In a game many thought would be over by the half, the Missouri Tigers came out with fire under their belts and knocked the #1 Georgia Bulldogs off their pedestal, despite adding a loss to their record.

In the first drive of the game, Mizzou defense forced Georgia to a three and out which caused an eruption at Faurot Field. Shutting down an offense like Georgia’s quickly in the game gave Mizzou the confidence they needed to run through three quarters of winning football against the Bulldogs.

The first score of the game went to Mizzou with under five minutes left in the first quarter on a successful field goal by Harrison Mevis. Mevis was 5-5 on field goal attempts and was clutch for Mizzou, putting points up on the board while Georgia was struggling to score. The Bulldogs failed to score until the second quarter when they were forced into a field goal situation.

When asked to pinpoint an issue Georgia struggled with during the first half Head Coach Kirby Smart replied, “Gettin yo [butt] whipped up front. . . But, when you’re not running the ball well, you’re usually getting whipped.” Smart had many good things to say about the way the Tigers played, but at the end of the day is happy to have another win under his belt.

At the half the score was 16- 3 with the Missouri Tigers leading. This continued to be the narrative of the game until the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs scored their first (and only) touchdown of the game to put them up 26-22.

The Tigers did have some notable individual statistics in the game, led by Brady Cook’s 20/32 passing for 192 yards with a touchdown. Wide receiver Dominic Lovett had 6 catches for 84 yards and running back Cody Schrader had 6 carries for 89 yards.

On defense, Jaylon Carlies was a constant disruption to the Bulldog’s high powered offense, recording 11 tackles on the evening. Alongside him was Joseph Charleston who recorded 8 tackles. The Tiger defense was the driving force in keeping Mizzou the winning team for most of the game, and was impressive in the way they were able to shut down such an explosive offense.

The Missouri Tigers record drops to 2-3, but they did manage to knock Georgia’s ranking down in the latest polls.

Is this game a sign of more competitive performances from Mizzou? We will see next week when they travel to take on the Florida Gators.