Georgia's Defensive Improvement vs. Missouri Keeps SEC East Title Hopes Alive

One side of the Sanford Stadium scoreboard didn't give Georgia fans much to cheer about late Saturday night.

But the other side of it—and another entire scoreboard several states away—should've given the Bulldog faithful some newfound optimism.

Georgia scratched and clawed its way to a rather ugly 9-6 home victory against two-time defending SEC East champion Missouri on Saturday night, snapping a two-game losing streak in the conference.

"Well, victory is great, period," Georgia head coach Mark Richt told the SEC Network after the game. "This league is so difficult to get any wins, and to win this one was huge. It was just a gut-check game." 

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Shortly after Marshall Morgan's 34-yard field goal gave the Bulldogs their game-winning points against the visiting Tigers, LSU put the finishing touches on a 35-28 victory over Florida in a matchup of undefeated conference foes.

Those two results put Georgia right back into the thick of things in the race for a divisional title and a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

Saturday night's matchup wasn't pretty for Georgia on the offensive side of the ball. Without star running back Nick Chubb, the Bulldogs scraped together just 120 rushing yards, and quarterback Greyson Lambert recorded 178 passing yards and an interception.

But Mark Richt's team could definitely take pride in its defensive numbers, especially allowing 38 points in back-to-back losses to Alabama and Tennessee.

Total Yards	164
Total Yards per Play	3.41
Rushing Yards per Attempt	0.95
Passing Yards per Attempt	5.50
Third-Down Percentage	15.38%

"Besides the much-needed conference win to stay in the hunt for the SEC East crown, the Bulldogs defense was the bright point of the game for Georgia, holding Missouri to 164 yards after allowing 898 yards in the last two losses," Jordan Hill of Dawgs247 wrote.

Missouri, on the other hand, struggled to get anything against a resurgent Georgia defense. The Tigers recorded 164 total yards—including 21 rushing yards on 22 attempts—and only moved the chains five times on offense.

The Tigers rushing attack entered Week 7 ranked 115th nationally, but it hadn't been shut down quite like this in 2015. In fact, Missouri's season-low mark heading into the game was 85 yards in a 9-6 win against UConn.

True freshman quarterback Drew Lock completed fewer than half of his 26 attempts and was sacked four times. The Bulldogs also recorded a season-high nine tackles for loss in the victory.

While Georgia forced five three-and-outs Saturday night, things weren't necessarily easy for Jeremy Pruitt's defense—it started the game at its own goal line.

Missouri's Ian Simon ran Lambert's interception on the first offensive snap of the game all the way down to the Georgia 1-yard line. But the Bulldogs pushed Missouri back on a first-down fumble, held Russell Hansbrough out of the end zone on second down and made a goal-line stand on third down.

The Tigers were forced to kick a short field goal.

"[The defense] gives us motivation to keep fighting and to go out there and press for every yard," Georgia wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell told the SEC Network. "Try to make plays and try to help them out."

John Bazemore/Associated Press

On Missouri's next two trips into the red zone, Georgia held strong on third down before a short missed field goal and then stonewalled the Tigers at the 6-yard line to close the first half.

After halftime, Georgia's defense found an additional gear, as Missouri's offense never crossed midfield for the rest of the game. The Bulldogs forced a quick three-and-out shortly after Morgan missed a 26-yard field goal with five minutes remaining.

"Series after series after series, the defense obviously played spectacular," Richt told the SEC Network. "Marshall did it when he had to. Thankfully, he got one more opportunity to get it done."

Georgia's defensive resurgence Saturday night in Athens should be taken with a grain of salt. Missouri was by no means an offensive powerhouse, putting up fewer than 300 yards in back-to-back games.

But no other opponent, even the vaunted Florida defense, forced this much offensive frustration for Missouri this season.

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

For the second straight year, Georgia's defense dominated Missouri and put itself in good position to make a run at the SEC East crown.

With Florida falling to an SEC West foe Saturday night—and Kentucky losing to Auburn on Thursday—this narrow win ensures the Halloween rivalry game against the Gators in Jacksonville will be a matchup for control of the East.

If the Bulldogs win, they'll hand Florida its second loss and have the head-to-head advantage in a tiebreaker scenario.

Georgia will have plenty to work on during the upcoming off week, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

But grabbing a conference win is always important, and reinstating some defensive momentum will be huge for the Bulldogs heading into Jacksonville. Take care of business there against Florida, and they'll be one massive step closer toward a return to the Georgia Dome.

"We've got our work cut out for us for sure," Richt told the SEC Network. "But we've got a chance."

And that's quite a silver lining after a frustrating night for the silver britches.

Game statistics courtesy of StatBroadcast. Unless otherwise noted, other statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.