After the well-publicized, four-man quarterback battle finally fizzled out, Cook grabbed hold of the starting spot and was able to lead MSU to an improbable 13-1 season capped off by a 24-20 victory over No. 5 Stanford in the 2014 Rose Bowl — but Cook isn’t content.
The junior quarterback said he has been motivated to continue improving throughout the spring as practice wraps up this week.
“I’m not really where I want to be at, but it’s just a work in progress,” Cook said after a practice earlier this spring. “(I want to) just throw a catchable ball every single time and give guys the opportunity to go up and get it.”
Although Cook says he’s yet to regain his MVP form of late last year, so far this spring he has shown signs of improvement, leading the offense to a couple of scrimmage victories.
Cook connected on 39-of-59 pass attempts, and threw for a combined 548 yards and four touchdowns in MSU’s two closed jersey scrimmages. He also led the 75-yard game winning drive in a two-minute drill situation in the second scrimmage, but the one area he mentioned he needs to improve on is reducing the number of interceptions.
“The thing I’m probably most disappointed about is my interceptions, I’m not the luckiest guy during the spring,” said Cook, who has thrown three picks in the spring scrimmages. “I wouldn’t say it’s a bad decision that I’m making, it’s just the defensive backs are making great plays.”
Cook added some of the defense’s “great plays” this spring have come from the defensive players, such as sophomore linebacker Riley Bullough, knowing the offensive plays being called.
“Bullough played running back for over a year and he knows the terminology, he knows the exact same words we always use,” Cook said. “... He picked it off (in the second scrimmage) and he’s running down the sideline saying ‘I knew the play! I knew the play!’”
Regardless, he added that he is aware of needing to lower the number of “lucky” throws that worked out in his favor a year ago.
Cook will finally get the opportunity to show the progress he’s made since last season this Saturday, when MSU wraps up spring practice with the annual Green and White Spring Game.
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.
The game also can be seen on Big Ten Network, where Cousins will offer color commentary on the TV broadcast of the day.
The game features free admission, and the first 30,000 will receive a commemorative poster highlighting last year’s Big Ten and Rose Bowl championships.
