COLUMBIA, Mo. — Roughly 24 hours before it played 200 tumultuous and victorious seconds of a college football game, the Missouri football team watched a movie.
The viewing material for the Tigers’ Friday movie night, hand-picked by coach Eli Drinkwitz, was the 2018 war movie “12 Strong,” based on a dozen Green Berets’ combat and survival in Afghanistan.
By the time Mizzou congregated to watch the movie, it was evident that the Tigers would be taking the field against Oklahoma on Saturday without No. 12 — that is, starting quarterback Brady Cook. Drew Pyne, the backup quarterback who’d thrown three costly interceptions in Missouri’s last game, would be the starter.