Georgia Football: Week 3 report card vs. Missouri Tigers
Special Teams: B+
The special teams highlight in this game came from redshirt freshman defensive back Eric Stokes. Stokes blocked a Missouri punt in the second quarter and returned it for a touchdown. I expect Stokes’ playing time to drastically increase going forward based on his performance in this game.
Rodrigo Blankenship had one of his worst kicking performances (by his standards) in recent memory. He made three field goals and converted all four extra points that he attempted. However, he also missed a field goal and had another one blocked. The missed field goal could probably be blamed on a bad snap but nonetheless Georgia left six points on the field as a result of these two errors.
Freshman punter Jake Camarda continues to be a bright spot once again. He averaged over 40 yards per kick on his two punts in this game.
Conclusion
Georgia fans should not overreact to what happened in this game for two reasons. First, despite the fact that Georgia played a subpar game, the Dawgs still were able to score 43 points and win by two touchdowns. That’s a hallmark of an elite team. Elite teams can have shaky performances and still get a win.
Second, Missouri is a good football team. The Tigers might win ten games this year and have a very explosive offense. Let’s not forget Georgia’s star-studded 2017 defense gave up 28 points to Missouri last year. Even if Georgia gives up points to opponents, the Dawgs have an explosive offense to provide the defense some relief.
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The most concerning thing about this entire game for Georgia was penalties and sloppy/undisciplined play. That is not typical of a Kirby Smart team and I expect that playing more disciplined football will be a focal point in practice this week.
Going forward, Georgia gets to come back home for the next two weeks to play Tennessee and Vanderbilt before having to travel on the road to LSU.