OL.

Also, you keep citing a 4 game stretch with 39 rushing attempts for 3 yards. Assuming you're referring to Auburn-Vanderbilt stretch.

He was sacked 13 times during that time period. Unlike the NFL, sacks count against rushing yards for a QB, not passing.

Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. committed to Bama…thought we had a real shot at him but can’t blame him.

Yeah, Imma guess he didn't realize that sacks took away from rushing yards and his stat was a MASSIVE indictment of the OL.

That or he was being intentionally disingenuous because, as I previously noted, he's a miserable ****.

Coin flip odds, really.

Definitely forgot about sacks being included in rushing yards.

I'm not sure how being frustrated with a coach that feels the need to keep trotting out a QB that sucks shit is me being miserable. Especially when 75% of fans have an issue with it. You seem to have some weird bias about the whole thing and I'm not sure what it is. You being fine with the kid starting when he hasn't shown any signs that he can be anything more than average is weird, especially coming from you.

Because in college you get no reward for having a shit season like you do in the NFL.

Yes, Drinkwitz missed on QBs for 2022 and it remains TBD what happens for 2023. Yes, QB play needs to improve long term. Yes, Cook is an average FBS starter.

That doesn’t change the fact that he’s the best guy on the roster currently to be QB1 (unless/until someone proves otherwise) and playing someone else who may not be ready to be QB1 only further risks the team losing guys via transfer.

If OL is decent and the support cast as a whole improved from last season, no reason for this team to not win 6-8 games with Cook.

2024 is when the pressure should be on.

It doesn't have to be a national letter of intent. They have to sign a financial aid agreement with the school, but those are not binding.

The risk is more at the end of their first year enrolled at the school in question, IMO, than while they're still in HS. You're really talking about a period between September and December, of 3 months, when they could be getting NIL and still sign elsewhere. I suspect you won't see the whole NIL package dropped in those fall months... some of it, sure. And maybe benefits that can be rescinded.

As has been noted multiple times, the fact that a bottom tier “talent” like Cook is potentially the best option this far into the Drinkwitz regime is really sad and pathetic.

Pretty stellar ****ing news tonight. Horn and Cook will both play week 1 and battle it out for starting QB. Color me completely and totally surprised! Happy as hell too though.

Get the mo****a a Dexcom and some arm strength, then.

"This far into..."

It's 3 dang recruiting cycles and during 2 of those he's managed to get extremely high end QB talent that may/may not be ready yet. And it seemed as though Horn and his family didn't really WANT to be starting last year.

Oh, and it looked for all the world when he arrived like he HAD a high-end QB in Bazelak who simply didn't work out here or elsewhere after he transferred.

Y'all act like he's missed on a half-dozen quarterback choices. Horn's his first spin of the wheel and there's a really good chance that he or Garcia end up starting meaningful games for this team as early as mid-season.

Nobody is saying he's the CLEAR right answer. But it's just so nutty to sit here and insist he clearly isn't already. The program's growth has been exponential over the last few years. He's racking up high-end receiving/running talent and has now seemingly started making great progress on the defense.

He's GETTING excellent QB talent to come here to boot.

Y'all wanna toss him out of here like he's Kim Anderson and that's simply not fair.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Eli Drinkwitz said he expects both Brady Cook and Sam Horn to play in the first two games and decide the QB competition on the field.</p>&mdash; Power Mizzou (@PowerMizzoucom) <a href="https://twitter.com/PowerMizzoucom/status/1693077044551160216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'm sure we'll all view their respective performances with a completely neutral eye...

ESPN did their record predictions today and have Mizzou going 5-7 with a 2-6 conference record….

If that happens, Eli should be left on the tarmac in Fayetteville lol…holy shit…

I'm not really too concerned with ESPNs stupid ass predictions. If they start Brady Cook and this team we're to have that record, then Eli might be on the hot seat. If he starts Horn and he looks pretty good, but we have that record, then it'll be all good. Only way Drink is fired is if we look like Kansas a few years ago.

I've come around to the idea that Drink isn't on the hot seat whatsoever. He was a pretty big reason for the NIL law I believe. He's done too much for the school to get booted so quickly. Like DJLN said, he really hasn't had much of an opportunity for a QB.

That's possible, but a tad pessimistic, IMO. Probably in the 20th percentile of outcomes.

Yeah - that should probably get him fired.

But man - I REALLY don't want to blow this recruiting class apart. It could well be the best class in program history. I know that's starting to amount to precisely ****-all given how quickly/easily these kids can jet. But to go out there and potentially re-set the trajectory of the talent we can bring in here only to possibly drop a grenade into the fishbowl would suuuuuuuuuck.

C'mon Drink - let's get it done this year, man.

Of come the **** on, you're jus.....

.....wait - what now?

https://media.tenor.com/aHJSfhTOvU4A...ega-nights.gif

Nah. It's been long enough that all of this supposed growth in the program or whatever needs to start actually translating to results on the field.

If they get 2022 QB play again, it's possible.

Still feeling the floor is 6-6, which I don't think guarantees him another year. And it shouldn't.

I can change my stance and have no problem admitting it. Him giving both QBs an opportunity to win the starting job during the first couple of games has really helped. Now if Horn goes out and looks just as good or slightly better and doesn't get the start, then ****em lol.

