Saturday didn't go as planned for Missouri football. A day that started with a chance to firmly cement itself in the SEC championship race over the back half of the season ended with Missouri licking its wounds as it heads back to Columbia, both literally and figuratively.

The Tigers were trounced by Alabama in Tuscaloosa 34-0 on Saturday, as they were unable to make any inroads on either side of the ball apart from a little bit of resistance on defense early on in the game. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz and company also lost quarterback Brady Cook to a hand injury early on in the game that knocked him out for the rest of the day.

It wasn't a guarantee that Cook was going to be able to play at all against the Crimson Tide due to an ankle injury that he had been nursing coming in. He tried to gut it out and instead picked up a new injury along the way. After the game, Drinkwitz explained why Cook was unable to return, per ESPN.

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“Didn't feel like they were comfortable letting him continue, so we'll see where that goes when we get back [to Missouri],” Drinkwitz said.

Missouri is still in a good spot record-wise, as it sits at 6-2 heading into the final four games of the season. However, its inability to even look competitive against two of the SEC's best teams — Texas A&M and Alabama — is a major cause for concern surrounding how good this Missouri football team actually is. Those two teams outscored Missouri 75-10 in the two games, so the Tigers have been blown off the field both times.

If Cook is forced to miss any time, Missouri will be in a heap of trouble. Longtime college football veteran Drew Pyne replaced Cook on Saturday, but the former Notre Dame and Arizona State signal caller showed that he isn't capable of playing at the same level that Cook is. Pyne finished the game 6-for-12 with 42 yards and three interceptions.