(Photo by Justin L. Steward/Columbia Missourian)
Gary Pinkel needs to give the entire defensive coaching staff raises for the unit’s performance thus far this season. With the defense nearly on the field for almost 40 minutes, they only surrendered nine points. Georgia won the battle of field goals 3-2 and that was the only scoring that took place.
For the second week in a row, the Tigers offense was held without a touchdown.
The offense received a gift on the first play of the game when Ian Simon picked off Greyson Lambert and returned to the 1-yard line. The Tigers were given a surefire touchdown to start the game but a fumbled snap on first and goal followed by two run plays without a push resulted in a field goal.
That set the tone for the rest of the night, with both offenses playing rather offensive it became a game of field position. The only difference in that was the Bulldog offense was able to move the ball a little bit better and that resulted in a near 2:1 ratio in time possession.
Missouri, on the other hand, could not sustain any sort of rhythm of offense and finished with only 164 yards of total offense, with only 21 yards coming from the run game. Drew Lock was 11-for-26 for only 143 yards.
The only sign of life from the offense was at the end of the first half; Lock lead a near 90 yard drive that included a beautiful strike to Cam Hilton inside the five yard line, but again, the Tiger offense could not find their way to the end zone and settled for a field goal.
Still, the defense, lead by Kentrell Brothers’ career high 17 tackles the offense given more than enough chances to put the game away. There were a couple turnovers that were left on the table, but Missouri did a good job of forcing punts.
As the game went on Georgia moved the ball a little easier, but that could be contributed to the defense being out there most of the game. The definitive play on the Bulldog’s last drive was a questionable pass interference call on Aarion Penton on a ball that looked uncatchable.
As a result the drive continued and lead to Marshall Morgan’s 34 yard field goal, which broke a 6-6 tie with 1:44 left.
Missouri’s final drive consisted of a very questionable opening playcall of a speed option, an intentional grounding, a declined holding call on Tyler Hunt, and a catch by J’Mon Moore on fourth and 17, but he was out of bounds. Georgia took a few knees to run out the clock to seal the 9-6 victory.
There needs to be some sort of adjustments made on the offensive end for the rest of the season. It’s not totally a personnel issue as there are good athletes on this offense, but it’s fair to say the playcalling has been very predictable. Some sort of wrinkle or two may keep the opposing defense honest and let the offense open up a little.
The Tigers dropped to 4-3 on the year and their first back-to-back set of losses since the 2012 season. It’s reasonable to say they’ll rebound against SEC winless Vanderbilt, but given the offense’s shortcomings it may be another dogfight until the end.
