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COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥� At 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, Brady Cook鈥檚 right ankle gave way underneath him and he crumpled onto the 40-yard line.

Two minutes and three plays earlier, the Missouri quarterback had hurt that ankle because of a hip-drop tackle from an Auburn defender. Cook tried to stay in the game, hopping and hobbling between snaps to loosen the throbbing joint. His ankle made the decision for him, sending him tumbling to the turf on a scramble attempt.

Cook limped straight for the Mizzou locker room, disappearing into Memorial Stadium鈥檚 southwest tunnel at 11:16 a.m.

At 12:50 p.m., the team officially designated Cook as 鈥渦nlikely to return.鈥� But at 1:37 p.m., with MU trailing 17-6, he did.

And at 2:38 p.m., No. 19 Missouri (6-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) completed its comeback, beating Auburn (2-5, 0-4 SEC) 21-17 in a remarkable display of resilience shown by a player already known for his toughness.

In between those timestamps and out of the public eye, Cook鈥檚 own comeback came to fruition, from a midgame stint in a hospital to a personal epiphany and, ultimately, an improbable return to play.

鈥淚 was very convinced that I was not going to come back,鈥� Cook said.

Yet he did.

鈥楽taring at the ceiling鈥�

Riding in a truck through the MU campus, Cook kept getting recognized. And making eye contact with fans through the vehicle鈥檚 untinted windows felt awkward.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e like, 鈥榳hat is going on?鈥欌�� Cook said.

And they had every right to be confused. Cook wasn鈥檛 driving the truck 鈥� a member of Mizzou鈥檚 athletic training staff was 鈥� and they were trying to slip through lingering groups of tailgaters occupying the few blocks of parking and service roads between Memorial Stadium and University Hospital.

Oh, and this was during the first quarter of Missouri鈥檚 homecoming game. Cook, after making it back to the locker room, needed an MRI on his ankle. Re-taping it, icing it, walking it off 鈥� the basic remedies weren鈥檛 going to do the trick.

So he took an improvised ride to the hospital a short distance from the stadium. Once he was there, Cook had nothing to do but sit and wait.

He wasn鈥檛 allowed to have any electronics around him, so he sat in silence, 鈥渓ooking at the ceiling,鈥� Cook said.

He鈥檇 heard that, with backup quarterback Drew Pyne running the offense, Mizzou kicker Blake Craig gave the home team a 3-0 lead with a field goal shortly after the quarterback鈥檚 injury. Cook later caught wind that Auburn had tied the game at 3-3 in the second quarter with a field goal of its own. But mostly, it was just silence and a hospital room ceiling.

鈥淎s you can imagine, that鈥檚 not a whole lot of fun,鈥� he said.

Really, though, he wasn鈥檛 missing much fun on the field. The dueling sets of Tigers weren鈥檛 exactly scoring. Both offenses struggled to ignite, leading to 261 combined yards of offense in the first half.

And the third quarter was decidedly not fun for Mizzou. Auburn found a bit of explosiveness through a 47-yard passing touchdown over the top of the hosts鈥� defense. MU star Luther Burden III muffed a punt, which Auburn recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. By 1:14 p.m., the black-and-gold Tigers were trailing 17-3.

While they were collapsing inward, Cook, still ceiling-watching at the hospital, was looking inward.

He鈥檚 an experienced quarterback 鈥� Saturday was his 34th career start 鈥� and he鈥檚 in his final season of college football. He knows what that means for opportunities to play in the stadium his family drove to from 最新杏吧原创 during his childhood.

鈥淚 realized I had 2陆 games left to play in Faurot, in front of that crowd, in front of Mizzou,鈥� Cook said.

But in order to get from an MRI machine back out onto the field to make it 2陆 and not just two, he needed to get his ankle back in order.

鈥淲e were going to find a way,鈥� Cook said.

鈥楥an you really play?鈥�

Tucked inside Mizzou鈥檚 new south end team facility, adjacent to an expansive weight room, there are a few strips of artificial turf on the ground.

Around 1 p.m., Cook needed them to test out treatments for his ankle. He still didn鈥檛 think he鈥檇 be able to return to the game that was unfolding across the driveway. His pads and gear were off.

The training staff tried plenty of things to help Cook.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of stuff,鈥� he said, which was as specific as he鈥檇 get 鈥� though a blood-stained square Band-Aid stuck to the front of Cook鈥檚 swollen ankle suggests a needle was probably involved.

Not a lot was helping, but trainers proposed 鈥渙ne more last-ditch effort,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淚t worked, and immediately I knew.鈥�

Trainers spun more tape around his ankle. He strapped on his shoulder pads. And at 1:19 p.m., Brady Cook came sprinting out of the tunnel he鈥檇 limped into 123 minutes earlier.

To say it changed the game would be the kind of understatement that scrubs the moment of its power. Cook鈥檚 sudden, improbable entrance generated a kind of buzz in the crowd that would make a wrestling company jealous.

