Brady Cook, Missouri's offense collapses against Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Tx. — There's just no nice way to put it; The No. 9 Missouri Tigers' offense against the Texas A&M Aggies was terrible.

Missouri entered its first road game of the season in a turbulent Kyle Field environment knowing it would face one of its toughest challenges of the year. However, what followed couldn't have been worse. The Tigers were already out of the game at halftime and ultimately lost 41-10.

That's not to say that Missouri's defense didn't also play a significant role in the loss, but even if it managed to stop a few extra drives, the offense wasn't anywhere near the level it needed to be to beat the Aggies on the road. or at home. It wasn't just head coach Eli Drinkwitz, quarterback Brady Cook or the offensive line – it was everyone.

The extra week of preparation didn't seem to pay off for the Tigers as Texas A&M's defense dogged them throughout the game. The pass rush defense was particularly impressive, with Cook being sacked a total of six times, for a loss of 25 yards.

Missouri's offensive line was constantly breached by the Aggies, leaving Cook with little time and space to make good plays for the offense. However, the senior himself had many problems.

Cook had his worst performance of the season – and arguably one of the worst of his college career – throwing for just 186 yards on 13 of 31 completions and a single touchdown. On several occasions, he knocked over receivers or threw them into areas of heavy coverage, displaying poor accuracy that made it impossible for his receivers to catch them.

Due to Texas A&M's strong pass rush, Cook also got into scrambles throughout the game, but most of them were largely unsuccessful. Not only did he not extend the trips on the run, he also took a few hard hits that didn't make his day any easier.

Against a stout Aggie defense, Cook's play was nowhere near the standards the Tigers needed to get a win on the road. If he doesn't improve from his early season performances, the Tiger offense could be in serious trouble.

“I tried to make Brady Cook nervous and it worked,” defensive end Nic Scourton said of Texas A&M’s defensive game plan. “He made some bad decisions in the game that worked out in our favor.”

However, not every throw Cook made throughout the day was inaccurate, with the attacking core even taking some blame for not completing some plays that could have swung the momentum in the offense's favor. Morale was low early on, and as the score continued to dwindle in the Aggies' favor, the effort of the entire offense diminished.

For Theo Wease Jr., the failure of the offense had a simple reason.

“We just didn’t execute it,” Wease Jr. said.