Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz knew that, if his Tiger team had any hope of toppling No. 1 Georgia without starting quarterback Connor Bazelak, his players would have to not only believe they could pull off the upset going into the game, but execute with near perfection.

Half of that recipe turned into reality. The visiting Tigers, a 39.5-point underdog, surprised the home fans by taking an early lead. Missouri forced a punt on Georgia’s first offensive possession, then true freshman quarterback Tyler Macon, making his first college start, led the Tiger offense into the red zone. Harrison Mevis’ 36-yard field goal gave the visitors a whiff of momentum.

But a few key mistakes would allow Georgia to get on track. And once the Bulldogs got going, Missouri couldn’t slow them down until the game was well out of reach. Georgia scored on six consecutive possessions following its initial punt and cruised to a 43-6 victory, moving to 9-0 on the season. Missouri fell to 4-5 overall, 1-4 in SEC play.

“I was proud of their effort,” Drinkwitz said of his team. “but we’ve got to play cleaner.”

While Missouri cracked the scoreboard first, it missed opportunities to get more out of its first two possessions. The Tigers won the coin toss and opted to receive the ball, pitting Macon against the nation’s best scoring defense to open the game. Missouri got a first down, but a drop and a false start penalty put the Tigers behind the chains, forcing a punt. Then, after the defense forced Georgia to punt the ball back, Macon led the offense inside the Georgia 20-yard line. On third down and three, Macon held the ball out for running back Tyler Badie — but Badie wasn’t there to take it. The busted play resulted in Macon getting tackled in the backfield.

“We were supposed to have a speed motion out of the backfield, and we just didn’t get that done,” Drinkwitz said when asked about the play after the game. “It’s on me.”

On the ensuing Georgia possession, Missouri once again narrowly missed a chance to generate momentum. The Tiger defense forced the Bulldogs into a fourth down and five at the Missouri 35-yard line. Georgia coach Kirby Smart opted to keep his offense on the field. Quarterback Stetson Bennett IV, who took over for preseason Heisman Trophy hopeful JT Daniels behind center after Daniels suffered a lat muscle injury in Georgia’s third game of the season, launched a rainbow for the end zone. Arian Smith beat safety Jaylon Carlies and ran under it for the game’s first touchdown.

Missouri responded by inserting redshirt freshman Brady Cook into the game at quarterback. The offense failed to pick up a first down, the drive stalling when Cook threw a swing pass to Badie on third down and six that went nowhere. Georgia’s Nolan Smith then blocked Grant McKinniss’ punt. The ball bounced through the end zone for a safety. That forced Missouri to kick the ball back to Georgia. Four plays later, Bennett once again went deep, this time to Jermaine Burton, who out-jumped Kris Abrams-Draine to come down with the ball. The 47-yard gain set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by Zamir White, and the rout was on.

“They scored and then we went three-and-out, blocked a punt, and then they were able to score again,” Drinkwitz said. “So it was a really big momentum swing, and obviously something that can’t happen.”

Desperate for points on its next possession, Drinkwitz kept his offense on the field on fourth down and three. Macon couldn’t find an open receiver, and his scramble came up about a foot short of the line to gain. After a Georgia field goal, Drinkwitz tried the opposite approach on fourth down, and it backfired as well. With his team facing fourth and less than a yard from its own 34, Drinkwitz sent the punting unit onto the field, hoping his defense could get a stop and Missouri could get to the locker room trailing by just two scores. Instead, the Georgia offense marched 74 yards in nine plays. James Cook capped off the possession with a one-yard touchdown run of his own with just 18 seconds remaining in the first half.

“Took a 3-0 lead, had a critical fourth down there in the first quarter that they were able to convert on, and then we had a fourth down in the second quarter that we weren’t able to convert on that kind of flipped the momentum,” Drinkwitz said.

Drinkwitz said his pregame plan was to keep the game as close as possible during the first half, then open up his bag of tricks if the score remained in reach in the second. Even with Missouri trailing 26-3 at the break, Carlies said the coaching staff remained upbeat in the locker room. The team planned to start the second half with a surprise onside kick, hoping that would spark a comeback.

Missouri appeared to execute the play to perfection. Sean Koetting’s kick bounced just past the 10-yard mark, where Jalani Williams fell on it. There was just one problem: Replay revealed that Elijah Young blocked a Georgia player before the ball had traveled 10 yards, which drew a retroactive penalty. Its element of surprise blown, Missouri had to kick the ball deep.

