Sometimes all Rocky needed in the ring was to get hit. It made him mad, and gave him the adrenaline rush he needed in the Hollywood boxing ring. Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook may not have need quite that kind of jolt to get going against Air Force, but the Spartans quarterback said it felt good to get roughed up a bit by Air Force on Saturday.
“It makes you feel like a football player, you know?” Cook said, per MLive.com. “Going back to Western (Michigan), I got hit maybe two or three times, (and) Oregon, I didn’t even get hit once. I think I needed to get hit like this. It gets you ready for the season, and it allows you to take more hits and to not be as sore.”
Not that Cook needed to be reminded of what it is like to get hit, and surely Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio would prefer his quarterback not get bounced around like a rag doll on the football field, but sometimes taking a couple of hits can be a good thing. If nothing else, seeing Cook bounce back up after taking a good hit is encouraging and shows Cook is not a fragile player. That toughness does not go unrecognized by teammates either.
Cook finished his Week 3 going 15-for-23 for 247 yards and four touchdowns. For the season, Cook is already on pace for a career-best passer rating (his career mark is 149.4 and he currently owns a 154.4 passer rating). Cook has passed for 695 yards and eight touchdowns through three weeks and he has been picked off just once.