The University of Missouri (UM) cleared Maty Mauk to return to the football team from an indefinite suspension that started with the Tigers' game against South Carolina.
Unnamed sources told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ESPN and other news outlets the quarterback's suspension had been lifted, but for undisclosed reasons for the suspension and the reinstatement.
The suspension wound up lasting four games, a stretch in which the team won one game, the contest against South Carolina. 4-1 at that point, Missouri lost its next three games and managed just 12 points on four field goals during that stretch.
Starting in Mauk's place, Drew Lock posted a 139.4 rating in the South Carolina win and ratings of 63.3, 88.5, and 67.9 in the next three losses. In five games this season, Mauk has 654 passing yards, seven total touchdowns and a 112.5 rating.
Missouri has a bye week this weekend, and it is unclear whether or not he will start the following Saturday against Mississippi State. Citing an unnamed source, The Columbia Tribune learned Mauk and Lock may be in an open competition during the practices leading up to the Mississippi State game.
Chad Moller, a spokesman for the football team, told the newspaper neither he nor head coach Gary Pinkel would address the situation until the SEC coaches teleconference Wednesday morning.
Malik Cuellar, an offensive lineman, was suspended around the same time Mauk was, but was reinstated about a week later. Mauk's suspension also came at a time when his father and high school football coach, Mike, was to undergo surgery for colorectal cancer.
"It's a very difficult time, there's no doubt about that," Mike Mauk told The Tribune. "But he's been doing as much as he can to keep himself ready and in shape and controlling the things he can control and not worrying about the things he can't control."
