NEW ORLEANS (October 5, 2023) – University of Missouri signal-caller Brady Cook has been voted as the week five Manning Award Quarterback of the Week. He earned the honor over seven other Manning Award Stars of the Week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s online voting contest.
Cook completed 25 of his first 29 passes as he finished 33-of-41 for 395 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-21 SEC road win over Vanderbilt. He also set the SEC record for consecutive passes without an interception (348) while tallying his career-bests for passing yards and touchdowns. This is the third straight game the St. Louis native has thrown for over 300 yards. Cook is a junior and has one year of eligibility remaining.
This performance helped the Tigers improve to a perfect 5-0, their first 5-0 start since 2013.
Cook’s closest competitors in this week’s online voting were Dequan Finn of Toledo and Arkansas State’s Jaylen Raynor. Finn, who added 61 rushing yards and a touchdown, completed 16-of-20 passes for 281 yards including a 68-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference as the Rockets held off Northern Illinois in a 35-33 MAC victory. Raynor, who matched the Red Wolves program record for touchdown passes in a game, becomes just the fourth true freshman since 2013 to connect on six TD passes in a game, as he led his team to a 52-28 road win over UMass.
No. 21 Missouri and No. 23 LSU square off on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 at 11 a.m. CT inside Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium. The sold-out game will air on ESPN and the Tiger Radio Network. The two programs – Mizzou founded in 1890 and LSU (3-2, 2-1 SEC) in 1893 – meet for only the fourth time on Saturday and second in Columbia. Missouri leads the all-time series 2-1 and won the only matchup in CoMo, 45-41 in 2020.
Group and single-game tickets for Missouri’s remaining home games are available for purchase now by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or buying online.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou Athletics, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Missouri football (@MizzouFootball) and Coach Drinkwitz (@CoachDrinkwitz) on X. You can also find the Tigers on Instagram and Facebook.
THE MANNING AWARD
While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. Ten finalists will be selected and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
In its first 19 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 14 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with eight Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) has had five winners. The Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. Alabama (Bryce Young and Jones), LSU (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield), and Texas (McCoy and Vince Young) have each produced a pair of Manning Award winners.
All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Mannings themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – University of Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III was one of five players add to the watch list for the 2023 Biletnikoff Award, the The Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., the Florida-based creator and sponsor of the prestigious award, announced Thursday.
The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the college football season’s outstanding FBS receiver. Any player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back, and running back) who catches a pass is eligible for the award. As such, the Biletnikoff Award recognizes college football’s outstanding receiver, not merely college football’s outstanding wide receiver.
Burden leads the NCAA FBS with 644 receiving yds. and tops the Southeastern Conference with 45 receptions and a 128.8 yards per game average. His 400 yards after contact are the most among Power 5 receivers, according to PFF College.
He had tallied four-straight 100-yard games and his 644 represents the most in Mizzou history for any receiver through five games, while his average of 8.6 receptions per outing ranks third among all FBS receivers this season. Burden also recorded his sixth-straight game with seven receptions or more – his 11 catches at Vandy were a career high and handed him Mizzou’s program record for consecutive games with at least seven receptions (surpassing Danario Alexander in 2009).
FANS CAN VOTE ONLINE!
Recently, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation opened the 2023 FanVote. Every fan may vote once daily on the Biletnikoff Award FanVote page. The aggregate fan tally will be counted as one official vote to determine semi-finalists, finalists (three receivers), and the winner. In the closest contest in years, the FanVote tally provided the one-vote margin of victory for 2013 winner Brandin Cooks of Oregon State.
The Biletnikoff Award candidate eligibility and voting criteria, transparently explicit and detailed, are available for review at BiletnikoffAward.com/criteria.
MIZZOU BACK IN ACTION VS. LSU
No. 21 Missouri and No. 23 LSU square off on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 at 11 a.m. CT inside Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium. The sold-out game will air on ESPN and the Tiger Radio Network.
The two programs – Mizzou founded in 1890 and LSU (3-2, 2-1 SEC) in 1893 – meet for only the fourth time on Saturday and second in Columbia. Missouri leads the all-time series 2-1 and won the only matchup in CoMo, 45-41 in 2020.
Group and single-game tickets for Missouri’s remaining home games are available for purchase now by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or buying online.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou Athletics, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Missouri football (@MizzouFootball) and Coach Drinkwitz (@CoachDrinkwitz) on X. You can also find the Tigers on Instagram and Facebook.