Georgia at Missouri

The Sports Xchange

September 19, 2018 at 5:43 pm.

GAME SNAPSHOT
KICKOFF: Saturday, noon ET
SITE: Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field, Columbia, Mo.
TV: ESPN
SERIES: Georgia leads 6-1. Georgia won 53-28 in 2017.
RANKINGS: Georgia No. 2

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Bulldogs

–QB Jake Fromm continued his solid play, completing 10-of-12 passes for 128 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Mecole Hardman, Riley Ridley and Jeremiah Holloman in last week’s win over Middle Tennessee State. For the season, he is 37-of-46 (80.4 percent) for 479 yards with six touchdowns against one interception.

–RB Elijah Holyfield enjoyed the best statistical day of his career, rushing eight times for 100 yards for Georgia, which is averaging almost 260 yards on the ground through three games. His 200 yards (9.1 per-carry average) are tops among Georgia rushers.

–WR Mecole Hardman had another big day for the Bulldogs in the 49-7 win over the Blue Raiders. He scored a pair of touchdowns, one on a 5-yard reception and another on a 70-yard punt return. With 12 receptions overall, Hardman now has four touchdowns, tops on the team.

–CB Deandre Baker intercepted his second pass in as many weeks. It was one of just three passes Middle Tennessee’s Brent Stockstill decided to throw against the senior, who continues to show why he is one of the best defensive backs in the SEC. It will be interesting to see how he fares against Missouri QB Drew Lock and his top receiver, Emanuel Hall (18 catches, 430 yards).

Tigers

–QB Drew Lock needs only 243 passing yards to eclipse the 10,000-yard mark for his career, something only one other quarterback in school history — all-time leader Chase Daniel — has accomplished. He has completed 79 percent of his passes for 354 yards a game with 11 touchdowns. He has been intercepted once in 113 attempts.

–WR Jalen Knox caught five passes for 59 yards in his first two games for the Tigers, but had a breakout performance against Purdue, catching five passes for a team-high 110 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown to give Missouri a 20-10 lead early in the second quarter.

–LB Terez Hall has been a consistent presence in the Tigers’ linebacking corps. He has 14 tackles that include a sack and has forced a fumble through three games. He could be a key figure in getting pressure on Georgia QB Jake Fromm.

–CB Adam Sparks had a career game against Purdue. He recorded 11 tackles while matched up against his brother Jared, a wide receiver for the Boilermakers. He has 16 tackles for the season.

KEYS
TO THE GAME

Georgia’s defense has a clear task ahead, but it may not be an easy one.

Slowing Missouri quarterback Drew Lock could be a tall order when the No. 2 Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0 SEC) go for a third consecutive win over the Tigers (3-0, 0-0 SEC).

Kickoff at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field in Columbia is noon on ESPN.

A senior, Lock is arguably the top quarterback in the SEC. He has averaged 354 yards passing while throwing 11 touchdowns through three games, and figures to give a young Bulldogs secondary what could be its toughest test this year.

He certainly has the attention of Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

“He can make every throw. He threw the ball outside of the stadium last year on us. I think the biggest thing is his maturity level, his confidence,” said Smart. “He’s seen the coverages. He’s seen the checks. He understands where he wants to go with the ball. He’s got as fast of release as I’ve ever seen. He can get the ball out so quick, and he does such a good job of keying your defenders and knowing where to go with the ball.

“You can tell they really work hard on it, and I think he’s just more mature.”

Bulldogs senior defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter knows all about the challenge the Tigers present. Ledbetter has been part of Georgia’s last two victories over the Tigers, including a 28-27 nail-biter during their last trip to Columbia in 2016.

“They have a great football team,” Ledbetter said. “They have a great passing game and a great quarterback that is seasoned. He has been there for a while. We played him last year and the year before that.

“We’ve had close games with them and it is just going to come down to executing. We’ll have to have a lot of communication like we did in the South Carolina game. We also have to just play smart and play in the ways that benefits the defense. We don’t want anybody isolated in this game. We are going to try to play as a unit.”

Missouri coach Barry Odom is impressed with what he has seen from the Bulldogs.

“You can’t talk about the top teams in college football without Georgia coming up in the conversation,” Odom said. “You always want to find mismatches … there’s not many out there.”

Georgia’s defense is “almost fun to watch when you’re watching the tape,” Lock said.

Odom disagrees.

“I haven’t found the fun part yet,” he said.

Missouri’s defense faces some challenges of its own.

The Bulldogs are averaging 45 points in their three wins and face a Tiger team that has allowed over 300 yards passing per game.

While Georgia will certainly look to take advantage of that aspect of Missouri’s defense with quarterbacks Jake Fromm and Justin Fields, don’t look for the Bulldogs to suddenly forgo their running game, which is averaging 272 yards rushing.

Junior Elijah Holyfield — the son of former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield — has been responsible for much of that damage, rushing for a career-best 100 yards last week against Middle Tennessee.

“He practices tough, physical,” Smart said. “Every day for him is physical. There is not a day he goes out there and says, ‘I’m taking this day off’ or ‘I’m not going full speed today.’ He’s not a guy you have to motivate.

“He loves the game. He practices hard. I think he really likes competition because when he gets thudded by a guy, he always likes to come back and get that guy back.

“You kind of see that out there in his play. He likes contact, and he’s a bowling ball. He’s hard to bring down. He’s really tough.”

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