Brady Cook throws for career-high 395 yards, No. 23 Missouri beats Vandy 38-21

Updated Sep. 30, 2023 9:10 p.m. ET

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brady Cook is a big reason that the Missouri Tigers are off to their best start since 2013.

The 23rd-ranked Missouri Tigers quarterback set the Southeastern Conference record for most pass attempts without an interception Saturday as he threw for a career-high 395 yards and four touchdowns, helping Missouri beat Vanderbilt 38-21 Saturday.

“Just let him cook,” Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III said of his quarterback.

The Tigers (5-0) opened the SEC portion of their schedule with their fifth straight victory. That puts them two victories from matching 2013 when the Tigers won their first seven games en route to the SEC Eastern Division title and a berth in the conference championship.

Missouri also is one win from matching last year's total for the season. Coach Eli Drinkwitz isn’t worried about his Tigers getting overconfident.

“I don’t really think they’re buying the hype or drinking the Kool-Aid in any sort of manner,” Drinkwitz said. “I think they’re focused on how do we play this game and then how do we get better.”

Cody Schrader ran for a TD that gave Missouri the lead for good early in the second quarter.

The Tigers outgained Vanderbilt 532-300 with the Commodores not reaching 100 yards of offense until 7:19 left in the third. Kris Abrams-Draine ended that drive with an interception in the end zone, and Austin Firestone had the game's lone sack with 5:42 left at the Vandy 19 to set up Cook's final TD pass.

Missouri won its fourth straight in this series and improved to 4-2 against the Commodores in Nashville. Burden finished with 11 catches for 140 yards receiving and two TDs. Theo Wease Jr. had 10 receptions for 118 yards and a TD.

Cook now has thrown 347 passes without an interception dating back to his last pick in a win last October over Vanderbilt. He had seen a tweet about how close he was coming into with 306 straight attempts.

“Obviously, I’ll probably throw an interception this year, so I’m not too worried about it," Cook said. "I’m just trying to do the best I can.”

Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-2) now has lost four straight overall.

Commodores coach Clark Lea started senior Ken Seals at quarterback to give sophomore AJ Swann time to heal up a bruised right elbow after he wasn't able to work enough in practice. Seals ran for a 6-yard TD putting Vanderbilt up 7-3 in the first quarter and tried to rally the Commodores in the fourth quarter.

“I’ve got so much respect for him,” Lea said of how Seals has handled his college career. “I’m really proud of him. I’m disappointed in the game. Obviously we want to win, and we’re experiencing the pain of growth and we want to be ahead of where we are and I think that's really normal.”

Missouri answered with Schrader's TD early in the second, and Cook put the Tigers up 17-7 with a 12-yard TD pass to Wease just before halftime. Cook made it 21 straight points as he opened the third with an 18-yard TD pass to Burden for a 24-7 lead.

That put Burden over 100 yards receiving for a fourth straight game.

THE TAKEAWAY

Missouri: Cook is blossoming this season after being questionable with an injured knee. He completed 25 of his first 29 passes, and he completed passes to eight different receivers. The junior quarterback, who hadn't thrown for 300 yards in a game before this season, posted his fourth straight such game.

Vanderbilt: Seals hadn't started since Nov. 13, 2021, a game he couldn't finish because of injury. He led Vandy in passing in both 2020 and 2021 only to lose the starting job to Mike Wright last season. Wright transferred Mississippi State this past offseason.

Seals' TD run in the first was the second of his career. He threw a 31-yard TD pass to Will Sheppard and a 45-yarder to Junior Sherrill in the fourth quarter trying to rally the Dores. Seals finished with 259 yards passing.

SEC RECORD

The Missouri quarterback topped the mark Andre Woodson previously set with 325 attempts without an interception between 2006 and 2007. The previous Missouri mark had been 254 by Chase Daniel.

Drinkwitz said being a smart, disciplined decision-maker is the mark of a good quarterback.

“He’s playing smart, not conservative,” Drinkwitz said. "When it needs to go deep, he’s been able to hit those deep balls. When he needs to take some check downs, he’s done that. He just hasn’t put the ball in jeopardy very much. It’ll happen at some point. But, you know, so far, so good.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Missouri: The Tigers should move up at least one spot with No. 22 Florida's loss to Kentucky.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Hosts No. 13 LSU before a sold-out stadium.

Vanderbilt: Visits No. 22 Florida.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll

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