COLUMBIA, Mo. — It was hardly surprising that Missouri's Brady Cook looked for Luther Burden III on the first play of the season.
How far the No. 11 Tigers go will the rest of the way will depend largely upon them.
Cook, the senior quarterback, and Burden, his Heisman Trophy candidate at wide receiver, ended up connecting three times for 39 yards and a score in less than three quarters of work Thursday night. And along with Toriano Pride Jr.'s Pick-6, and TD runs by Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll, they helped Missouri to 51-0 victory over lower-level Murray State.
Cook finished 19 of 30 for 218 yards with touchdowns throwing and running, and Burden had five targets through the air and made the defense look silly on a 10-yard run. Together, the pair of St. Louis-area products — who committed to the once-middling program in the hopes of taking it to another level — showed they are prepared to do just that.
After that initial 10-yard completion on the first play of the game, Cook and Burden hooked up again for a 16-yard touchdown a couple of minutes later. And on the next possession, Burden got so far past the defense that Murray State had little choice but to commit a pass interference penalty, leading to Noel's touchdown run.
In fact, the first quarter looked a lot like last year, when Cook and Burden burst onto the national stage.
Cook had to fight throughout camp with Sam Horn to secure the starting job, then threw for more than 3,300 yards with 21 touchdowns. Much of that went to Burden, who flashed some brilliance as a freshman but became dominant as a sophomore, when he caught 86 passes for 1,212 yards and nine scores while getting NFL scouts buzzing.
Still, not everything was perfect for them against Murray State, even as the Tigers jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and probably could have picked their score against a school expected to finish last in the Missouri Valley this season.
There was Cook overthrowing Marquis Johnson for a would-be 51-yard TD late in the first quarter. And the next possession, when he overthrew Burden — no small feat given his electrifying speed — for what would have been a 41-yard scoring catch.
“We just missed on a couple of shot plays that we're going to have to connect on,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “I think part of that is the adrenaline, you know? ... We'll learn from there. We'll get there.”
The biggest gaffe for Cook and Burden came early in the second quarter. The Tigers tried a trick play setting up their offensive line by their sideline, then bringing Burden in motion. But the exchange from Cook was bobbled — it wasn't clear whether Burden planned to run or throw — and Murray State pounced on the fumble when the ball hit the ground.
Burden hobbled off the field just before halftime, when Cook scored from 3 yards out to give the Tigers a 35-0 lead. But he was back on the field for the start of the second half, when they marched down field for a field goal.
The game in hand, Cook and Burden got the rest of the steamy night off with bigger things awaiting both this season.
Murray State returns home Sept. 7 to play Butler, which also plays at the Football Championship Subdivision level.