Photo Courtesy of AJC.com
What a great night for the Dawg Nation! If this man does not start appearing on Heisman watch lists, it will truly be a travesty. First, let's take a look at how I did in this week's wishlist:
- Hold Missouri QB James Franklin to less than 50 yards rushing -Check. When you include loss yardage for sacks and the fumble, Franklin ended with only 14 yards on 20 carries. Even if you exclude the sacks, he only had 65 yards gained. The defense did a great job keeping Missouri's playmaker in check.
- Force at least 2 turnovers -Check. Jarvis Jones did this one all himself. The turnovers in the fourth quarter put the dagger into Missouri's chances.
- Win the time of possession battle -Check. Georgia 32:23 to Missouri's 27:37. For all the struggles our offense had in the first, the defense kept us in it. And in the second half, Murray and company got hot and put together some nice extended drives to keep the Tigers off the field.
- Complete a screen pass - Blah. We tried to run some little screen/swing passes to the running backs, but they failed miserably. Oh well.
- Register a sack by a DT -Check. - Jenkins and Geathers owned the middle of the Missouri D line. And Big Jon finally got to Franklin late in the second half. I just hope they are both okay after leaving the field with injuries.
- One well timed personal foul penalty - Didn't happen and didn't need it. We had way too many penalties as it was. Theus had a bad game, but he's just a freshman who was playing on a bum ankle. He'll only get better from here.
- Georgia 34, Missouri 20 - Very close. Before Jarvis decided to hunt down Franklin and force the last fumble, I was dead on.
Overall, amazing execution against very tough odds by the Dawgs tonight. A couple of other notes:
- Marshall Morgan is going to be a very good kicker for the next few years. Missing an extra point is bad, but I'll take it when he is hitting 52 yard field goals into the wind. A seem to remember a certain kicker named Robinson who missed his first career extra point...and then never missed one again.
- Murray needs to lay off the caffeine before the game. He is so amped up in the first half. And the interception was horrible! (It reminded me of Joe Cox hitting Eric Norwood in the chest back in 2009). But just like last week, he settled down and owned the second half. His numbers would have been even better if not for drops by Bennett, Brown, and Wooten.
- Speaking of the wide receivers, we really do have a solid group. TK with the expolsiveness, Bennett with (mostly) sure hands, and now Marlon Brown is finally living up to his potential. Add in Wooten, Conley, and maybe Malcolm Mitchell later in the season, and you've got one of the best groups Georgia has had under Richt.
- While the running backs did not have a great night, I really like how they are being utilized right now. Keeping Gurley fresh until the fourth was a great decision. Was it just me, or did that long run look eerily similar to the run Crowell had out of the end zone against Ole Miss last year.
- Herrera and Christian Robinson both had really strong games. I also enjoyed seeing Jordan Jenkins flying around the field. He's going to be another great linebacker I think.
- Malcolm Mitchell is an uber talent. He looked great in coverage. But I can't help but feel his decision to field that punt was trying to fill the void left by not playing on offense. He just wanted to a make a big play.
- Jarvis Jones. That is all.
