Missouri vs. Georgia: Game Grades, Analysis for Tigers and Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs (5-2, 3-2) defeated the Missouri Tigers (4-3, 1-3) 9-6 on Saturday night to stay alive in the SEC East. 

Running back Sony Michel ran for 87 yards and hauled in four receptions in his first start since Nick Chubb's injury. Georgia's defense was suffocating, holding Missouri to 164 total yards, including just 21 yards on the ground.  

Positional Unit	First-Half Grade	Second-Half Grade
Pass Offense	D	F
Run Offense	D-	F
Pass Defense	B+	B+
Run Defense	B+	B-
Special Teams	B-	C
Coaching	C+	C+

Pass Offense: Drew Lock was bad. In his first career road start, he passed for just 143 yards and completed less than 50 percent of his passes. 

Run Offense: The Tigers ran for just 21 yards on 22 attempts. Not good. Russell Hansbrough paced Mizzou with 24 yards. His longest run was for five yards. 

Pass Defense: Missouri did a good job against Georgia's passing offense. The Tigers allowed only 178 yards passing. The biggest issue for Mizzou was all of the potential interceptions it dropped. 

Run Defense: Georgia ran for 120 yards, but it came into the game averaging over 231 yards rushing per game. Missouri did a nice job of not allowing Michel to break any big runs. 

Special Teams: Kicker Andrew Baggett missed a field goal, and the Tigers had no big plays in the return game. Also, Missouri allowed Georgia's return man, Terry Godwin, to have two big returns in the fourth quarter.

Coaching: Gary Pinkel is an outstanding coach. However, he didn't appear to set his freshman passer up for success in this game. The Tigers never truly attempted to get the running game going. Also, why not call more short pass plays to keep the chains moving? Missouri did that on its final drive in the first half. But that was it.  

Positional Unit	First-Half Grade	Second-Half Grade
Pass Offense	C-	C
Run Offense	B-	B
Pass Defense	A	A+
Run Defense	A-	A
Special Teams	B	A-
Coaching	B	B-

Pass Offense: Greyson Lambert did not have a good night. Yet, he only had one pass picked off. Fortunately for Lambert and the 'Dawgs, Missouri dropped at least four more potential interceptions. He also held the ball too long on several occasions, leading to bad decision or sacks.

Run Offense: The Bulldogs did not run the ball as well as they normally do, but Michel did a good job of getting the tough yards. Brendan Douglas and Keith Marshall had some important runs, too. 

Pass Defense: Georgia was in Lock's face all night, forcing several bad throws and moving him out of the pocket where he's uncomfortable at this stage of his development. The 'Dawgs allowed only 11 completions on the night. 

Run Defense: The Bulldogs held Missouri to just 21 yards on the ground. The longest run by any Missouri player on the night was a 10-yarder in the fourth quarter. 

Special Teams: This unit was big for the Bulldogs. Godwin had two big returns in the fourth quarter, one of which set up the game-winning field goal. Marshall Morgan hit the game-winner, but he also missed a 26-yarder earlier in the second half. 

Coaching: The play-calling was conservative, but it was just enough to win this game. When the Bulldogs got down in the red zone on the missed field goal, they essentially settled for the three points instead of trying to get the first down. Defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt did an outstanding job of confusing Lock and staying in his face all night.