Georgia vs. Missouri: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More
Chaos reigns supreme in what is a historically stacked SEC West, but early Saturday, the attention shifts to the SEC East as the leaders of the division clash when No. 23 Missouri hosts No. 13 Georgia.
Mark Richt's Bulldogs have yet to drop a game since the fateful three-point loss to South Carolina in early September. Missouri, mere weeks removed from a strange loss to Indiana, enters Saturday with heads held high after a stunning 21-20 upset of that same Gamecocks team.
Georgia is similar to Arkansas in the West—the team lines up and does little to disguise the fact it wants to run the ball down the opposition's throat. But if there is an underrated defense that can stunt the attack, it would be Gary Pinkel's unit.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Expect a memorable encounter Saturday in a war of strengths.
No-Fly Zone
Who can blame Richt for having yet to call more than 26 passes in a game?
With a back like Todd Gurley, who was easily in front of the Heisman race going into Saturday, the staff had to ask relatively little of senior quarterback Hutson Mason in his first year under center as the starter.
Of course, that changes drastically upon the news that Gurley was hit with an indefinite suspension, per a press release from the school that stated an "ongoing investigation into an alleged violation of NCAA rules" is underway.
As if having the best back in the land on the roster was not enough, Gurley was also quietly flanked by two superb talents in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. The tandem formed a triple-headed monster of staggering production:
| Todd Gurley | 94 | 773 | 8.2 | 51 (TD) | 8 |
| Nick Chubb | 31 | 224 | 7.2 | 47 (TD) | 2 |
| Sony Michel | 23 | 223 | 9.7 | 75 | 3 |
Perhaps scariest of all, there were those who felt that the No. 6 scoring offense in the land, which averages 45.0 points per game, was still warming up.
"We feel great about what we're doing," said wideout Chris Conley, per STATS LLC, via ESPN.com. "We feel good that we're getting better each week. In order to get back (to the SEC championship game) we have to get better each week and that starts in practice."
With Gurely out of the picture and Michel sidelined with an injury, the task now falls squarely on the shoulders of the freshman Chubb, whose per-carry average total suggests he is set to explode when given the bulk of the carries.
Radi Nabulsi of UGASports.com sums up the dire situation best:
Keep in mind that, should the ground game happen to struggle Saturday, Richt and his staff toyed with putting freshman signal-caller Brice Ramsey in during a 44-17 win against Vanderbilt last week. That option appears to be on the table should Mason struggle in a hostile environment.
Then again, Richt would probably rather lean on his new duo of backs, as unproven with the full load as they may be. Such is the dilemma of a team that loses its best player a mere days before a season-defining contest.
Momentum and Standouts
Missouri has a couple game-changers of its own, and both happen to fall on the defensive side of the football.
Richt, of course, is well aware of the names Markus Golden and Shane Ray, as captured by Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald:
The two lead a Missouri defense that surrenders just 20.6 points per game and has 18 sacks so far, good for the No. 2 rank in the nation. Ray himself has eight of those to go along with 11.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Of note more than anything else is that Ray's defense held South Carolina to 338 total yards and a miserable 8-of-21 mark on third downs.
Speaking of that win, which came via two stunning rushing touchdowns by Russell Hansbrough within the final seven minutes of the game, the Tigers enter Saturday at home with a load of positive momentum.
That is a tough thing to overcome for the Bulldogs, although Chubb and Co. will surely put Ray's defense to its biggest test to date.
When: Saturday, October 11, Noon ET
Where: Memorial Stadium at Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri
Television: CBS
Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):
- Over/Under: 59.5
- Spread: Georgia (-3)
Team Injury Reports
| Sheldon Dawson | S | 10/01/2014 | has left the team | Out | personal |
| Shattle Fenteng | DB | 09/25/2014 | is expected to miss the remainder of the season | Out | shoulder |
| J.J. Green | S | 10/05/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Missouri | Questionable | leg |
| Merritt Hall | FB | 08/14/2014 | will miss the entire season | Out | concussion |
| Rico Johnson | CB | 10/02/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | illness |
| Shaq Jones | CB | 10/06/2014 | was dismissed from the team | Out | disciplinary |
| Keith Marshall | RB | 10/07/2014 | is expected to miss Saturday's game against Missouri | Out | ankle/knee |
| Sony Michel | RB | 09/29/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | shoulder |
| Jay Rome | TE | 10/07/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Missouri | Questionable | leg |
| Jonathon Rumph | WR | 10/07/2014 | is expected to miss Saturday's game against Missouri | Out | hamstring |
| Justin Scott-Wesley | WR | 10/05/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Missouri | Questionable | knee |
| Jon Taylor | DT | 07/23/2014 | was dismissed from the team | Out | disciplinary |
| Levi Copelin | WR | 09/16/2014 | was dismissed from the team | Out | disciplinary |
| Morgan Steward | RB | 08/28/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | hip |
| Darius White | WR | 10/07/2014 | is probable for Saturday's game against Georgia | Probable | hamstring |
Injury reports per Sports Network, via USA Today.
Prediction
As great as the Missouri defense can be at times, one has to wonder how well it will hold up against a relatively strong ground game.
Gaudy sack totals mean little if Georgia is free to run up the field consistently, which at this point seems a given, especially if Chubb is as brutally effective as his short batch of experience at the collegiate level suggests he is.
If the Tigers do fall behind, it is tough to figure out how they score enough points in limited opportunities with the Georgia ground game killing the clock, either, not with quarterback Maty Mauk going 12-of-34 for 132 yards last week.
Georgia is a more complete team, and honestly, the loss of Gurley hurts, but Georgia entered the season with the deepest stable of backs in the nation and no way to get them all on the field. For better or worse, that problem is solved. Next man up.
Prediction: Georgia 34, Missouri 30
Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
