Thoughts From the Box: George Pickens Annihilates the Tigers
George Pickens is really good at football. That’s it, that’s the story.
No, no. Sadly, I can’t leave the story at that (although I think it would be acceptable after today).
Quickly, it looked like Georgia was going to dominate this football game. Quickly, it looked like Missouri wasn’t going to roll over so easily. Then, right out of the gates of the second half, Georgia seized control of the game once again and never looked back.
In truthfulness, this game was only really close because of the blocked punt to set Missouri up within a single footstep of a touchdown. But, on the flip side, Georgia wouldn’t have blown Missouri so much if it wasn’t for the heroics of George Pickens. The sophomore finished the day with five catches for 126 yards, which included several catches that I think only a few people in college football can make.
And J.T. Daniels needed that kind of help in the passing game today. With the amount of pressure Missouri was sending (and getting) on Daniels, he oftentimes was forced to heave up 50-50 balls to guys in one-on-one situations. When you have Pickens though, it’s more of a 75-25 ball.
Honestly though, the air game might not have mattered if Georgia didn’t want it to. The efficiency in which the Dawgs were running the ball was carried over from their dominance against South Carolina. Whenever Zamir White wanted a few yards, he got ‘em. More often than not, he got more. The redshirt sophomore was averaging more than a first down per carry with 126 yards on 12 carries. Behind him, both James Cook and Kenny McIntosh chipped in touchdowns of their own with some explosive plays of their own.
If Georgia is able to get both Cook and White back next year, I think you may be looking at Georgia’s best backfield since 2017. White has proven he can be your bell-cow back with the ability to consistently get three or four yards each time he gets the ball. Both Cook and McIntosh might have the same ability as well, but in a more secondary role, they can gash defenses with big plays after you wear them down with White.
But I digress. I’ve focused a lot on the offense at this point when the defense needs an equal amount of praise. Throughout the entire game, they only allowed one sustained drive that resulted in a touchdown. Otherwise, Missouri was hardly getting anything past them. Missouri averaged just a single yard per carry, ending the day with 22 carries for 22 yards.
Missouri’s numbers through the air weren’t awful, but they resulted in almost no productivity. The most productive play wasn’t even from their quarterback, rather their receiver. If that’s the biggest play Georgia gave up, then the defense deserves a lot of credit.
Guys like Mark Webb, Tyson Campbell and Eric Stokes were making great plays in coverage, locking up Missouri receivers. The biggest difference defensively though was in the return of Jordan Davis. Davis, in all three years at UGA, has proven to be an absolute game-changer for this defense. Time after time, when he’s in the game, Georgia’s defense has had days like today.
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