University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Attacked And Won At Mizzou
September 23, 2018 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
There's more than one way to win a game, more than one way to score, more than one way to, in Georgia football coach Kirby Smart's oft-repeated words, attack the day.
The No. 2-ranked Bulldogs got out of Columbia, Mo., with a win Saturday in large part because of how they attacked the ball. They went after it relentlessly, disrupting the Tigers and their high-powered offense in their 43-29 victory over Missouri.
Georgia forced turnovers and made things happen in special teams, those two phases of the game producing all the points for a 20-7 halftime lead, and then the Georgia offense got rolling in the second half, making its own explosive plays.
Smart said after the game that he thought there might be a "shootout" on Saturday, "but not in that form."
"If not for the turnovers and the blocked punt, that game's a whole lot different," he said.
Drew Lock, Mizzou's ultra-experienced senior quarterback, with 37 straight starts, may be the most dangerous passer Georgia's defense faces this season. His numbers were off the charts last season — he led the nation with 44 touchdown passes, a new SEC record, and threw for just shy of 4,000 yards — and through three games in 2018 Lock had completed 69 percent of his passes and thrown for 1,062 yards, with 11 touchdowns and one interception.
Georgia's defense didn't shut down the Tiger offense — 393 total yards, 4.6 yards per play — but the Bulldogs were disruptive. And they attacked the ball.
Missouri's first possession ended with cornerback Tyson Campbell stripping the ball from big tight end Albert Okwuegbunam and returning the fumble 64 yards for a touchdown, the first for the true freshman.
"The defense came up huge for us," junior wide receiver Mecole Hardman, a former cornerback, who scored on a 54-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, told reporters after the game. "We expect the defense to make plays like that and put some points on the board."
Campbell had to leave the game soon after his big play and was replaced by redshirt freshman Eric Stokes, who made his presence felt in multiple ways. Stokes came into the game with four career tackles and one pass break-up.
With star senior cornerback Deandre Baker on the other side, it made sense for Lock to challenge the new rather than throw too many balls toward the preseason All-American. So how did Stokes do? He finished with four tackles (all solo) and broke up three passes.
"Throughout fall camp last year Stokes was always a guy that was this close from playing and today was his chance and he showcased his talent and what he can do," Baker told reporters afterward.
Lock was held to 221 yards passing (he came in averaging an SEC-high 354.0), completing 23 of 48 passes, and of those 25 incompletions, nine were the result of pass break-ups by the Bulldog defense.
Stokes really showed something in the second quarter when he came around the left side of the Georgia rush and blocked a punt. The ball bounced right up to him and he caught it and ran the ball in eight yards for a touchdown — like Campbell, his first as a Bulldog — and gave Georgia a 20-7 lead.
"It was my turn and I had to go do my business," Stokes told reporters after the game. Of the block and touchdown he said: "When I blocked it and I saw that it was right in front of me I was like, oh. The first thing I thought was scoop and score, scoop and score, scoop and score."
For outside linebacker D'Andre Walker, it was two other words that start with "s" that defined the day: strip and sack. The senior not only picked up the Bulldog defense's first two sacks of the season, he also was credited with two forced fumbles, most notably swiping at the ball in Lock's hand and forcing it out on third-and-3 at the UGA 42-yard line.
Walker later sacked Lock for a loss of 11 on the final play of the first half, capping a critical attacking second quarter for Georgia. The period began with a Rodrigo Blankenship 44-yard field goal, followed by linebacker Tae Crowder intercepting a Lock pass, which led to another Blankenship field goal (21 yards).
Georgia's defense held Mizzou to a three-and-out on the Tigers' next two possessions, the second ending with Stokes' "scoop and score." Missouri's next drive ended with Walker's strip sack that Georgia wasn't able to turn into any points after starting at its own 45.
The Georgia offense attacked much more effectively in the second half, with quarterback Jake Fromm connecting with Riley Ridley for a 33-yard touchdown early in the third quarter and Jeremiah Holloman for a 61-yard score later in the period. In the fourth quarter, as the teams continued to trade scoring drives, Fromm hit Hardman for the 54-yarder.
Georgia had a lot of pretty scores Saturday, in all shapes and sizes, but the simple perfection of Hardman's may have been the best. Lined up in the slot on the right side, Hardman faked a hard cut to the right, freezing his defender, and then took off up the right hash with nobody around.
"Awesome move, great football player, just runs a great route against good coverage for that play," Fromm said after the game. "At that point it's just lob it up and let him go get it."
Hardman really let it come to him, actually, running all alone deep in Tiger territory. So much of Georgia's success Saturday, however, came about because the Bulldogs did go get it. They attacked and they won.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
