With Connor Bazelak out, here’s what the Mizzou Tigers backup QBs can do
Who will be under center when Missouri football takes the field against No. 1 Georgia on Saturday in Athens? That’s the big question for the Tigers this week after starting quarterback Connor Bazelak suffered a soft tissue injury in last week’s win over Vanderbilt.
Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz declined to comment on Bazelak’s status in his Tuesday press conference, repeatedly referring to an injury report set to be released Thursday night. Bazelak was listed as questionable, leaving uncertainty leading up to the 11 a.m. Central time kickoff.
When asked about both quarterbacks’ skill sets on Wednesday, wide receivers Tauskie Dove and Barrett Banister both made comments that suggest both QBs could be playing Saturday in lieu of Bazelak.
“I think they’re both really good players. Both of them [are] super athletic kids, both of them throw the ball really well,” Banister said. “And so I’m excited to watch them and it’ll be a fun game.”
Added Dove: “Those two, you don’t know what to expect. At the end of the day, they could have a trick up their sleeve and that’s something that I look forward to Saturday.”
Both quarterbacks are young and relatively unknown commodities. Here’s everything you need to know about the two players who could possibly see time under center on Saturday.
Brady Cook
A redshirt freshman, Cook has slightly more experience than Macon, but not by much.
The 6-foot-2, 207 pound quarterback saw limited action in three games as a freshman last season, recording stats in two of those against Vanderbilt and Georgia.
Against the Commodores in 2020, Cook went 4-for-4 on his pass attempts for 62 yards and a touchdown. On third-and-5, with a little under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, he lofted a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Damon Hazelton with ease to put the Tigers up 41-0.
Cook got into the mix during that year’s blowout loss to Georgia as well. He went 2-for-3 for 10 passing yards and also had one rushing attempt for a loss of 10 yards.
This season, Cook also got some playing time in the Southeast Missouri game. He was the first quarterback subbed in for Bazelak and completed all five of his passes for 29 yards and a touchdown in the third quarter.
Missouri was the first Power Five program to extend a scholarship offer to Cook as a three-star recruit out of Chaminade High School in St. Louis and he committed early in September 2018. Antoine Torrey, Cook’s high school coach, said the quarterback declared as a freshman that his dream was to play for the Tigers, so he didn’t consider many other schools once they offered.
As a senior in 2019, Cook completed 197 of 336 passes for a school-record 3,194 yards and 33 touchdowns, along with 375 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and earned first-team all-Metro Catholic Conference honors.
“We’re pretty heavy run team, Chaminade is, and his senior year...we became a passing team because of him,” Torrey said. ”His mechanics and his accuracy on the ball and being able to really throw the long ball was a highlight for us.”
Tyler Macon
Macon was subbed into the Vanderbilt contest over Cook with around six minutes left in the fourth quarter when Bazelak went down with the injury, which Drinwkitz said was a situational decision based on the true freshman’s experience practicing the four minute drill in practice.
Though Macon didn’t get to show much in that game, carrying the ball twice for eight yards and a touchdown, the St. Louis native impressed earlier this season against Southeast Missouri.
Late in the third quarter, on a third-and-3, Macon threw a perfectly placed laser to wide receiver JJ Hester at the midfield logo on his first pass attempt in a Tiger uniform. Hester took it all the way for the first score of both of their Mizzou careers, a 65-yard completion. Though he saw limited action. Macon finished the afternoon 3-of-4 passing for 69 yards and the touchdown.
“He’s one of these guys that works out all the time on his own, comes in, works on his weaknesses and so he’s continued to improve,” Drinkwitz said of Macon’s progress. “I think, you know, obviously knowledge of the playbook and repetition of the schemes aren’t probably where you wish they would be. But I think that is what he would tell you so he would be more comfortable. But I’m proud of the way he’s attacked his opportunity.”
A three-star recruit out of East St. Louis High School, Macon chose Missouri over offers from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Iowa State and Michigan State, among others. Listed as 6-foot, 200 pounds, he enrolled early in the spring.
As a junior, Macon set an Illinois state record with 56 combined passing and rushing touchdowns while leading East St. Louis to a 14-0 record and Illinois Class 6A championship. On the season, he threw for 4,241 yards and 39 touchdowns while rushing for another 827 yards and 17 scores.
“Tyler Macon, he’s a mobile quarterback,” Dove said. “He can scramble and that’s something that honestly, in my opinion that’s a pro, because the weaknesses to the defense is a scramble drill.”
In 2020, Macon was chosen to compete in the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp, which has produced some of the best players across college football and the NFL. Only five other Mizzou quarterbacks have earned the honor: Chase Patton (2003), Chase Daniel (2004), Blaine Gabbert (MVP in 2007) and Drew Lock (2014).
Elite 11 head coach Trent Dilfer told 247 Sports at the time that Macon was “strong and powerful, really coachable” and even compared him to Steve McNair, the former Heisman Trophy finalist and NFL MVP for the Tennessee Titans. Macon finished ranked fourth among the 2020 class, which also included five-stars Caleb Williams (Oklahoma), Brock Vandergriff (Georgia), Drake Maye (North Carolina) and J.J. McCarthy (Michigan) and Kyle McCord (Ohio State), among others.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 8:17 PM.
