This No. 6 ranked Georgia Bulldogs are back between the hedges this Saturday night in an SEC East matchup vs the Missouri Tigers.
Georgia (7-1, 4-1) is a 17.5 point favorite over Missouri (5-3, 2-2), and according to the ESPN FPI has an 87.1% chance of winning on Saturday.
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The Bulldogs have found their groove after a 24-17 win over the then-ranked No. 6 Florida Gators. Georgia’s offense was clicking last weekend in Jacksonville while the defense remained dominant.
With the game nationally televised on ESPN, the country will tune in expecting Georgia to beat Missouri.
Here are five reasons why that will happen:
1. Kelly Bryant is banged up, might not play vs Georgia
Missouri quarterback Kelly Bryant was unable to finish the game vs Kentucky two weeks ago after he hurt his hamstring in the first half. The Tigers have since had a bye week to prepare for Georgia and allow injured players some extra time to heal up, but head coach Barry Odom suggested that Bryant still may be in too much pain to suit up on Saturday vs the bulldogs.
On Tuesday, Odom said that if the game were played right now, Bryant would be unable to go.
“If we played today, he wouldn’t be out there,” Odom said. “We’ll take it day to day. I think he is a fast healer. I’ve learned that. I know he was anxious during practice today to do a lot more, so we kind of edged it on and had him do more than maybe I anticipated going into today. He’ll do more tomorrow, and then we’ll take it from there.”
When Bryant was asked for a status update, he said he’s “really not sure” yet if he’ll play vs Georgia. When asked to put a percentage to his health at this point, Bryant said 75%.
“Just making sure that I’m not putting myself out there if I can’t go,” Bryant said. “But just continue to play it day by day.”
If Bryant is not able to play, that means backup quarterback Taylor Powell would get the nod. Against Kentucky, Powell was less-than-impressive, throwing for 34 yards on 4/10 passing in the 29-7 loss.
If Bryant does play, there’s a chance that his hamstring injury could take away some of his mobility and limit his scrambling. This season, Bryant is the team’s fourth leading rusher with 205 yards on 81 carries.
“We’ve had six games where we’ve played really well on offense, and two where we didn’t,” offensive coordinator Derek Dooley said. “The biggest thing in the last game … We had a real good drive going, and Kelly hurt himself. His legs are a part of our offense. It eliminated a lot of what we can do offensively. We kind of had to hone in on handing the ball off or drop-back.”
2. That Georgia run defense is incredible, meanwhile Missouri’s rushing attack is mediocre at best
As you’ve probably heard by now, Georgia is the only team in college football that has not allowed a single rushing touchdown all season. The next closest is Iowa and Ohio State, which have allowed two each.
The Georgia run defense has been superb, and it’s not just that they are not allowing rushing touchdowns – some could see that as luck – but they are only allowing 2.8 yards per carry and 77 yards per game on the ground.
Last weekend against Florida, the Dawgs held the Gators to 21 yards on 19 carries.
Expect much of the same this weekend. Missouri comes into the game with the nation’s 49th ranked rushing attack, averaging 184 yards per game. Not bad at all, but its average of 4.3 yards per carry is less than stellar and ranks 71st in the country. Georgia will force Missouri to throw the ball more than it is comfortable with, and though Georgia’s passing defense has some room for improvement, the Tigers’ air attack is nothing special.
Referring back to reason No. 1 – if Missouri is forced to start Powell at quarterback, the lack of a run game will be huge.
3. “Don’t ever doubt Jake Fromm” – Kirby Smart
When CBS Sports reporter Jamie Erdahl asked Jake Fromm what Kirby Smart said to him after the Florida win, Fromm gave us this:
“Don’t ever doubt Jake Fromm,” Fromm said when asked what Kirby told him.
And Kirby is right. All week long he’s been defending his quarterback, and Fromm has earned that respect. He’s had doubters along the way his entire collegiate career, which is not exactly fair considering what he’s done for Georgia.
But now with so much on the line Fromm is not messing around. This could very well be his final season in red and black, granted I don’t think it will be, and Fromm’s not going to go down without a fight.
Missouri’s defense is great; one of the best in college football, actually. But you know who else is great? Jake Fromm.
Additionally, Fromm has always played great against Missouri. In two games vs the Tigers, he has a completion percentage of 63%, has thrown for 586 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
4. Georgia’s pass rushers will get to the quarterback
Missouri is currently ranked 65th in the nation in sacks allowed, haven given up 17 and 2.3 per game.
On the other side, Georgia ranks 63rd with 18 sacks this season.
Pretty evenly matched, sure. But then let’s consider the quarterback pressure that Georgia’s been dialing up this season. Just because the play does not end in a sack does not mean the Bulldogs’ pass rushers are not making life difficult for the opposing quarterback.
Georgia’s got guys coming from everywhere in Azeez Ojulari, Nolan Smith, Tyler Clark, Quay Walker, etc.
Couple that with the fact that it’s a night game between the hedges, and I give the edge to Georgia heavily in regards to how the Dawgs will be able to confuse the Tigers o-line and its quarterback, whoever that may be.
Missouri’s offensive line has been struggling over the teams’ two game losing streak, which includes losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky, forcing Bryant to leave the pocket a lot. If Bryant’s hamstring is a factor on Saturday, that could result in more sacks.
5. It’s a night game in Athens
There’s no way Georgia loses a night game in Athens to an unranked Missouri team possibly playing with its backup quarterback.
The buzz is back in Athens after Georgia’s win over Florida. Things got a little ugly among the fan base following the South Carolina loss and the Kentucky win. But we are back on track, the fans are excited about Georgia football again, the committee just put us at No. 6 and we know we have to win out to make it to the Playoff.
With all those things in mind, Sanford Stadium will be rocking on Saturday night.
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