UGA’s next opponent at a glance: Missouri
Who: at Missouri
When: 7:45 p.m. Saturday
TV; radio: ESPN2; 750, 95.5
About Missouri
Record: 1-0 (0-0 SEC)
Last time played: The only previous football game between Georgia and Missouri came in the Orange Bowl at the end of the 1959 season. Georgia won 14-0 on two long touchdown passes by quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
Offense: Missouri’s spread offense revolves around dual-threat quarterback James Franklin, a 6-foot-2, 228-pound junior who last season passed for 2,865 yards and ran for 981. Starting tailback Kendial Lawrence, a senior, ran for 121 yards in a season-opening 62-10 victory over Southeastern Louisiana last week. The Tigers’ top receiver is T.J. Moe, who caught 146 passes in the past two seasons. Freshman Dorial Green-Beckham, a 6-foot-6, was the nation’s No. 1-rated high school receiver last year and caught three passes for 32 yards in his college debut.
Defense: Missouri allowed 380 yards per game last season, which ranked No. 61 in the nation but No. 4 in the offense-oriented Big 12. Outspoken defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, well-known for his comment that Georgia plays “old man football,” is a highly regarded player who transferred to Missouri from junior college last year. Cornerback E.J. Gaines was first-team All-Big 12 last season, when he had 16 pass breakups. Linebacker Zaviar Gooden has started 27 consecutive games.
Special teams: Sophomore Marcus Murphy returned punts 70 and 72 yards for touchdowns last week, becoming the first player in Missouri history with two two kick-return TDs in the same game.
What you should know: Missouri (8-5, 5-4 Big 12 last season) has won eight or more games in each of the past six seasons.
Coach: Gary Pinkel is in his 12th season at Missouri (86-54 record) and 22nd as a head coach (159-91-3, including 10 years at Toledo).
– Tim Tucker, AJC
THE AJC’s COMPLETE COVERAGE OF GEORGIA’S SEASON OPENER:
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191 comments Add your comment
Ray
September 5th, 2012
8:03 am
People looking at Rankings on any site need to stop right now.
POLLS DON’T MATTER TILL HALFWAY and even then it won’t matter till maybe week 10 at best lol.
Still Mizzou is no cakewalk don’t get a big head and put your foot in your mouths. Their not Oklahoma, but their not an Iowa St/Buffalo either.
CDAWG
September 5th, 2012
9:05 am
I-DOG, I for one am glad that we played a cupcake team because if we had played a stronger team we may very have lost with all the starters out, furthermore, why not give our young running backs a chance to build some confidence before our schedule gets tougher?
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9:27 am
[...] Missouri Tigers at a glance [...]
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9:28 am
[...] Missouri Tigers at a glance [...]
Larry
September 5th, 2012
9:29 am
_________________________________________
Ray sez: Mizzou just plays extreme offense they’ll find out sooner or later that crap don’t pass in SEC FOOTBALL! Just ask Michigan how that worked
_________________________________________
When you say “later” I assume you mean it might not happen this Saturday. Did Michigan pay Georgia? How much money do you make betting on football games?
M-I-Z-Z-O-U
September 5th, 2012
10:03 am
@ Dave….you wrote..Mizzou scored 62 pints last week, but of that, 28 was by the defense and 14 was on punt returns. I know it all counts, but their “high octane” offense only scored 20 points
Think about it for a minute..If Mizzou scored 42 points (or 6 touchdowns) on defense and special teams that means that the Tiger offense had the ball 6 less possessions to score on.
I don’t know who will win. I think it will be a great game with an outstanding atmosphere. But one thing I do know…..I’m glad we’re playing in the SEC instead of the Big 12 Longhorn league!!!
Larry
September 5th, 2012
10:13 am
Amen, M-I-Z-Z-O-U! To hell with Baja Oklahoma, and Alta Oklahoma too.
