There had been a lot of hype building up to this game as it was Missouri‘s first ever SEC game and one of the premier college football match-ups of the week. Early on there were a lot of miscues on both sides. Missouri botched a snap on their first drive for a loss of 24 and Georgia fumbled on their first play of the game (but recovered). There were six punts in the first quarter as the teams battled to an even 0-0 tie. On Missouri’s first possession of the second quarter, they fumbled and Georgia recovered. On Georgia’s first play of the second quarter, Aaron Murray threw an interception. With a lot on the line for both teams, early miscues kept the game close with both teams playing very tight.
The offenses started to open up a bit in the second quarter and Missouri took a 10-9 lead into the locker room. On their first drive of the second half, after forcing Georgia to punt, Missouri hit a 69 yard TD pass to go up 17-9. Georgia answered that with their longest drive of the game as they marched 75 yards on 12 plays for a TD. On the next drive, Missouri gained 63 yards but got held to a FG and that’s where the game turned. On the next possession Georgia went 72 yards on five plays and took the lead 24-20. Missouri would not score again.
The final score of 41-20 really wasn’t indicative of how close this football game was for the first three quarters. This was a game that was highly in doubt but Jarvis Jones took over the game in the fourth quarter. With Georgia up 27-20, Jones intercepted a James Franklin pass and brought it back to the one yard line which set up a Todd Gurley TD run. Three plays later, Jarvis Jones sacked James Franklin and caused a fumble which set up a six yard Boo Malcome TD run. Just like that it was 41-20 and the game was over. While it’s very unlikely that Jarvis Jones will win a Heisman Trophy during his playing career, the impact that Jones had on the game in what equated to just under a minute of playing time was truly Heisman worthy.
Aaron Murray has had his critics for never having a “signature win” but maybe this will become that win. It will be interesting to see if this catapults him and Georgia to better things in the future. Murray started out 5 for 11 with an INT but finished hitting 17 of his last 24 with 3 TDs and really settled into the game in the second half. Marlon Brown, who sat out the first game with an injury, had a big game with 9 receptions for 124 yards and 2 TD. The offense played well once, like Murray, they settled down but it was the defense that won this game for Georgia. In the fourth quarter, Jarvis Jones and the D clamped down. Mizzou had four drives (not including the one that ended that game that ran out the clock) and they ended with a punt, an interception, a fumble and a turnover on downs. Georgia is going to be very dangerous when they get Sanders Commings, Bacarri Rambo and Alec Ogletree back and this defense gets to full strength.
Another key moment in the game was a special teams play by Richard Samuel. On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Missouri tried a fake punt and Samuel snuffed it out and tackled the punter after a three yard gain. That stopped the Mizzou drive and gave Georgia great field position that they turned into a 41 yard FG. If you remember last year, South Carolina burned Georgia with a fake punt and Melvin Ingram rumbled for a long TD run. This year Georgia was ready and the veteran Samuel stepped up, knew his assignment and made the play.
Overall, this game closed out how you expect a top ten team to close out a game on the road. Georgia came up with the big plays from their big players when they needed them. Missouri played Georgia very tough for three quarters and gave them all they wanted but when it came down to it they didn’t make the plays in the end. That comes down to depth and it’s something that Missouri is going to have to build up quickly if they want to rise up the ladder in the SEC. In the end, Georgia and it’s style of “old man football” was better on this night. Georgia will now turns it’s sites towards accomplishing something bigger while Missouri looks towards Arizona State and then heads to South Carolina.
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