“Composure and resiliency” were the two themes of yesterday’s game versus Missouri.
I can’t tell you someone that could have predicted that game going the way it went, but the Georgia Bulldogs were ready for it. They embraced the adversity. You could tell from the simple fact that they won that game. The team understood that winning would take a collective effort, and Coach Smart spoke on that, describing the victory as a “program win.”
“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys,” said Smart during the post game interview.
It took Georgia until the fourth quarter to really get a grasp of the game. But other than that the Dawgs were struggling to get any kind of points on the board. Turnovers, missed throws, and the inability to establish a running game prevented Georgia from coming out guns ablazing and made it hard for the Dawgs to establish any consistent drives.
In the first half Missouri owned the line of scrimmage. The Tigers’ defensive front was causing fits for Georgia’s offensive line. It wasn’t hard to notice. Georgia players were getting “whipped” up front, and Smart admitted to it. When you have two people go against each other, one will win, and the other will lose. It’s just the way things go. Missouri wanted to disrupt the line of scrimmage, and they succeeded.
Missouri winning on the line of scrimmage led to broken running plays and multiple tackles for loss. Instead of getting a reliable gain, Georgia would find itself behind schedule. No running game put more pressure on Stetson Bennett to sling it, but it’s not like he had a great pocket to work with either. Missouri’s defense knew how to bring pressure. They found themselves affecting Bennett throughout the game, amounting to 2 sacks and forcing multiple missthrows. This led to a lack of tempo and in turn, a lack of rhythm or momentum. For some time, the offense looked lost out there.
But regardless, through these unforeseen hardships, the Bulldogs never doubted that a win was possible. The team went from basically blowing out every team they’ve played this season to not having a lead until the last couple minutes of the game, and it didn’t faze them. The Georgia coaching staff has taught them to play for each other not just with each other. Those teachings have created a team connection unlike any team in college football right now.
Smart asked if he should put the “eleven best” or the “best eleven” guys on the field, “And there’s a big difference. You know, eleven best doesn’t win when stuff goes wrong. It fractures. When you take the best eleven, they stay together.”
That’s why Coach Smart was so proud of his team. They stayed together. When the going got tough, they got tougher. It’s easy to write the Dawgs off after a poor performance against an unranked team but if you pay close attention to what Kirby &’ Co. is building in Athens, you’ll notice there’s more than meets the eye.