Tech wasn’t the only team in college football with a quarterback battle going into fall camp. Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz had a choice to make between bowl-game starter Brady Cook, redshirt freshman Tyler Macon, prize recruit Sam Horn, and former Tech QB Jack Abraham.
And Drinkwitz selected Brady Cook to try to turn around a passing offense that truly failed to impress a year ago:
Brady Cook didn’t play much meaningful time until the Armed Forces Bowl, but his numbers in that one game were similar to what season starter Connor Bazelak was able to accomplish in his eleven games. Bazelak averaged 6.8 yards per attempt and Cook averaged 5.9.
And the yards per completion numbers look even worse. Missouri as a team ranked 4th worse in FBS college football last year in yards per caught ball:
The 2021 Missouri passing game left a lot to be desired. It’s never a good sign when the leading receiver (by receptions) is the running back. The Tigers reliably failed to move the ball down the field in large chunks. All the complaints about how boring the Tech offense was a year ago? They could also be applied to Missouri:
Brady Cook will have another year in the system and another fall camp to improve his abilities. Incoming 5-star recruit WR Luther Burden III will give Cook more talent to throw to. But that leading receiver / running back Tyler Badie has graduated.
Like Tech, Missouri has a lot to figure out on the offensive side of the ball early in this 2022 season. And if Tech is able to solve their question marks first, they may give the Tigers a run for their money in Columbia.
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Nathan is also a contributor to gtpdd.dog, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to check out @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter.