COLUMBIA, Mo. — Little did Missouri quarterback Brady Cook know sitting motionless inside an MRI machine at University Hospital, a few miles from the stadium where he’s had some of his greatest moments, that he would be able to top them all before time ran out of Saturday’s game against Auburn.
It would be a turn of events so dramatic that his cell phone wouldn’t stop pinging congratulatory texts following a Hollywood ending that resulted in a 21-17 win.
Any hope Missouri had of a realistic shot at a college football playoff berth lay inside of that tube with Cook and his fragile ankle as the Tigers were not looking good against Auburn’s Tigers.
Without Cook after the opening series, Mizzou had trouble moving the ball.
By the time Cook returned, Mizzou was down 17-6 and there was still doubt that he could return to the field. The exact extent of his injury wasn’t revealed but suffice to say that talk between Cook and medical professionals at one point turned to realistically looking at returning to the sideline in street clothes.
“(It was) the low of lows sitting in the MRI tube … wondering what this means for not only this game, but for my career and the rest of the season,” Cook said Sunday to 5 On Your Side sports director Frank Cusumano.
Watch Frank's full interview with Brady Cook below
But Cook did get out of the MRI machine.
He got back into a truck, returned to Faurot Field and temporarily tried out his ankle on a small turf area near the team’s weight room.
“We come back and the doctors knew if we could find a way to get out there and play and have it feel good enough to do what I need to do, they would allow it,” said Cook.
Cook said there was only a brief conversation with head coach Eli Drinkwitz about limitations. When Cook said there were none, Drinkwitz put him back in.
The rest will go down in Missouri football history.
Cook hit Mookie Cooper with a 78-yard pass, setting up Marcus Carroll's TD run.
Then it was Missouri’s version of “The Drive,” a 95-yard scoring drive that began with just over 4 minutes remaining. It included a third down conversion run by Cook on that sore ankle and a fourth and five pass completion later. It ended with a Jamal Roberts’ run with 46 seconds to go.
Taking over at his own 5-yard line, and with 4:26 to go, Cook converted one third down by running on his sore ankle, then hit Luther Burden III on fourth-and-5 for another first down. Cook hit Wease later in the drive on third-and-10, then found Mekhi Miller inside the 10-yard line with just over a minute to go, setting up Roberts' go-ahead touchdown run.
“What a gutsy performance. Great job. Keep it up,” Cook said NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning texted to him.
He said that one stood out among the litany of texts.
“That was one that stuck.”
The memorable performance will likely be short-lived. Cook and the medical team have work to do on his ankle before the team’s Game of the Year against Alabama this Saturday. The odds will probably be against the Tigers, but who would bet against them and Cook after what they’ve just pulled off.
“It’s just one of those days I’m not gonna forget. The highest of highs at the end of the game, looking at the stadium, looking at teammates, looking at my coaches," Cook said.