It came up.

During Tuesday media availability, Missouri football quarterback Brady Cook said he had a conversation with offensive coordinator Kirby Moore about letting the deep ball loose.

The Mizzou offense has been extremely efficient, and ranks No. 18 in the FBS with 482.3 yards of total offense per game. The Tigers have created plenty of big plays, but most of those have been the working man’s way — via the ground, or with broken tackles and yards after the catch.

But explosive? This season, Mizzou doesn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders on that front through three games.

The QB, generally, agrees.

“I don't think we've scratched what this offense can be,” Cook said. “I really don't think we have. … I mean, obviously we all know it; we haven't had as many explosive plays as we should.”

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We ran through the numbers to check and see if Mizzou is, indeed, having a problem throwing the deep pass through three games. Here’s what we found, and where the Tigers are going from here:

How did the deep ball work for Missouri football against Boston College?

Let’s start with the most recent game on MU’s schedule: a 27-21 win over Boston College, which is the closest the Tigers will come in their nonconference slate to facing a defense of SEC caliber.

Cook was 21-of-30 against the Eagles. There were 77 total offensive snaps, including the kneel downs to end the contest.

Of Cook’s 30 passing attempts, only three were thrown 20 yards or more past the line of scrimmage. Two were overthrown, with one missing Luther Burden near the end zone, and one dropping beyond Theo Wease Jr.’s reach along the left sideline. The one completion was to Burden, who caught the ball 22 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and gained 22 more after the catch.

That’s actually a theme of the day. Of Cook’s 264 passing yards, 130 of those came from yards after the catch. On the season, 55% of MU’s receiving yards on Cook’s passes have been after the catch.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the opportunities to go deep were abundant. One game is a small sample size, and nothing in particular stood out to MU’s head coach as a missed opportunity.

“You know, we did create explosives in the pass. Obviously Luther’s (reception) and two to Mookie (Cooper) were explosive in nature, and then the rest, that's just kind of what the coverage dictated,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “We missed two verticals down the field, one to (Burden) and one to Theo (Wease) that, ultimately, you know, I think we’ve just got to execute both sides, whether it's route, throw, catch, whatever, penalty — whatever you want to say there.

“But other than that, I think those are the five. There wasn't anything on the tape that I'm sitting there thinking, ‘well, they're playing really down on us, we have to do something different.’”

Is Cook, Mizzou struggling to hit the deep pass?

Let’s first take a look at where the QB is most accurate.

Against Boston College, Cook was:

• 1-of-3 (33%) on passes targeted at least 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

• 4-of-5 (80%) on passes targeted between 10-19 yards.

• 9-of-10 (90%) on passes targeted between 5-9 yards.

• 7-of-12 (58.3%) on passes thrown less than 4 yards beyond, or thrown behind, the line of scrimmage.

The numbers for the full season paint a similar picture, with each category getting remarkably similar target share per game.

Through three games, Cook is:

• 2-of-10 (20%) on passes targeted 20 yards or longer.

• 10-of-16 (62.5%) on passes targeted 15-19 yards.

• 26-of-30 (86.7%) on passes targeted 5-9 yards.

• 31-of-41 (75.6%) on passes targeted 4 yards or less.

Before getting to the deep-pass percentages, it should be noted how accurate Cook has been in the middle-ranges. He’s completing more than 72% of his passes between 5-19 yards. Missouri’s offense is paying rent in that range. Cook is No. 16 in the nation for completion percentage at 71.1%.

Cook having less success on the deep throws is to be expected. But that much less success? The QB’s 10.4 yards per completion ranks No. 90 among FBS quarterbacks.

“It starts with me. I think it really starts in practice Tuesday and Wednesday,” Cook said. “We need to get better reps on explosive pass plays and make sure we're repping these at full speed and getting our timing right and getting extra (reps) after practice.”

The QB wasn’t fibbing, either. A significant portion of Tuesday’s practice open to the media included Cook working with his receivers on long balls to the goal line.

The Tigers spent plenty time in the preseason saying that creating more explosive plays was a focal point of their preparation. With the wide receiver cast they have on hand, it seemed inevitable.

But with a quarter of the season wrapped, there's still a long way to go on that front.

“We can't just assume we're going to show up on Saturday and hit these explosive passes,” Cook said. “So there's a lot left to put on tape. We haven't put a lot on tape, so we need to keep growing, keep getting better, and it starts today, Tuesday, making sure we're connecting on these.”

Is Missouri calling on Cook to go long enough?

There’s another takeaway to glean from the numbers above.

Add it all up, and you get 10 plays that have been targeted deeper than 20 yards on 97 passing plays. But Cook has been on the field for 202 plays this season. That means he’s looking deep a little less than 5% of the time the ball is in his hands.

Cook said that did come up in a conversation with Moore, and the quarterback mentioned that the offensive coordinator is looking to give Cook more opportunities on first and second downs.

So far, Mizzou has taken eight deep throws on 80 total first downs this season, which included both of Cook’s two deep-shot completions this season. Two of the 20+-yard passes have come on third down, both of which went incomplete. So far, the Tigers have not thrown a pass 20 yards or more on second down.

Missouri has had 80 first downs this season, which is eighth-most among FBS teams. You can look at that two ways.

First: The Tigers aren’t putting themselves in peril by taking needless risks, and that’s resulting in the chains moving more often.

Second: It’s a lot of chances to go for gold.

“We've talked a little bit about it. I mean, at then end of the day, you know, (Moore is) calling the game on what he sees, and he's done an awesome job,” Cook said. “And you know, he did mention he wants to give me and the offense more opportunities on first and second down. … I think that's good, and that will help a lot to give us some more opportunities.

Added Cook: “By no means am I an offensive coordinator, so it's hard to speak to that. And I'm sure there's a lot of things that go into it, calling games: Making sure you're calling the right plays. Staying in control of the game. What is the defense doing? What are we gashing them on? So, there's a lot of things that go into it. But he did mention more opportunities on first and second down instead of third.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Looking inside the numbers of Missouri football's deep passing game