COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 Consider, for a moment, Missouri鈥檚 butterfly effect.
It centers around one game from the 2023 football season 鈥 and really, one play from the game, at that. If kicker Harrison Mevis doesn鈥檛 hit a 61-yard field goal as time expires against Kansas State, does any of the magic of last season happen?
What would or wouldn鈥檛 have happened if that kick from the wrong side of midfield hadn鈥檛 worked out in MU鈥檚 favor is the kind of hypothetical that might have been captivating in the offseason, but now, in the midst of the 2024 season, it鈥檚 pointless. The butterfly effect analogy is simply a way of making the point that beating Kansas State was foundational to what Mizzou accomplished in 2023.
鈥淭hat K-State game stands out for a lot of people just because of the way it had gone the year before and how nobody blinked, everybody stayed the course,鈥 MU wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler told the Post-Dispatch before the start of the preseason, confirming that idea.
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A recent "Spider-Man" movie coined the term 鈥渃anon event鈥 for something like that: something that happens to a person that is so transformational it defines who they become 鈥 something as insightful as it is imperative to undergo.
And it鈥檚 a real thing that a win can become within a college football locker room.
鈥淎s coaches, we鈥檙e just constantly, constantly, constantly trying to reinforce certain standards and beliefs,鈥 running backs coach Curtis Luper said a few months ago. 鈥淪ometimes, it just reveals itself in a freaking game or something. It could be Kansas State (in 2023). You look up and, 鈥榃ow, what a locker room we have. What leaders we have on our football team.鈥欌
Maybe Mizzou鈥檚 weekend win over Auburn was a canon event, a fresh version of last year鈥檚 first statement result.
It will take time for that possibility to be proven true or false. No. 21 Missouri鈥檚 showing against No. 15 Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Tuscaloosa will testify one way or another.
But think of the parallels between the two games:
Quarterback Brady Cook left the 鈥23 K-State game with an injury in the first half after twisting his leg in the turf, trying to jog off the pain before falling to the ground and needing to come out of the game. He returned 鈥 after just two plays in that case 鈥 adamantly telling his coaches that he was fine to play.
It took a little bit longer 鈥 and a hospital visit 鈥 to get Cook back from the suspected high ankle sprain he suffered in the first quarter of the weekend鈥檚 win over Auburn. But sure enough, he came back from 鈥渦nlikely to return鈥 status to have a similar conversation with coach Eli Drinkwitz and insist he was able to finish the game.
Cook led game-winning scoring drives in both games, too, to set up Mevis鈥 field goal in 2023 and a 17-play, 95-yard effort for Jamal Roberts鈥 rushing touchdown on Saturday.
After both of those games, Drinkwitz took his postgame news conference as an opportunity to passionately defend Cook.
In 2023, when fans booed Cook鈥檚 introduction as the starting quarterback: 鈥淗e went out and played his butt off for that team. They need to get behind him. That鈥檚 bullcrap. That should never happen.鈥
And Saturday, after Cook had taken more flak for a statistically mediocre start to 2024: 鈥淭hey just picked him up In the locker room, celebrated with him. That鈥檚 their guy. They believe in him more than anybody else. We all do in this building. Nobody doubts that guy. Hopefully, nobody else will. Hopefully, we鈥檒l get over that bullcrap.鈥
There are key differences between the games, too. Mizzou was expected to lose rather soundly to K-State in 2023 but was favored to win easily against Auburn in 2024. This year鈥檚 MU team already has a loss, and the expectations for it are much, much higher than they were for the 2023 team at the time of its big win. Those factors shouldn鈥檛 be coasted past for the benefit of the narrative.
But coaches and annual roster turnover will tell you that each year's team is different. Maybe this comeback against Auburn will be the kind of canon event that beating K-State was for last season鈥檚 crew.
鈥淔or this team to find it and figure it out like that,鈥 Drinkwitz said, 鈥(it) bodes well for the rest of the year.鈥
Cook, the comeback鈥檚 cornerstone, took the idea a step further.
鈥淚 think this win is going to take us far,鈥 the quarterback said. 鈥淭his is one of those moments for our team that we hadn鈥檛 had yet. We really haven鈥檛 had one of these moments yet where we band together, we fight and we go win an SEC football game like we need to聽鈥 and we go make plays to do it. I think our team needed that.鈥