*Today went the way we thought it would go. There were some things to like. But there wasn't any moment where Missouri had much of a chance to win. There are two sides of this. You can appreciate the fight and the effort and still be irritated that the reality is that Missouri is about five or six touchdowns worse than Georgia. Play this game ten times and the Bulldogs win nine or ten, most by a similar margin. The spread wasn't wrong. That's where the programs are. While it's not realistic that Missouri is going to have a better program year in and year out, you should certainly hope the gap can be narrower than it is today. If not, what are we even doing here?
*I wrote my column on the QB question so I won't go too deep into that. I'll just say that if Connor Bazelak is healthy I think he's your guy for the rest of this year because he's shown an ability to compete and win games at this level before. His sophomore season--or at least the last month of it--have been disappointing, but the first 12 games or so still have to count for something. I also think Brady Cook and Tyler Macon did enough today to earn some PT down the stretch. If you need somebody to start, I think it has to be Cook. As I said in the column, his running is closer to Macon's than Macon's passing is to Cook's. He's the more complete QB right now. But you can find a use for Macon as well. I think you do whatever you have to do to win two more games this year. The real intrigue here is going to be handling it heading into the offseason to make sure you keep at least two (and preferably the best two) of them on campus past this spring.
*Missouri's run defense was encouraging today in one regard. The Bulldogs didn't shred Mizzou on the ground like most of us thought they would. But to do that, Missouri had to sacrifice something and that something was bodies in coverage. Yes, UGA is better than Mizzou up front, but it's also pretty clearly better at the skill positions. Missouri had to devote so much attention to stopping the run that it left them in one on one coverage and the Tigers' just couldn't hold up. You can't scheme around that. Steve Wilks took the right approach. If you make Stetson Bennett beat you throwing the ball there's always a chance he doesn't throw a good pass or it's dropped or something goes wrong. I'd much rather watch a team get beat because the opponent made plays than just watching them run for 12 yards up the middle on every snap. Missouri doesn't have the horses on defense, but this was one of the better efforts of the season.
*I said coming into this game that Eli Drinkwitz had two options. He could either go full turtle and hand the ball off 55 times and play to get beat by less or he could let it all hang out and risk getting beat 70-3. My issue with today was he appeared to try to split the difference. He punted the ball on fourth and 1 with three minutes left in the first half (and gave up a touchdown anyway) and then he started the second half with an onside kick. The result was, I guess, what was deserved, which was a loss that wasn't in any way competitive but also wasn't an embarrassment that's going to lead the highlight shows. I'd personally have liked to see a little more aggression, but if I'm being honest, I understand why he did it the way he did it.
*I like the fact that Tyler Badie only ran the ball nine times. Missouri has three winnable games left (I don't think they'll win all three, but all three are at least winnable). Don't jeopardize them by wearing your best player out in a game that you simply weren't going to win.
*Missouri's goal is clear: Win two more. They can beat South Carolina next week, no matter who plays quarterback (again, not saying they will, just that they can). Win that one and then you play that balls to the wall, throw the kitchen sink at them approach against both Florida and Arkansas. I don't think Missouri can win them both, but I think it can win one. Do that and you're in a minor bowl game and you get two more weeks of practice and you've salvaged something. You haven't salvaged everything. The season is still disappointing. But it's better than it could have been and better than most thought it would be a month ago.
Mitch has more coming tonight, we'll have a grade card and snap counts in the morning.
*I wrote my column on the QB question so I won't go too deep into that. I'll just say that if Connor Bazelak is healthy I think he's your guy for the rest of this year because he's shown an ability to compete and win games at this level before. His sophomore season--or at least the last month of it--have been disappointing, but the first 12 games or so still have to count for something. I also think Brady Cook and Tyler Macon did enough today to earn some PT down the stretch. If you need somebody to start, I think it has to be Cook. As I said in the column, his running is closer to Macon's than Macon's passing is to Cook's. He's the more complete QB right now. But you can find a use for Macon as well. I think you do whatever you have to do to win two more games this year. The real intrigue here is going to be handling it heading into the offseason to make sure you keep at least two (and preferably the best two) of them on campus past this spring.
*Missouri's run defense was encouraging today in one regard. The Bulldogs didn't shred Mizzou on the ground like most of us thought they would. But to do that, Missouri had to sacrifice something and that something was bodies in coverage. Yes, UGA is better than Mizzou up front, but it's also pretty clearly better at the skill positions. Missouri had to devote so much attention to stopping the run that it left them in one on one coverage and the Tigers' just couldn't hold up. You can't scheme around that. Steve Wilks took the right approach. If you make Stetson Bennett beat you throwing the ball there's always a chance he doesn't throw a good pass or it's dropped or something goes wrong. I'd much rather watch a team get beat because the opponent made plays than just watching them run for 12 yards up the middle on every snap. Missouri doesn't have the horses on defense, but this was one of the better efforts of the season.
*I said coming into this game that Eli Drinkwitz had two options. He could either go full turtle and hand the ball off 55 times and play to get beat by less or he could let it all hang out and risk getting beat 70-3. My issue with today was he appeared to try to split the difference. He punted the ball on fourth and 1 with three minutes left in the first half (and gave up a touchdown anyway) and then he started the second half with an onside kick. The result was, I guess, what was deserved, which was a loss that wasn't in any way competitive but also wasn't an embarrassment that's going to lead the highlight shows. I'd personally have liked to see a little more aggression, but if I'm being honest, I understand why he did it the way he did it.
*I like the fact that Tyler Badie only ran the ball nine times. Missouri has three winnable games left (I don't think they'll win all three, but all three are at least winnable). Don't jeopardize them by wearing your best player out in a game that you simply weren't going to win.
*Missouri's goal is clear: Win two more. They can beat South Carolina next week, no matter who plays quarterback (again, not saying they will, just that they can). Win that one and then you play that balls to the wall, throw the kitchen sink at them approach against both Florida and Arkansas. I don't think Missouri can win them both, but I think it can win one. Do that and you're in a minor bowl game and you get two more weeks of practice and you've salvaged something. You haven't salvaged everything. The season is still disappointing. But it's better than it could have been and better than most thought it would be a month ago.
Mitch has more coming tonight, we'll have a grade card and snap counts in the morning.
