By Benjamin Herrold
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When trying to pull an upset of a very good football team, it’s helpful to not have the luck of Charlie Brown. Missouri gave a spirited effort against No. 2 Georgia on Saturday, but it was an avalanche of disastrous plays thwarting the upset bid along the way. Some of it was 50-50 officiating decisions, some of it was the fluky plays that happen in the tumultuous sport of college football, but plenty of it was Missouri making mistakes. In the end, it was a 43-29 Georgia win.
There was a long Georgia fumble return for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead, a stunning play where forward progress could have been called to end the play. But it was not, and Missouri (3-1, 0-1 in SEC play) failed to hold onto the ball, turning possible Tiger points into a Georgia (4-0, 2-0 in SEC) touchdown.
There was a missed Tucker McCann field goal for Missouri, one that may or may not have sailed over the upright and been good.
There was a Drew Lock interception on a well thrown ball that popped off a Tiger receiver’s hands and right to a Georgia defender, who returned it down near the goal line. It was one of three turnovers Missouri committed on the day.
In the end, however, the better team won. All those gaffes and wacky plays did was rob Tiger fans of some drama as they braved a heavy sunburn risk on a sunny, gorgeous afternoon at Faurot Field. They also braved Georgia fans barking on big plays and kickoffs, of which there were many.
But Missouri showed they can hang. The defense especially looked sharp in the first half. Georgia mostly responded with non-offensive touchdowns, the aforementioned fumble return TD and a punt block the Dawgs grabbed for a touchdown.
In the second half, Georgia showed its offensive explosiveness. The Bulldog receivers snared pass after pass, often with Tiger defenders right there, putting points on the board. Riley Ridley and Mecole Hardman are hard to cover. Then there was Jeremiah Holloman’s ridiculous 61-yard touchdown where he caught a back shoulder pass while covered, got his feet just inbounds, broke a tackle by the Tiger cornerback, and then outran the Tiger safety to the end zone. Naturally, given the bizarre nature of the game, he dropped the ball right as he crossed the goal line, and a Missouri defender picked it up in the end zone. But after a replay review, there was no definitive camera angle that showed he dropped it before crossing the goal line, so the play stood.
Missouri showed resilience, scoring again and again in the second half to keep the pressure on Georgia, but the Bulldogs kept the Tigers at arm’s length. It doesn’t look like there will be a surprise SEC East title for Missouri, but the team showed they could be pretty good, especially with fewer mistakes.
Missouri gets a bye week now before road trips to South Carolina on Oct. 6 and mighty Alabama on Oct. 13.