COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Two hours and three minutes after he limped to the locker room with an ankle injury and 28 minutes after his return to competition was officially deemed unlikely, Missouri quarterback Brady Cook sprinted out of the tunnel at Memorial stadium to win a football match.

No. 19 Mizzou overcame injuries and a vanishing offense to pull off a 21-17 comeback win over Auburn on Saturday, a win that was thanks almost entirely to the treatment Cook received during his two hours out of sight.

His return in the second half energized a home team that faltered on offense and collapsed on defense and special teams, ultimately leading to a home win for MU.

Cook led an explosive touchdown drive when he got back into the game and did so again late in the fourth quarter, stacking crucial throws on third and fourth downs on the game-winning touchdown drive.

Mizzou has now won seven straight homecoming games and is 6-1 and is bowl eligible for the fifth straight season.

From an injury standpoint, disaster struck Missouri in the first quarter. After just a few plays, Cook tried to escape forward through a collapsing pocket that was closing in on him. The starting quarterback limped up.

He stayed in the game, bouncing back and forth between snaps while receiving play calls into his helmet. But when his ankle completely gave way during an attempted challenge, Cook left the game. He limped straight to MU’s locker room.

Backup quarterback Drew Pyne replaced Cook, although the move significantly changed Mizzou’s offensive capabilities. Pyne was unable to escape the pocket or fight his way through like Cook, which resulted in the backup signal-caller taking some serious hits.

Tight end Brett Norfleet also left the game for a while in the first quarter before returning. He intercepted a short pass from Pyne and brought it into contact with the shoulder he missed due to injury earlier in the season. Norfleet managed to get off the field but quickly fell to the turf and spent more than ten minutes in the medical tent before jogging to the locker room. He returned to the game before halftime.

Running back Nate Noel, who missed last week’s game against Massachusetts with back strain and was listed on the injury report for part of Saturday’s game, did not receive a touch or score after the 11-minute mark of the second quarter. A committee of Marcus Carroll, Jamal Roberts and Kewan Lacy replaced Noel.

After halftime, the team deemed it “unlikely that Cook and Noel would return with lower-body injuries,” leaving the Tigers – temporarily – without their starting quarterback and running back.

At halftime, the score matched the final score of Missouri’s first ever homecoming game, a 3-3 tie in 1911.

Blake Craig gave the hosts a field goal in the first quarter by converting from 51 yards shortly after Cook’s injury. He attempted two more field goals in the first half, but missed wide left from both 49 and 55 yards.

Auburn’s Towns McGough got his team down the field early in the second quarter with a 32-yard strike.

MU had just 133 yards of total offense at halftime, while Auburn had just 128 yards.

Mizzou wide receiver Luther Burden III didn’t get his hands on the ball until the black and gold Tigers’ 31st offensive play. As Missouri tried to find some offense before the end of the first half, Burden got the ball on a touch pass that he converted into an eight-yard gain for a first down.

“The defense keeps us in the game,” MU coach Eli Drinkwitz told the local radio show on the way to the locker room. “We need to find an offensive rhythm with Drew. We will do that in the second half.”

After a boring first half, the second 30 minutes began with the feeling that one touchdown might be enough to put a team in the lead for good. Auburn had the big play first.

Freshman wide receiver Cam Coleman, who had just nine catches this season, out-sacked Missouri safety Marvin Burks Jr. – a familiar theme for the home team’s secondary at this point – and scored one crisp 47-yard touchdown.

Auburn’s 10-3 lead came with 12:34 left in the third quarter.

Then came a sequence that looked like a disaster.

Mizzou’s defense held Auburn to 3-out and gave its offense a chance to put something together. But Burden thwarted the punt at his own 15-yard line, the ball bouncing through his arms and behind him. Auburn recovered the ball in the end zone for a special teams touchdown.

The costly mistake gave the visiting Tigers a 17-3 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the third quarter.

During the responsive drive, a hint of optimism flickered across the Missouri sideline as Carroll picked up a 20-yard carry and Cook sprinted out of the MU tunnel. He immediately began throwing near the bench, after which a team spokesman confirmed he would attempt to return.

However, that didn’t happen on this drive, which resulted in a 38-yard field goal by Craig that cut the lead to 17-6.

Cook came back into the game to throw the rock. He tried unsuccessfully to find Burden on a deep ball right away, then wideout Mookie Cooper dropped Cook’s second pass since his return.

The third time was the charm. Cook passed the ball between overlapping defenders to Cooper, who this time held the ball. Cooper spun up, fended off a couple of tackles and cut diagonally for a 78-yard pickup.

Early in the fourth quarter at the Auburn 2-yard line, Missouri scored the touchdown through Carroll. The recovered Cook needed a two-point conversion and plowed over the goal line himself.

That cut Auburn’s lead to 17-14 with 14:57 to play.

Over the next 10 minutes, both pairs of Tigers traded fruitless possessions and punts.

A pass interference penalty allowed Missouri to enter Auburn territory just shy of the final two minutes of the fourth quarter – only for Cook to be sacked by an untouched blitzer on the next play. On 3rd-and-18, he found Burden downfield, but instead of punching forward over the sticks, the wideout tried to force his way in for more yards, setting up a 4th-and-5.

With the game on the line, Cook got the ball to Burden again, safely past the first-down marker. He found wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. for another key completion on a third down and got into the red zone.

Running back Jamal Roberts carried the ball to the 4-yard line, where he was first to set up the ball and score. He completed the comeback — and an 18-play, 95-yard scoring drive — with another carry-through contact.

Roberts’ touchdown gave Missouri a 21-17 lead with 46 seconds left in the game.