The downside of a highly ranked college football team doing exactly what it should do against early season opponents it paid to pulverize is that it provides such little intrigue some start overexerting themselves in attempts to create some.
No. 6 Missouri is 2-0 after romps against Murray State and Buffalo. No parades needed. But it鈥檚 a lot better than, say, Notre Dame dropping 13 spots in the Associated Press Top 25 because it coughed up a home game to Northern Illinois. Ouch.
An under-examination Tigers defense stocked with new transfers and led by new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon has delivered consecutive shutouts, held opponents to a measly 18.5 percent success rate on third-down conversion attempts, and has allowed just one play that gained more than 20 yards. The biggest unknown about the team has been a positive, as positive as can be through two games against significantly overmatched opposition. So, naturally, the worry has to find a new place to land.
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For some, that鈥檚 on quarterback Brady Cook. Again.
He鈥檚 overthrown some targets! He鈥檚 only completed one touchdown pass! Last week, he had an interception!
Please, relax.
Don鈥檛 take my word for it.
Listen to Boston College coach Bill O鈥橞rien.
鈥淰ery athletic, tough quarterback in Brady Cook,鈥 O鈥橞rien said this week while previewing Mizzou. 鈥淰ery, very good player. He can throw. And run.鈥
Cook鈥檚 completion percentage (71.6 percent) is fourth-best in the SEC at the moment. His team was up 35-0 at halftime in Game 1 and led 24-0 at halftime of Game 2. He has overcooked some throws, sure. He鈥檚 also used his legs to smartly score three times, giving him the second-most rushing touchdowns for an SEC QB so far this season. Any analysis that goes beyond that after MU鈥檚 first two games feels like mountain making from molehills.
Saturday鈥檚 Game 3 is a little different, though. Credit to No. 24 Boston College and O鈥橞rien for making it so. By stunning Florida State, BC has a buzz, a number by its name and a top-10 win beneath its belt.
Now, I鈥檓 not sure beating Florida State is going to look nearly as impressive by the season鈥檚 end, perhaps similar to how Mizzou got a big morale boost out of beating then 鈥渄efending champion鈥 LSU in 2020, a win that felt seismic in the moment, before that same LSU team went on to be a .500 team that fired its coach. But a college football season isn鈥檛 examined in reverse. It plays out weekly. Boston College has legitimate momentum and confidence, plus a talented quarterback in Thomas Castellanos.
This game has earned an elevated stage. It鈥檚 the first meeting of a ranked Mizzou team and a ranked non-conference opponent since Mizzou and Illinois kicked off the 2008 season at The Dome. It鈥檚 also the only game going down Saturday that features two ranked teams. College GameDay seemed to have picked the wrong SEC Columbia. That won鈥檛 stop the College Football Playoff shapers from scouting.
So, yes, it鈥檚 time for Cook to elevate again. Count me among those who thinks he can and will. We鈥檙e still talking about the same quarterback who squashed skepticism last season and led the Tigers to an 11-win season that included a win against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, a team leader who last season threw nearly as many passes of 20-plus yards (52) as returning Georgia starter and Heisman Trophy candidate Carson Beck (58), and more than returning Alabama quarterback and Heisman candidate Jalen Milroe (51).
Cook鈥檚 even more experienced now than he was then, and he knows the difference between Murray State and Buffalo and ranked BC. A CFP appearance is within the Tigers鈥 paws this season if they seize it. Games against ranked opponents, whether they鈥檙e ranked at the season鈥檚 end or not, matter more.
Remember, too, that Cook and his offense鈥檚 production were rather tame through the first two cakewalk games of last season, before coach Eli Drinkwitz and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore started getting deeper into the playbook against Kansas State and beyond. Chess not checkers, Drinkwitz reminded us back then.
A look around the league would also be wise, for the sake of some quarterback context.
Florida already has moved on to its freshman quarterback DJ Lagway after initially starting Graham Mertz. Auburn has benched interception prone Payton Thorne in favor of redshirt freshman Hank Brown. Texas A&M鈥檚 Conner Weigman has completed fewer than 53 percent of his passes and has just one completion of 20 or more yards.
There are SEC campuses suffering from real QB issues. Mizzou isn鈥檛 one of them. Saturday would be the perfect time for Cook to make that clear once more.