He threw some warm-up passes on the sideline. Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz walked over to the quarterback.

鈥淐an you really play?鈥� he asked Cook.

鈥淚鈥檓 gonna go,鈥� Cook replied.

At 1:40 p.m., he completed the play that set in motion the comeback. After wide receiver Mookie Cooper had dropped a short pass, Cook threw to Cooper again, getting a surprisingly stable base from his ankle to zip the ball between two Auburn defenders. Cooper caught the ball and busted a few tackles on a 78-yard journey, to the 2-yard line.

MU scored on the first play of the fourth quarter, on a 2-yard run by Marcus Carroll, making Cook鈥檚 first possession back in the game a touchdown drive. He punctuated that by running for a 2-point conversion to cut the Tigers鈥� deficit to 17-14. But the offense slowed again as the fourth quarter trundled by until there were four minutes and 26 left in the game and Mizzou still trailing by three points.

Starting a drive at his own 5-yard line, Cook scrambled effectively twice within Missouri territory, banking on his ankle鈥檚 ability to hold up. He took a sack that backed the hosts out of range for a game-tying field goal 鈥� not that they were looking to try that, anyway.

With the outcome hanging in the balance on a fourth-and-5 play, Cook beat a blitz to find Burden and move the chains. On a third-and-10 situation from the Auburn 25-yard line, Cook neatly timed a pass to wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. along the sideline. Running back Jamal Roberts ran the ball twice near the goal line before scoring the game-winning touchdown, with 53 seconds to go, then the defense didn鈥檛 allow Auburn to advance beyond its own 25 on its final possession.

MU鈥檚 decisive drive was 17 plays and covered 95 yards. It needed Cook as its fuel.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to come back,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 another thing to be able to scramble for a couple of first downs, to move in the pocket and deliver accurate throws. The No. 1 characteristic of an elite quarterback is toughness.鈥�

At 2:54 p.m., Drinkwitz began his postgame news conference with an emotional assessment of what he saw from Cook, a quarterback whose resilience is firmly etched in what鈥檒l soon be his legacy.

鈥淚 mean, for all that criticism, that man takes, 12 sure would die on that field for everybody,鈥� Drinkwitz said, choking up. 鈥淚 mean, for him to be out there and put his body on the line for us is incredible. That ought to be inspiring to everybody who watched it today.鈥�

And Cook, while talking with reporters, looked like someone who was feeling the joy of a much-needed victory and the return of an ache in his right ankle.

鈥淲hen I woke up this morning,鈥� Cook said, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect all this to go down.鈥�

No. 19 Missouri 21, Auburn 17

Auburn 0 3 14 0 鈥� 17

Missouri 3 0 3 15 鈥� 21

First Quarter

惭滨窜窜鈥�FG Craig 51, 8:17.

Second Quarter

础鲍叠鈥�FG McGough 32, 11:04.

Third Quarter

础鲍叠鈥�Coleman 47 pass from Thorne (McGough kick), 12:34.

础鲍叠鈥�Kite 0 fumble return (McGough kick), 11:08.

惭滨窜窜鈥�FG Craig 38, 7:44.

Fourth Quarter

惭滨窜窜鈥�Carroll 2 run (Cook run), 14:57.

惭滨窜窜鈥�Roberts 4 run (Craig kick), :46.

AUB MIZZ

First downs 17 20

Total Net Yards 286 353

Rushes-yards 35-110 32-81

Passing 176 272

Punt Returns 1-8 1--15

Kickoff Returns 1-19 2-41

Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0

Comp-Att-Int 17-29-0 21-43-0

Sacked-Yards Lost 3-25 5-28

Punts 7-40.857 4-42.75

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-Yards 6-63 2-24

Time of Possession 32:29 27:26

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

搁鲍厂贬滨狈骋鈥�Auburn, Hunter 19-57, Thorne 11-18, Cobb 2-16, Simmons 1-15, Alston 2-4. Missouri, Carroll 8-40, Noel 6-32, Roberts 5-20, K.Lacy 1-1, (Team) 1-(minus 1), Pyne 3-(minus 4), Cook 8-(minus 7).

笔础厂厂滨狈骋鈥�Auburn, Thorne 17-29-0-176. Missouri, Cook 11-22-0-194, Pyne 10-21-0-78.

搁贰颁贰滨痴滨狈骋鈥�Auburn, R.Lewis 4-39, Simmons 4-29, Fairweather 3-2, Hunter 2-28, Lambert-Smith 2-16, Coleman 1-47, Cobb 1-15. Missouri, Burden 6-49, Wease 4-56, Norfleet 3-31, Cooper 2-84, Harris 2-20, Carroll 2-11, Manning 1-15, M.Miller 1-6.

MISSED FG鈥�Auburn, McGough 30. Missouri, Craig 55, Craig 49.