No. 1 Bulldogs hope for better result against Missouri
No. 1 Bulldogs hope for better result against Missouri
ATHENS — Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was probably a little disappointed with the Bulldogs’ performance against Kent State last Saturday, but he didn’t show it in his postgame press conference.
However, he did acknowledge the Golden Flashes exposed some of Georgia’s weaknesses, especially on offense. Smart also pointed out that the Bulldogs can’t turn the ball over, commit costly penalties and shouldn’t settle for field goals in the red zone.
“We played a tough opponent. We talked all week and told our team that we thought this was going to be the best team we had played and it came out to be that way,” Smart said last week after the victory. “They played tough. They have a good quarterback and system, and they are tenacious on defense. I thought we did really well on offense and had a great game plan. The kids practiced hard. We didn’t cash in the chips in the red area and a couple of really costly penalties that killed drives. Thank goodness for Jack Podlesny, he just kept on making them and the defense had some timely stops.”
Now, the Bulldogs (4-0, 1-0 SEC) will move on to their road game against Missouri (2-2, 0-1 SEC) on Saturday night. The Tigers are coming off a heartbreaking 17-14 overtime loss to Auburn. They will hope to knock off the defending national champions at home.
Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz called facing Georgia a “great opportunity” earlier this week.
"Another week, another great opportunity," Drinkwitz said about the Bulldogs on Tuesday. "It’s the second time in our career here in Missouri to host the No. 1 team in the country. The first time of our career was vs. Alabama. Obviously, Georgia has a very good football team. They're well coached, they've got a lot of really good football players."
Smart offered the same amount of respect towards Drinkwitz and the Tigers.
“On to Missouri today, a team I have a lot of respect for,” Smart said on Monday during a press conference. “Any time you go on the road in the SEC, we talk about it all the time, it's tough to win on the road in the SEC. I have a lot of respect for Eliah, the job he's done, and what he does offensively and defensively. They do a good job. I've always thought a lot about the job he does offensively and the issues they create defensively, as well. This year, they have big personnel upfront. They play physical. They just played a really tough game against Auburn. A tough way to lose a game, but we're looking forward to getting ready for these guys and going on the road in the SEC.”
The Bulldogs enter this contest hoping to fix some things on both offense and defense.
Offensively, Georgia has one of the best units in the SEC. The offense is averaging 42.25 points per game, which ranks third in the SEC behind only Tennessee and Alabama. The Bulldogs are also averaging a league’s second-best 531.5 yards of total offense per contest. Despite turning the ball over three times last week, they still totaled 529 yards.
Georgia’s offense is led by quarterback Stetson Bennett. The super senior signal-caller has completed 92-of-124 passes (72.9 percent) for 1,224 yards, five TDs and one INT.
Drinkwitz highlighted that Bennett is playing “as well as anybody in the country.” He added that the Bulldogs have a ton of depth at their respective skill positions.
“He's got a tremendous use of resources with the tight end room,” he said. “There's a lot made about those guys being so deep with that position. They're very deep at running back and also at wide receiver. The offensive line, they're very physical up front. They are able to run the ball attack edges, and then use play-action shots vertically down the field."
Georgia has two of the nation’s most dynamic tight ends in Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington. Bowers leads all Bulldog pass-catchers in receiving yards (276) with 15 receptions and two TDs. Washington has hauled in seven receptions for 120 yards in 2022.
Ladd McConkey is also a powerful weapon in Georgia’s offensive system. The redshirt sophomore has caught 16 pass receptions for 227 yards and a TD. Senior running back Kenny McIntosh is a threat out of the backfield, hauling in a team-high 21 catches for 227 yards.
Drinkwitz thinks UGA offensive coordinator Todd Monken is a mastermind at calling plays.
“What probably makes (Todd) Monken so difficult as a coordinator is that he's got experiences in blended offensively,” Drinkwitz said. “He knows how to use his quarterbacks in the run game. He knows how to use the tight ends in the passing game. He knows how to use wide or spread formations. He's got all the passes. He's got all the runs. He's got all the tight-end stuff. So, he's got a really big toolbox, and then, obviously, he's got some talented players. His biggest challenge with keeping everybody happy."
Missouri’s defense is pretty stout, especially its front seven. The Tigers have nine sacks so far this season, which is tied with Tennessee for fourth-most in the conference.
Ty’ron Hooper, Isaiah McGuire, Kristian Williams, Martez Manuel and Joseph Charleston are the leaders. This group has 15 tackles for loss and five sacks, respectively.
Smart commented on the Tigers’ ability to stop the run.
"They're really physical and big up front. They did a good job of stopping the run last year versus us,” Smart said on Tuesday. “Their size up front, their athleticism up front, is really aggressive. They played Auburn really aggressively in terms of the box count they were in. Some of the run stunts they run are some of the ones we run. They're getting after it and challenging you to do something outside of that. They don't have to have that many and they can still stop the run because they're physical up front. If you just watch our game last year, a lot of the same people are playing on both sides. I feel like Missouri has always been massive and one of the most physical fronts to play against."
Missouri is giving up an average of 180.0 yards per game, while Georgia totals 181.0 yards. The Tigers give up a total of 4.5 yards per attempt, and the Bulldogs average 5.4 yards.
Smart wants Georgia to improve in all facets of the game on Saturday, but he hopes the offense can take advantage of its red zone chances and create more opportunities to score TDs.
"It goes back to the run game,” Smart said. “When the field tightens up and shrinks, that's where the run game is more glaring because the boxes are tighter. They're tighter to the box. There are fewer people in parts of the field, and they are in your front yard. You have to block them and run through them. Some of them are just missing. You go back to the Samford game where we struggled, and there were a couple of times that we had guys open, and we just missed them. We have to do a better job. We've looked at it really hard. Our first down run percentage, second down run percentage. Third-down conversions in the red area are critical because they get you a new set of downs. We've been there a lot (in the red zone), but we haven't converted as much as we need to. If it all had to boil down to one thing, I would say accuracy in the passing game, and then being effective at running the ball at the heavy boxes."
Offensively, Missouri has struggled to score this season. The Tigers are averaging 28.0 points per game, ranking third-worst in the SEC. They are only averaging 394.75 yards per game in 2022.
Quarterback Brady Cook has struggled this season, completing 63.3 percent of his pass attempts with four TDs and four INTs. However, his mobility has helped Missouri move the chains. Cook has racked up 158 yards and two TDS on 36 rush attempts.
Georgia ranks 11th nationally in total defense. The Bulldogs are also the country’s No. 4 overall scoring defense, allowing an average of 8.0 points per game through their first four contests.
Drinkwitz expects Georgia to bring its tenacity after giving up 22 points to Kent State last week.
“I mean, traditionally they are a three-down movement front, which means they started in odd and will slide to a four-down front. They've added some variety in their third-down package. There is some three safety defense that looks a little bit similar to Kansas State,” Drinkwitz said on Wednesday. “There's 4-2-5, which is similar to what we do, and then there's some traditional 3-4 Kirby Smart DNA-style defense. So, I think when you combine a guy like coach (Glenn) Schumann, who's done a lot of really good schemes, and learn from coach (Kirby) Smart and coach (Will) Muschamp there's just a lot of variety of what they can do on defense combined with really good players."
The No. 1 Bulldogs and Tigers will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1 on ESPN.