Missouri starting quarterback Brady Cook left the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Auburn with an ankle injury, but then unexpectedly returned to lead the No. 19 Tigers to a 21-17 victory after coming from behind.

Cook was injured on Missouri’s opening drive of the game and spent much of the next two quarters in the locker room. In his place, sophomore Drew Pyne struggled, completing just 10 of 21 passes for 78 yards.

At halftime, Missouri announced that Cook would be “unexpectedly returning.” However, Cook got back into the game late in the third quarter with Missouri trailing 17-6 and immediately completed a 78-yard pass to Mookie Cooper. The play set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Marcus Carroll that cut Auburn’s lead to 17-14 after a 2-point conversion.

Cook then engineered a 17-play, 95-yard drive to give Missouri a 21-17 lead on a 4-yard run by Jamal Roberts with 46 seconds left.

“When I came back, I just knew we weren’t going to lose,” Cook told ESPN after the game.

Cook, a senior, ranked sixth in the SEC Saturday with 1,351 passing yards and seven touchdowns with just one interception.

Starting running back Nate Noel also left the game in the first half with a foot injury but returned in the third quarter.

Noel was sixth in the SEC with 471 rushing yards and also has two rushing touchdowns.