Larry
September 5th, 2012
10:16 am
they’re / their / there
They’re not the same! ;>)
Augustabred
September 5th, 2012
11:08 am
I don’t why, we as bulldog fans, should underestimate anyone! Mizzou has been a pretty good ball club for the past few years. If we play good hard nose football and control the clock with the run game we should be all right! What we can’t do is get into a shootout with them. Our depth in the secondary is a big issue! We need to keep that offense off the field as much as possible. Murray can make or break us this game. We cannot afford turnovers! Should be a good game.
David Granger
September 5th, 2012
11:13 am
Predicting now that Franklin will burn us a couple of times when we blitz on third and long. That always kills us, for some reason. I don’t know whether we rush too wide, and leave the middle unguarded…or if we telegraph it too early and let the opposing QB hit the slant-in “safety valve” receiver…but either way there are no defenders until after they’ve picked the first down because our DB’s are having to play deep prevent. But it always happens just about every game…
Mizzou94
September 5th, 2012
11:54 am
I really don’t think UGA is that good..but we will soon find out this weekend. Everyone is clamoring on how UGA did last year…but your scheduel was not very good. only quality wins were GT and Auburn. struggled with KY, Vandy, FL, TN and Miss St…you continue to brag about how good you defense did against those offensive duds! how did you do against Boise, SC or LSU…shhh. the “old man football” was not the best comment for Sheldon Richardson to make…but all the Mizzou Tigers are getting tired of hearing they are doomed because they are in the SEC. Great conference but you all are kidding yourselves to think all SEC teams are great…even good. Bama and LSU are the cream of the crop…no doubt. No we won’t win the SEC…anytime soon or at all (since we didnt’ in the Big 12-2-2+2) but we are a quality football team that is a good addition to the SEC.
Missouri Melvin
September 5th, 2012
11:55 am
1959 is a long time to wait to get our revenge. It will be worth it as Fran T made monkeys of us on that sad sad day in ‘59
Bulldawg Rick
September 5th, 2012
11:59 am
Nothing here!! If UGA plays good offense & has no more than 2 turnovers & the defense plays solid & makes adjustments along the way: Georgia will win this game like 27 – 21..
Go Dawgs!!
& the Falcons will get the Chiefs in Arrowhead Sunday!! Go get em Dirty Birds!!
DeShaun Sanders
September 5th, 2012
12:24 pm
@ Granger
re: Your 11:13
I’ve noticed that about Georgia’s blitzing, too. Just this past weekend, Buffalo got two very key first downs when they caught us blitzing on third and long, and if you recall…last year in the Florida game…the damn Gators actually got a touchdown when we blitzed on 4th and 14. What in the hell are we doing blitzing when the other team has 4th down and 14 yards to go? Sure, if it works your defense looks like a real Charley Badass. But why risk it?
You may be right about our blitz “scheme”, in tht we telegraph it to the other team too quickly. And I’m sure not against all blitzing, or even occasionally doing so on 3rd and long. But it sure seems that what we give up in that situation is NOT worth what we get out of it. I’d bet that if we went an entire game without blitzing a single time on third and long it would pay off a lot more than it is now.
ga gator
September 5th, 2012
1:57 pm
UGA you need to play “Old Man” football just like Bama did against Michigan!!
Huh?
September 5th, 2012
2:37 pm
Altamahadawg…there you go again…do you just argue for the sake of arguing? Is it what you like to do?
Everyone knows that it was you that tried to state that the suspensions were a done deal. I said I didn’t know whether they would play or not. Geez….Altamaha, do you not understand why nobody is coming to your defense? Let it go bud, let it go.
LogicalUS
September 5th, 2012
2:37 pm
“we as bulldog fans, should underestimate anyone! Mizzou has been a pretty good ball club ”
Ding, Ding, Ding…we have a winner.
It is like most of these disney Dawgs don’t even watch the games? Where have they been the last 5 years everytime UGA makes an early season road game especially to anywhere west of Sandy Springs?
