Georgia vs. Missouri: How Tigers' Loss Will Shake Up Week 8 Rankings
The No. 13 Georgia Bulldogs overcame the loss of Todd Gurley Saturday on the road with an emphatic 34-0 win over the No. 23 Missouri Tigers to take charge in the SEC East and set off a wide-ranging chain reaction of events in the upcoming Week 8 college football rankings.
With the win, Mark Richt's team moves to 5-1, while the Tigers pick up loss No. 2 on the year and head to unranked land once more. This both welcomes newcomers into the bottom of the polls and puts the newly formed Top 10 into jeopardy one week removed from the most chaotic week of play in recent memory.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
College GameDay provided a look at the historically dominant performance:
For reference, here is a look at how The Associated Press Top 25 stood before Saturday's early SEC East encounter:
| 1 | Florida State Seminoles |
| 2 | Auburn Tigers |
| 3 | Mississippi State Bulldogs |
| 4 | Ole Miss Rebels |
| 5 | Baylor Bears |
| 6 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| 7 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| 8 | Michigan State Spartans |
| 9 | TCU Horned Frogs |
| 10 | Arizona Wildcats |
| 11 | Oklahoma Sooners |
| 12 | Oregon Ducks |
| 13 | Georgia Bulldogs |
| 14 | Texas A&M Aggies |
| 15 | Ohio State Buckeyes |
| 16 | Oklahoma State Cowboys |
| 17 | Kansas State Wildcats |
| 18 | UCLA Bruins |
| 19 | East Carolina Pirates |
| 20 | Arizona State Sun Devils |
| 21 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
| 22 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets |
| 23 | Missouri Tigers |
| 24 | Utah Utes |
| 25 | Stanford Cardinal |
The encounter was ugly from the start. Georgia had few issues moving the ball without Gurely, going 7-of-11 on third downs in the first half and jumping out to a 20-0 advantage. Conversely, the Tigers had no answer for the Georgia defense in that same span, going 0-of-5 on third down and seeing Maty Mauk toss two interceptions en route to his unit totaling just 76 total yards.
The Missouri offense did not cross midfield until there was about two minutes left in the first half. Shortly after, Mauk fumbled the ball away. ESPN Stats & Info put things into perspective:
By day's end, Mauk threw four interceptions, while his offense never converted a third-down attempt, and the Bulldogs racked up 373 total yards to Missouri's 147. Freshman tailback Nick Chubb was the hero thanks to his 38 carries for 143 yards and a score.
Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports put it best:
In short, the Bulldogs came in with heads held high, despite the loss of arguably the nation's best player, and they held true to much of their pregame talk.
"We feel great about what we're doing," said wideout Chris Conley, 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."
For Missouri, the second loss of the season—the other being that strange collapse against Indiana a few weeks back—once again removes the Tigers from the realm of the ranked. This time, there is no potential upset of a ranked opponent in the cards, either, with the upcoming slate reading showdowns with unranked teams such as Florida, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
Keep in mind that Missouri's exit from the polls yet again invites teams that received votes last week but did not make the cut, such as USC, Marshall and Clemson, a chance to crack the Top 25 with wins.
How the outcome of Saturday's affair impacts the top half of the rankings is more interesting.
The Bulldogs are assured a jump in the rankings thanks to a win over a ranked opponent, but more interesting is how the rest of Saturday's slate will help Richt's team.
A showdown between No. 9 TCU and No. 5 Baylor will produce a bump for the Bulldogs, as will an encounter between No. 2 Auburn and No. 3 Mississippi State. Upset-watch games, such as No. 12 Oregon at No. 18 UCLA, No. 3 Ole Miss at No. 14 Texas A&M and USC at No. 10 Arizona, may also create some additional upward trajectory.
A crushing three-point road loss to then-ranked No. 24 South Carolina near the start of September looms as large as ever for the Bulldogs, but as the team charges ahead with one of the nation's top ground games and defenses, it continues to diminish in impact.
A return to the Top 10 for Georgia seems likely, as the long list of one-loss team continues to grow, but few deserve a spot ahead of the Bulldogs.
Stats and information via ESPN.com, unless otherwise specified. AP poll via The Associated Press.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