“Coach Drink came in and gave us some good motivation coming out into the second half, and getting that onside, we thought, we got it,” Carlies said. “That would have been a huge breaking point in the game, I feel like, just to have momentum going into the rest of the game.”

If Missouri had any remaining hope of making the game competitive, it evaporated three plays later. Facing third and 10, Bennett threw to tight end Darnell Washington. Safety Martez Manuel hit him well short of the line to gain, but Washington spun out of the tackle and gained 11 yards. On the next snap, Kearis Jackson gained 37 yards on a jet sweep, then Bennett hit Burton for a 12-yard score.

Ultimately, Drinkwitz left Sanford Stadium pleased with his team’s effort. But in a matchup where an out-manned Missouri roster had little margin for error, the Tigers made far too many mistakes to keep the score close.

“In a game like this when you’re playing the No. 1 team in the country, you’ve got to make those plays,” Drinkwitz said, “and we didn’t make them today.”

With Bazelak sidelined, Drinkwitz planned to rotate Macon and Cook at quarterback early, then ride the hot hand from there. As it turned out, both players showed some promise and also had some problems against Georgia’s dominant defense. Each wound up playing six possessions.

“We told them both they were going to play, and I thought Maco had the first couple of drives and then Brady had a couple of drives, and just tried to see if one of them could really spark us and sustain it,” Drinkwitz said. “Both of them really did some good things.”

Macon provided the offense an early jolt with his mobility. He rushed for 43 yards in the first half. He struggled with accuracy and touch as a passer, however. Macon finished the game completing 6-13 passes for 74 yards. Prior to the game’s final possession, his stat line was 3-8 for 9 yards — and he gained 10 of those on a push pass to Keke Chism that traveled about a foot in the air. Macon did have a couple throws dropped, but he also missed a wide open Dominic Lovett in the middle of the field during the second quarter and threw behind Daniel Parker Jr. on what looked like it would be an easy touchdown on the final play of the game.

Cook, meanwhile, showed more accuracy, completing 14 of 18 attempts. He wasn’t much more prolific from a yardage standpoint, though, throwing for 78 yards. He also gained 32 yards on 10 carries.

Ultimately, Drinkwitz said he saw some things to like from both passers, but each has room for improvement.

“I thought both of them had good and bad, some learning experiences for both of them,” he said. We weren’t really able to consistently throw the football with them, and that’s something we have to work on.”

Asked whether Bazelak could return for next Saturday’s matchup against South Carolina, Drinkwitz said it’s “too early to know.”

“Won’t know until probably Wednesday or Thursday of next week,” he said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Missouri defensive coordinator Steve Wilks made clear that his unit’s top priority would be slowing down the Georgia running game. That figured to be much easier said than done. The Tiger defense entered Saturday ranked last nationally on the ground, allowing opponents to rush for an average of 283.9 yards per game and 6.3 yards per attempt. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, had run the ball on more than two-thirds of its offensive snaps.

Missouri largely succeeded in bottling up Georgia on the ground. The Bulldogs mustered just 67 yards rushing during the first half and 168 for the game. That’s the lowest total the Tigers have allowed to a Power Five opponent this season.

But the success came at a price. Missouri left its defensive backs in one-on-one coverage for most of the game, vulnerable to downfield shots. Georgia consistently won those matchups.

“Our plan was to come in and stop the run, so once we did that, they had to figure something else out to do,” linebacker Chad Bailey said. “And that’s what they did, throw the ball.”

Bennett, who has earned a reputation as a game-manager, showed he can be a dynamic passer, too, completing 13-19 for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Daniels, playing for the first time since Sept. 18, chipped in 82 yards and a score. Georgia’s 337 yards through the air represented its most against an SEC opponent this season. Nine different Bulldog passing plays gained at least 15 yards. Four gained more than 30.

Carlies, who did intercept Daniels in the second half for his fourth pick of the season, said the defense couldn’t take too much joy from its performance on the ground since Georgia was able to make up for it through the air.

“Heading into every week, we try to stop the run and pass,” he said. “It’s not really just one-sided. But I feel like this was one of our better weeks versus a better team stopping the run and trying to hold them on the ground. But, you know, passing-game wise, we’ve just got to keep emphasizing that, keep going over that, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be good for the rest of the season.”

For the first time this season, Missouri covered the point spread at kickoff. The 39.5-point gulf represented the largest point spread in favor of a Tiger opponent since the team joined the SEC in 2012 and the second-largest in school history. Prior to Saturday, Missouri was the nation’s only FBS team to go winless against the spread on the season.

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