Brady Cook threw for 395 yards and four touchdowns, leading No. 23 Missouri to a 38-21 win over host Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday.
Cook picked apart the Commodores (2-4, 0-2 SEC) from start to finish. He hit 33-of-41 throws and didn’t throw an interception. He threw two scores to Luther Burden (11 catches, 140 yards) and one each to Theo Wease (10-118) and Marquis Johnson (3-64).
Vanderbilt benched starting quarterback AJ Swann for Ken Seals (20 of 31, 259 yards, two touchdowns, one pick), who made his first start since 2021. The Commodores lost their fourth consecutive game.
The Tigers (5-0, 1-0) took a 24-7 lead with 10:37 left in the third quarter when Cook hit a diving Burden for an 18-yard, over-the-shoulder touchdown grab.
Seals threw a pick to Missouri’s Kris Abrams-Draine in the end zone with 2:23 left in the third. After the Tigers failed on a fourth-down attempt, Seals hit Will Sheppard with consecutive throws of 29 and 31 yards, the last for a score with 12:59 left.
Cook hit Johnson with a perfect 44-yard scoring strike with 11:10 to play, restoring the Tigers’ to lead 17.
Seals countered with a 45-yard throw to freshman Junior Sherrill for his first career score with 9:36 left.
After Missouri’s punt, the Commodores went for it on fourth-and-4 from their 32, but an Austin Firestone sack ended the drive.
Cook then hit Burden with another over-the-shoulder throw with 4:23 left to push the lead to 17.
Missouri used a slow, methodical, ball-control approach with its offense in amassing a 17-7 lead at the break. Despite kicking off, the Tigers outsnapped Vandy (39-25) and outgained the Commodores (263-98) in the first half and had 16 first downs.
Against Vandy’s starting freshmen corners Martel Hight and Trudell Berry, Cook was 20-for-24 for 217 yards in the first half, with a touchdown and no picks, including seven completions to Wease for 97 yards.
The Tigers’ first-half scores came on Cook’s 12-yard throw to Wease with 55 seconds left in the second quarter, Cody Schrader’s second-quarter scoring run and Harrison Mevis’ 23-yard field goal.
Vandy’s first-half points came on Seals’ 6-yard keeper.
–Field Level Media