Unless they go 5-7 or worse without a shit ton of injuries, I don't think there's a strong argument to fire Drinkwitz other than he needs to actually win moving forward.

2024 should be a make-or-break year given the recruiting classes he's brought/bringing in.

He's done enough to not get fired so far, but he hasn't done anything other than recruit to justify keeping him.

If they don't win 8 or 9 games in 2024, he should be booted.

We've gone through this. Not making any progress from being in the toilet of the easier SEC Division for the 4th consecutive year is enough reason to make a change.

Gonna be even harder starting next year.

Really excited for tonight!

Brady Cook gets the start per KOMU

One first down and punt.

Anyone have a good stream?

I like how Peat runs.

Cook made one decent throw, but everything else is out of the game manager playbook. SEC defenses are too fast for a passing offense based on throws to the flats.

11/12 87 yds against a shitty team. Not impressive at all. Had 2 throws down field and sailed one of then. I'm ready to see Horn. He better not just get the goddamn 2nd string offense.

He's slow as hell

Pre-season playbook against a weak opponent.

Not sure what this sort of thing is supposed to actually demonstrate. If it's a competition, shouldn't you force both guys to execute with a little degree of difficulty?

I mean Cook can't have done more than he's been asked thus far, but he sure as shit hasn't been asked to do much.

Missed that sideline ball he needs to hit more often than he doesn't.

I like Schrader more than Peat.

Could be. I have zero preconceptions and turned on the game half through the 1st qtr. Liked what I saw when I saw it.
Peat has some wiggle.

Now I see more of him, I do like Schrader's power & decisiveness. Balance through contact looks good.

Still pretty disappointing to me that for two years that's been the best pair of RBs we have.

Really hoped we'd have someone push them out of the lineup.

Agreed...very underwhelming

Schrader isn't Tyler Badie or Henry Josey, but he does look quicker. He also runs hard.

Cook made one good throw. Looks like the same guy to me.

I just hope Drink uses a bigger sample size than just this game to decide between Cook & Horn.

The deep ball he threw on the last drive to Burden was great. He had to put that under the safety and over the corner and time it well enough to keep Luther from getting killed. As was the ball that Burden DID get wrecked on. The timing on the throw was really good but Burden did a bad job settling himself for the hit. The first TD was also a very nice ball.

Cook had one miss I'd really want to see him hit. Another that was makeable but didn't bother me as much.

On balance, to whatever extent you were disappointed in Cook, it isn't Cooks fault. He executed the offense well, especially on those last two drives. He was kinda neutered the first few but on balance it's unlikely that Horn would've run those drives as well or better.

I hope Horn takes the job but that was a pretty strong statement from Cook.

Right side of the line looked rough

I don't get how you find anything out about being vanilla as hell and not pushing the ball down the field.

Last two drives were much more aggressive and Cook continued to execute.

Honestly the talent gap it's just too big to matter much. You'll learn more in an intrasquad scrimmage than you'll learn here.

Windows were too big. Pocket to secure. Defenders too small.

I was hoping for a little more resistance. Mizzou is all that slowed Mizzou.

Thicker Kicker has the yips

Should we be worried about Mevis?

2 passes for Horn in the quarter

I hope we have a decent backup kicker. His yips started at the end of last season and he’s obviously still got them.

Half Horn, half receiver.

Not a good pass

3.

Bad throw. Put it behind the WR and the WR had to make an awfully difficult adjustment on the ball. That's a ball that gets picked more often than not. It's the exact sort of throw Buechele was making.

{shrug}

First real action but that wasn't a good toss on a relatively easy throw.

Wow, total shit show in the 2nd half.

It wasn't entirely on Horn, no.

But it wasn't half either.

That's 80% on the quarterback. Nothing good is ever going to come from making that throw where he made it.

I wouldn't say we have a ballgame just yet - but it's a possession away from being one.

Time to show us you've got some hair on your peaches, Sam. Big possession, kid.

Don’t see the point in babying him, hard to get in a rhythm when it’s run-run-pass. Let it fly and see what he’s got.

It's gonna happen with someone green looking to impress. Still on him though.

But at least from my shitty viewing angle from the table, the receiver was trying to body catch that and did no favors.

More interested to see if he can bounceback.

Receiver did everything he could to get that ball - it wasn't a body catch because the throw wasn't on his body.

It was a solid 3-4 feet away from where it needed to be; very behind him and he reached his arms back as he was going to ground to try to snag it and just couldn't.

Receiver didn't do anything wrong there - he just couldn't pick his QB up. He made a hell of an effort.

This looks like last year’s team sooooo much it’s scary….

This is gonna be a long year….

Once again. Hard to see exactly from a weird ass viewing angle.

And Horn's not looking as mobile or as decisive back there either.

Fellas - say it's a product of how they've been used if you want to but there's really no argument to make at all that Horn's looked nearly as good as Cook tonight.

Again - he's a baby. This is absolutely to be expected. But lets not call this anything it isn't. Today's performance doesn't need to go to the cards; Cook won this one by 4th round KO.

I hope that doesn't close the book, though. I want to see Horn continue to get snaps in some of these games to see if he can get over some jitters and the talent can play up.

Not a good response by Horn. Another brutal penalty didn't help.