They must be the worst fans to ever sit beside at any game as their delusional projections of 56-7 beatdowns implode to reality. Geez can yo imagine the raging rants as UGA puts in their usual 12-10 score like UK last season?
Mizzou fans just don’t spill your beverages during the laughing fit when the ACTUAL UGA team runs on the field Saturday…it will bear little resemblance the delusional guaranteed “NFL Superbowl champion” team of the local disney Dawgs.
Will be a good game, but expect Murray to make a couple of huge mistakes when it gets tight and for Mizzou to take a 28-24 type game.
Augustabred
September 5th, 2012
2:52 pm
We have to take into account that we are playing without Commings,Rambo,Tree,maybe Mitchell! We are just not that type of team who can plug in a reserve and keep on chugging! We are not Alabama! Bama doesn’t even miss a beat when a reserve comes in! That is called coaching! Mizzou wants this game bad as their first win in the SEC! I hope we don’t want to be the team in the record books that gave it to them!
Old Man
September 5th, 2012
2:57 pm
Hey Sheldon Richardson, listen here sonny….when I was your age, we were taught to be respectful to our elders. “Old man football”?? What does being old have to do with putting silver britches on inmates and being over-rated? Our guns didn’t even have serial numbers. We fired black powder muskets and we loved it! I want some soup.
Old Man
September 5th, 2012
3:04 pm
1st
AltamahaDawg
September 5th, 2012
3:53 pm
Noooo, I didnt TRY to state they were a done deal . I STATED inexplicable that they were a done deal.
And I would be quite offended if anybody came to my “defense”, on such a no brainer. Every logical person in the blogs know you were full of BS to say Richt really wan’t sure IF he was going to suspend them or not. OBviously YOU didn’t know if they were playing or not.
BUT thats NOT what you said. YOU said Richt didnt know. then argued, and argued about it. Now I see you have modified that just a tad.
AltamahaDawg
September 5th, 2012
3:55 pm
Then Fla Dawg told you were wasting your time to argue with me.
Which you then Turned into “name calling”, then lied about that too.
AltamahaDawg
September 5th, 2012
4:28 pm
Inexplicable? uh no. You should have dinged me on that one.
Inexorably
Bones
September 5th, 2012
4:52 pm
After watching the game openner last weekend, UGA still has the same issues with our defensive calls as we did a year or two ago. Yes we have several key players out, but calling the same old plays over and over is causing problems in our secondary. We have so many people off the line of scrimmage it’s gotten to the point the other guy is saying “I thought you had him”. Here’s the fix. Rush four or more all the time. The other teams quarterback has way to much time to throw the ball. Look back in the 80’s when Ga was a major defensive team. They rushed their defense and covered up the other teams QB so he didn’t have time to think. At this time with the way we set up our defense, we can stop the run for the most part, but the other teams passing game is going to kill us! Go Dawgs!!
Huh?
September 5th, 2012
5:01 pm
Altamaha…you are obviously sensitive because even another UGA fan called you out. I wasn’t suggesting that nobody came to your defense over the suspension debate. I was referring to the fact that all you do is argue and change your story around.
Nor did I say that they weren’t a done deal. I said that until Richt announces, none of us know whether they will play or not. You can say that it’s a done deal, but how do you know?
Also, I gave you 6 reasons why Missouri would win the game. You wouldn’t accept them, not you are trying to say I never gave you any. You are a MASTER at changing your story, denying what you said, and turning things around. That is why nobody is coming to your defense.
Kingsx7
September 5th, 2012
6:39 pm
JUST WIN BABY !!!!!!!!!!
pop
September 5th, 2012
10:59 pm
if our starters on defense are back we will be ok richt the bulldawg nation has spoke we need this win turn the dawgs loose
joe
September 5th, 2012
11:14 pm
i looked at Missouri – their recievers are really big 6-3, 6-4 & 6′-6″ and they run a spread with a fast QB ………………i’m worried boys
Huh?
