Three Tigers Accept Postseason Bowl Invitations
1/10/2025 9:34:00 PM | Football
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri graduate students Brady Cook and Johnny Walker Jr. as well as junior Armand Membou have accepted invitations to postseason bowl games.
Cook is set to participate in the Hula Bowl, while Membou and Walker Jr. will compete at the Reese's Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Bowl, respectively.
The Hula Bowl is set for 11 a.m. CT on Saturday at UCF's FBC Mortgages Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The East-West Shrine Game kicks off at 7p.m. CT on Thursday, January 30 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, while the Reese's Senior Bowl is slated for Saturday, February 1 at 1:30 p.m. CT at South Alabama's Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. CBS Sports Network will provide coverage of the Hula Bowl, while the NFL Network will broadcast the East-West Shrine Bowl and the Reese's Senior Bowl.
Cook becomes the 47th Tiger to be invited to the Hula Bowl. He joins Mike Magac (1960), Russ Sloan (1960), Danny LaRose (1961), Paul Henley (1963), Tom Hertz (1963), Conrad Hitchler (1963), Bruce Van Dyke (1966), Charlie Brown (1967), Barry Lischner (1968), Jim Anderson (1969), Roger Wehrli (1969), Jon Staggers (1970), Mike Fink (1973), Scott Anderson (1974), Mark Johnson (1975), Henry Marshall (1976), Curtis Brown (1977), Mike Newman (1977), Morris Towns (1977), Pete Woods (1978), Russ Calabrese (1979), Gerry Ellis (1980), Phil Bradley (1981), Howard Richards (1981), Van Darkow (1982), Brad Edelman (1982), Andy Gibler (1983), Bobby Bell (1984), George Shorthose (1984), Tommie Stowers (1990), Tim Bruton (1991), Mario Johnson (1992), Victor Bailey (1993), Mike Bedosky (1994), Frank Jones (1996), Shad Criss (1998), Brock Olivo (1998), Corby Jones (1999), Dwayne Blakley (2002), Mike Hayes (2002), Zack Abron (2004), A.J. Ricker (2004), Marcus King (2006), Brad Smith (2006), Damon Hazelton (2021), and Blaze Alldredge (2022).
Cook, a 6-2, 212-pound St. Louis native registered 201-of-321 (.626) passing attempts for 2,535 yards with 11 touchdowns and 87 rushes for 223 yards and five scores during his final season. He concluded his career with a 26-13 all-time record as the Tigers' starting quarterback, which ranks second-most in program history. In addition, he finished No. 2 in program lore in career passing efficiency rating (143.53), No. 3 in passing yards (9,013) and 200-yard passing performances (26), No. 4 in total offense (10,222) and No. 5 in passing touchdowns. He also became the first quarterback in program history to amass 9,000-plus passing yards and 1,000-plus rushing yards (1,209) in a career and joined Chase Daniel (2005-08), Brad Smith (2002-05) and Drew Lock (2015-18) as the only players in MU history with 10,000-plus yards of total offense.
