Georgia dismantled Missouri on Saturday 34-0. The Dawgs traveled to Columbia, MO without their star player, Todd Gurley, and put together their most complete game of the season. Nick Chubb picked up Gurley's slack and rushed for 143 yards and 1 touchdown. Hutson Mason played his best game of the season completing 22 out of 28 passes for 156 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions. The defense played like the Junkyard Dawgs and stymied Mizzou's offense the entire game.
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| Photo Credit: Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports |
The entire team rose to the occasion after learning on Thursday afternoon that they would have to play without their emotional leader, Todd Gurley. While the offense grinded it out, the defense simply shut down the Tiger's offense. To understand how dominant the defense was on Saturday consider this:
- Saturday was the 1st time Missouri has been shut out since 2002 and it was the first time they've been shut out at home since 1992 (versus Colorado)
- Of Missouri's 43 offensive plays, 21 went for zero or negative yards
- The Dawgs held Mizzou to just 147 total yards and they didn't convert a 3rd down the entire game (0-7)
- Missouri ran 4 plays inside UGA's territory and 3 of them resulted in turnovers
- Saturday was the 1st time Georgia has shut out a ranked team since 1982.
- Georgia's four interceptions are the most in a game since the 2008 Sugar Bowl victory over Hawaii
- Gary Pinkel has been at Missouri as long as Coach Richt has been at UGA. In 171 games as head coach of the Tigers, Missouri had never turned the ball over 5 times in one game... until Saturday
- Missouri is the first SEC team to be shut out this season
The Dawgs defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage both by shutting down the Tigers running game and also by making it easier for Coach Pruitt to drop seven into coverage on passing downs.
Here are some other observations on the game:
- Hutson Mason took command of the offense and was very efficient. His touchdown run looked a little clumsy, but he did an outstanding job of selling the fake on that play.
- Jordan Jenkins and Leonard Floyd are both excellent outside linebackers, but I'm pretty excited about our future there as well with Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy.
- I was surprised to hear that Brendan Langley was starting at CB on Saturday, considering he was moved to wide receiver after spring practice and had just been moved back to cornerback the week prior to the Vanderbilt game.
- Hopefully Langley can hold down that CB spot because it's obvious Swann plays much better at the Star position.
- Nick Chubb is an impressive young running back as we first learned versus Clemson in the opener. What impressed me about Saturday was the fact that he seems to be a running back that gets stronger as the game moves along. Those 2 and 3 yard carries in the first half turned into 8 and 10 yard carries in the second half.
Finally, how impressive was this:
Pruitt's Impact
Georgia's defense is certainly still a work in progress, but they seem to be improving each and every week. It's scary to think what Coach Jeremy Pruitt can do once he's had a chance to recruit the players he wants to run this system. Through Pruitt's first six games, these two stats are impressive:
Notables Around the SEC
- The dream continues for both Ole Miss and Mississippi State. After dramatic wins last weekend, they both delivered again as the Rebels won on the road versus Texas A&M and the Bulldogs defeated 2nd ranked Auburn at home. Mississippi State is now ranked #1 while Ole Miss is at #3. In 2011, those teams were a combined 2-14 in SEC play.
- It appears that Egg Bowl will be a bigger deal this season than the Iron Bowl.
- Somehow, some way Les Miles finds a way to win again. Florida had multiple opportunities to put LSU away, but just couldn't seal the deal as the Tigers hit a 50 yard field goal to break a 27-27 tie with 3 seconds remaining in the game. By the way, the Gators are 3-9 in their last 12 games. It's not looking good for Muschamp to survive after this season and the Gator Nation already has another coach in mind.
- Arkansas fell to 0-3 in the SEC after losing to Alabama 14-13, but they very easily could be sitting at 2-1 right now. For the second consecutive conference game, they have blown 4th quarter leads. The Razorbacks had more total yards than Alabama (335 to 227) and more first downs (18 to 10) than Bama. Not to mention, Arkansas won the time of possession (34:13 to 25:47) battle, yet they couldn't put Alabama away at home when they had their chance to do so.
- If Mississippi State continues to win, I'd say Dak Prescott has a very legitimate chance to win the Heisman Trophy. What do you think?
Odds & Ends
- Clemson's offensive coordinator, Chad Morris, is considered the star of their coaching staff. However, I believe their defensive coordinator, Brent Veneables, is the MVP of Dabo Swinney's staff. I've been impressed with Clemson's defense (minus the 4th quarter of the UGA game) and their unit certainly shined on Saturday. With Deshaun Watson leaving the game with an unfortunate hand injury in the first half, the game versus Louisville became a defensive struggle. The Tigers defense held the Cardinals to 1-17 on 3rd downs and limited them to only 52 yards rushing.
- In my opinion, the unsung hero for Clemson was safety Jayron Kearse, nephew of former All-American Jevon Kearse, who ran down a Louisville wide receiver from scoring what would have been a game winning touchdown late in the 4th quarter. Amazingly, Clemson won on Saturday without an offensive touchdown as the Tigers scored TDs on special teams and defense.
- It sure was fun while it lasted, but the dream came to an end on Saturday. The Yellow Jacket's appearance in the Top 25 was very brief.
- Notre Dame rallied in the 4th quarter for the second consecutive week to defeat North Carolina 50-43. The Irish must travel to Florida State this coming week and we'll know much more about both these teams after Saturday.
- Baylor scored 24 unanswered points in the 4th quarter and rallied to defeat TCU 61-58. The 119 points combined are the second most in a matchup of ranked teams. Bryce Petty kept his Heisman hopes alive with 510 yards passing and 6 TDs. Baylor moves up to 4th in the country, but still has a tough slate ahead with games versus Oklahoma (on the road), Oklahoma State, and Kansas State.