September 5th, 2012
11:26 pm
pop…you mean the injured players? or the suspended ones? I hope you mean the injured ones.
bee
September 5th, 2012
11:35 pm
are we turning into Miami – i hope not
lapdog
September 5th, 2012
11:42 pm
i have a bad feeling that Mizzouri is going to smoke us unless we can make bail for everyone
RunninWithTheDawgs
September 6th, 2012
8:35 am
If Missouri hasn’t done anything to beef up their defense Murray and company will have a field day Saturday. GO DAWGS
sickdog
September 6th, 2012
1:15 pm
@Mizzou94. Who are you to guage whether UGA is a good team or not. Those teams that you just stated that were offensive duds like KY, Vandy, TN, Fl, Miss St are all in the SEC. You go out and beat them 1st before you talk trash bout them or UGA. OH and we did play SC pretty good from what i remembr. Even though we lost. Mizzou hasnt earned the right to talk trash yet. Go out and show SEC that you are for real. Respect is earned my friend…UGA has a coaching problem not a talent problem…Now im not saying that UGA will kill yall Sat. I for one am not happy with the dawgs right now..toooo much talent to be playing the way they are…imho.
zooman
September 6th, 2012
5:22 pm
Respect – like beating Arkansas in the 2008 Cotton Bowl 38-7 – Mizzou will have the best offense you have seen since Boise last year.
FYI- Missouri avg 32.8 pts per game last year and they are better this year.
MIZZOU B&B
September 6th, 2012
5:35 pm
Im so amped for this game!!!!! Franklin will need to make smart passes an look for moe an green down field. georgia needs to create pressure up the middle and contain franklin from breaking outside he didnt really show too much in the opener but excited to see how he will handle a real challenge. gooden and ebner love to make big hits and big plays interested to see how they play the run which is what georgia should do most of the game to own the clock. excited to show the SEC we arent a slack team. MIZZOUUUU-RAH!!!
Jeremy
September 6th, 2012
10:50 pm
Can’t believe the logic that “DAVE” has saying this, “From what I have read, it’s the dogs by three. Mizzou scored 62 pints last week, but of that, 28 was by the defense and 14 was on punt returns. I know it all counts, but their “high octane” offense only scored 20 points against a division 2 school. If we don’t have any breakdowns in special teams and no turnovers (OK…maybe one), we should be all right. UGA played a very vanilla defense and offense, because they could and still win…..
Mizzou is supposed to score more offensive points than 20 when the score is 62-10? It’s called sitting your starters. Secondly, when your punt returner scores a TD in less than 6 seconds it kind of takes a chance away from the offense….duh? Dave – atleast Mizzou took care of it’s cupcake SEC Style. Can’t say the same for the GA/Buffalo game. Nice job dawgs….looking great versus Buffalo.
Jeremy
September 6th, 2012
10:53 pm
But Dave….GA was vanilla and didn’t show anything. Mizzou couldn’t have possibly shut it down early as well in their 62-10 beatdown in week 1? Only GA is smart enough to play a vanilla game. The only difference is that Mizzou kept it extremely vanilla and still cored 62 because we have stellar special teams and stellar defense. We scored multiple times in each area of the game. You take GA Freshman RB away and that 90+ yrd return out and now the Buffalo game really starts looking close? OUCH.
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Mizzou Denny
September 7th, 2012
6:59 pm
Dawgs deserve healthy respect on their own due to tradition and as an SEC member but Mizzou does not run the same spread offense as Michigan. Mizzou’s QB Franklin is a better passer than the Michigan QB, who is a more elusive runner. Franklin is a more powerful runner who can break tackles.
Last, again with respect, the current strong Georgia defense is not Alabama. I would not read too much of the Michigan and ‘Bama game into the Georgia and Missouri contest. Georgia should be favored but it must play well to win because Missouri is a good opponent. The offensive and defensive line play by both teams will determine the victor.