Membou is the 74th Tiger to be invited to the Reese's Senior Bowl, joining Dick Braznell (1950), Win Carter (1950), Robert Fuchs (1950), Gene Pepper (1950), John Kadlec (1951), Ed Stephens (1951), Harold Burnine (1956), Jim Hunter (1957), Don Smith (1961), Ed Blaine (1962), Vince Turner (1964), Gus Otto (1965), Butch Allison (1966), Gary Lane (1966), Francis Peay (1966), Johnny Roland (1966), Bill Powell (1967), Jim Whitaker (1967), John Douglas (1968), Russ Washington (1968), Roger Wehrli (1969), Mike Carroll (1970), Butch Davis (1970), Terry McMillan (1970), James Harrison (1971), Larron Jackson (1971), Jay Wallace (1971), Tony Galbreath (1976), Steve Pisarkiewicz (1977), Joe Stewart (1978), James Taylor (1978), Earl Gant (1979), Kellen Winslow (1979), Steve Hamilton (1979), Gerry Ellis (1980), Howard Richards (1981), James Wilder (1981), Eric Wright (1981), Jeff Gaylord (1982), Bob Meyer (1982), Terry Matichak (1984), Warren Seitz (1985), Dick Chapura (1986), Robert Delpino (1987), Erik McMillan (1987), Steve Martin (1996), Devin West (1999), Rob Riti (2000), Atiyyah Ellison (2005), Martin Rucker (2008), Ziggy Hood (2009), William Moore (2009), Danario Alexander (2010), Sean Weatherspoon (2010), Michael Egnew (2012), Zaviar Gooden (2013), Evan Boehm (2016), Kentrell Brothers (2016), Connor McGovern (2016), Aarion Penton (2017), J'Mon Moore (2018), Emanuel Hall (2019), Drew Lock (2019), Tre'Vour Wallace-Simms (2020), Joshuah Bledsoe (2021), Tyree Gillespie (2021), Larry Rountree III (2021), Tyler Badie (2022), Akayleb Evans (2022), Isaiah McGuire (2023), and Kris Abrams-Draine, Darius Robinson and Cody Schrader from a year ago.
Membou, a 6-3, 325-pound Lee's Summit, Missouri, product helped anchor a line that played a pivotal role for a Mizzou offense that led the SEC and ranked seventh nationally in time of possession (33:01) during the regular season. As a three-year regular for the Tigers, Membou blocked for an MU offensive line that paved the way for one of the most successful red zone offenses in the country over the last two seasons. This year alone, the Tigers scored on 46-of-50 (92.9 percent) trips inside the opposition's 20-yard line, while averaging 164.46 rushing yards and 225.08 passing yards per game.
Walker Jr. is the 54th Mizzou player to be invited to the East-West Shrine Game, joining John Waldorf (1930), Jack Frye (1937), Maurice Kirk (1938), Paul Christman (1941), Mike Fitzgerald (1943), Don Reece (1943), Bob Steuber (1943), James Kekeris (1947), John Kadlec (1951), Edward Stephens (1951), Don Chadwick (1958), William Rowekamp (1953), Charles Rash (1958), Ed Blaine (1961), Tom Hertz (1962), Conrad Hitchler (1962), Jim Johnson (1962), David Gill (1963), Charlie Brown (1966), Mel Gray (1971), Kellen Winslow (1978), Mark Jones (1979), Kurt Petersen (1979), Jeff Gaylord (1981), Conrad Goode (1984), John Clay (1986), Erik McMillan (1987), Tom Whelihan (1987), Steve Vandegrift (1988), Mike Bedosky (1993), Brock Olivo (1998), Craig Heimburger (1999), Justin Gage (2003), A.J. Ricker (2004), Will Franklin (2008), Chase Daniel (2009), Stryker Sulak (2009), Jaron Baston (2010), Dominique Hamilton (2012), Justin Britt (2014), E.J. Gaines (2014), Josh Augusta (2017), Aarion Penton (2017), Marcell Frazier (2018), Paul Adams (2019), Terry Beckner, Jr. (2019), Kendall Blanton (2019), DeMarkus Acy (2020), Kelly Bryant (2020), Yasir Durant (2020), Johnathon Johnson (2020), JC Carlies (2024), and Harrison Mevis (2024).
Walker Jr., a 6-3, 250-pound native of Tampa, Florida, led the Tigers in tackles for loss (12.5), sacks (9.5) and forced fumbles (3) last season. He concluded the year holding the longest sack streak nationally (seven consecutive games) and ranked 17th in the country and fourth in the SEC with 0.73 sacks per game. Walker Jr.'s season sack total was the eighth-most in program history and the most by a Tiger since 2014. Additionally, the Second Team All-SEC selection finished the year with 44 tackles, four quarterback pressures, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery. He helped anchor a defense that ranked sixth in the country in third down conversion percentage defense, seventh in first down defense, 17th in total defense, and 20th in scoring defense.
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