Thoughts From the Box: Georgia Shuts Out Missouri 27-0
ATHENS - It wasn’t the flashiest win, but the Bulldogs came away with a big 27-0 win over SEC East foe Missouri on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs took control of the game early on with a quick three-and-out from the Georgia defense. On the Bulldog’s first offensive drive, quarterback Jake Fromm lead the Bulldogs down the field, ending the drive with a 25-yard touchdown strike to freshman George Pickens.
After that, the Bulldogs offense struggled a little bit in the first half. The Bulldogs had trouble getting the running game going, but the offense did manage to put up 9 more points after three Rodrigo Blankenship field goals.
The defense, however, picked up right where they left off last week. The Bulldogs suffocated the Tiger’s defense and shut them out in the first half. Safety Richard LeCounte came away with a big 2nd-quarter interception and took it 75-yards the other way. Linebackers Monty Rice and Tae Crowder also had big first halves for the Bulldog defense.
The Bulldogs defense continued to dominate Missouri in the 2nd half. The Tigers only managed 50 rushing yards for the entire game on 24 carries. Two Tiger quarterbacks were a combined 18/34 for 148 yards and one interception.
Offensively, it wasn’t pretty, but they made the plays when they needed too. Jake Fromm threw the ball really well at times, but still missed some throws including two touchdowns. He missed a wide-open Swift around the goal-line in the 1st half that would have resulted in a score, and then missed a wide-open Eli Wolf in the end-zone in the 2nd half.
Fromm ended the night 13/29 for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He almost had another long touchdown pass to Pickens late in the game, but an illegal procedure penalty wiped away the big score.
The biggest downside of the game had to be the injuries. Starting center Trey Hill was injured in the 1st half and did not return to the game. Wide receiver Lawrence Cager also got dinged up in the 2nd half and didn’t return to the ballgame. Offensive lineman Cade Mays and Isaiah Wilson also dealt with minor injuries but it doesn’t appear to be serious. Wilson would eventually come back into the game.
Overall, it was not a great offensive performance today. The defense was outstanding once again and proved that they could be the best defense in the entire country. Georgia did not have a runner go over 100 yards, but they did accumulate 166 yards on the ground when the final whistle blew.
George Pickens had his coming out party today. The freshman scored two touchdowns and a penalty negated his third.
The Bulldogs will look to get healthy next week as they travel west to take on the Auburn Tigers next weekend.