Georgia football: what went right and wrong in the win over Missouri
Negating Drew Lock’s arm
Speaking of quarterbacks, Missouri had one that was expected to torch the Georgia defense in Drew Lock. He shredded up the defense last year with four touchdowns and 253 yards. At home and on a 13-game touchdown streak, many figured Lock was in for a great day
That streak is now over. Georgia limited Lock to just 221 yards and zero touchdowns with one Tae Crowder interception and two fumbles.
How did the Dawgs manage to limit Lock’s success? In many ways actually. D’Andre Walker led a ferocious pass rush and made two sacks, both forced fumbles, one of which was recovered by Georgia. Deandre Baker shut down the Tiger’s best receiver Emanuel Hall. He didn’t even have a catch.
Non-offensive touchdowns
The best teams find ways to score in multiple ways. Especially when conventional scores aren’t happening. Georgia didn’t have an offensive touchdown in the first half, but the defense and special teams picked up the slack.
After a completed pass on Missouri’s first drive, the Dawgs forced a fumble. Tyson Campbell picked the ball up and ran 64 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. Georgia’s second defensive score of the year and the third non-offensive touchdown.
The Tigers tightened up the game to 13-7, but Eric Stokes gave the Dawgs a larger cushion with a blocked punt touchdown. Stokes had a clean shot at the punter, blocked it and then got a lucky bounce as he ran towards the end zone. The 14 points scored by the defense and special teams proved to be the deciding factor in the game. Georgia led 20-7 at halftime and kept that two-score cushion throughout the rest of the game to win.
Defense hunkering down late
Georgia’s defense struggled all the way through the second half. The Tigers even cut the lead down to 11 at one point. After Georgia missed a field goal with the score at 40-29, the Dawgs hunkered down to force a turnover on downs. Missouri nearly converted a fourth down, but Baker got up from the ground and made a clutch tackle on Damarea Crockett just inches shy of the line-to-gain.
Georgia capitalized with a field goal to stretch the lead back to 14 points and Missouri regained possession with 1:41 left in the game. Lock threw four-straight incomplete passes to essentially end the ball game.