When Harrison Mevis’ field goal split the uprights as time expired, giving Missouri a 50-48 win over Arkansas on Saturday, the players on the Tiger sideline streamed onto the field in celebration. They mobbed Mevis then migrated to the North end zone, where senior players, in keeping with tradition, selected rocks from the grass hill and were carried off the field and into the locker room by teammates.
The victory over Missouri’s rival and former head coach Barry Odom certainly provided cause for celebration in the moment. But by the next day, the tone had changed, at least on one side of the ball. Defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said he had a “very candid meeting” with his unit on Sunday. Missouri allowed Arkansas to rush for 292 yards and gain 566 in all.
Thanks to an offensive explosion and a few key stops and clutch kicks, Missouri was able to get away with the shoddy defense against Arkansas. But when a new-look Georgia offense comes to Faurot Field, Walters knows his unit had better clean up its mistakes.
“We’ve gotta be better prepared, I’ve got to do a better job of preparing them, and so we’re making sure we’re doing the right things to go compete at a high level on Saturday,” he said.
The primary issue for Missouri against Arkansas was slowing down the Razorbacks’ ground game. Tailback Trelon Smith rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns. Arkansas had 10 rushing plays gain at least 10 yards. Getting star linebacker Nick Bolton back (and hopefully healthy) should help Missouri a bit, but Walters acknowledged Wednesday that “we weren’t playing very well when he was in there, either.”
One specific play gave Missouri the most trouble on the ground. Arkansas would fake a toss to its tailback one direction, then hand it off for an inside draw. The play accounted for two of Smith’s three touchdowns. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz said after the game “we still haven’t stopped the sprint draw.”
“The first time they did it, you know, Nick was in there, a certain call, and you got caught not staying backside,” Walters explained. “So you get it corrected on the sideline, you know, he gets kicked out of the game, and then the same call with a different guy in there, so the same problems happen. So you just correct it when you watch the tape.”
Getting its run defense sorted out will be paramount for Missouri, because if No. 9 Georgia is able to run the ball consistently, the Bulldogs will take full advantage. In its last game, Georgia torched South Carolina for 332 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The Bulldogs are led by the one-two tailback punch of Zamir White and James Cook, who have combined to average nearly 110 rushing yards per game this season.
But, unlike the last time Missouri prepared to face Georgia, opposing defenses don’t solely have to worry about stopping the run when they face the Bulldogs. Thanks to the emergence of JT Daniels, Georgia has shown some life in the passing game in recent weeks.
A former five-star recruit, Daniels made waves when he transferred from USC to Georgia during the offseason. However, perhaps because he was still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last season, Daniels didn’t see the field until Nov. 21. During Georgia’s first six games, the combination of Stetson Bennett IV and D’Wan Mathis largely struggled. In fact, the week of Nov. 14, when Missouri was originally supposed to play Georgia before a combination of COVID-19 positives and contact tracing nearly wiped out the Tiger defensive line, Georgia listed four quarterbacks as co-starters on its depth chart. In the three weeks prior, Bennett and Mathis combined to complete just 43.4 percent of their passes for four touchdowns and eight interceptions.
In the past two games, Daniels has completed 38 of 54 passes for 540 yards, six scores and one pick. During the past two games, Georgia has averaged 38 points and 440 total yards in those two contests, significant increases from its season averages.
“It’s a lot different,” Walters said of Georgia’s offense with Daniels. “You can tell why he was highly recruited and why he had the start to his campaign, his college campaign, that he did. Throws a great ball. You can tell that he’s played a lot of football, he reads coverages, and for only having played in two games, he doesn’t really make a whole lot of mistakes, or has not made a lot of mistakes.
“Now they got a trigger man, the future bodes bright for their offense for sure.”
Compounding the challenge for Missouri is the fact that the Tigers will be thin both at edge rusher and defensive back this week. Defensive end/outside linebacker Tre Williams made the surprising decision to opt out of the remainder of the season after the Arkansas game, according to Drinkwitz. Williams’ departure leaves Bolton and fellow rush end Trajan Jeffcoat as the only remaining defensive players with two sacks or more on the season.
At cornerback, the situation is even more dire. Drinkwitz said Tuesday that junior Jarvis Ware, the team’s top corner, will miss this week’s matchup after suffering a “pretty significant injury” against Arkansas. The Tigers also lost senior Adam Sparks last week when he opted out of the season. As a result, Missouri’s depth chart lists just three scholarship cornerbacks — all freshmen. Walters said that freshman receiver Kris Abrams-Draine has been practicing with the defensive backs this week, and a few other players could fill in at corner if necessary.
“We’ve got some other players that will be ready in case of an emergency,” Walters said.
While depth may be an issue, Walters isn’t worried about the two true freshmen who will likely start Saturday’s contest. Ware will be replaced by JC Carlies, a former high school receiver who made the switch to cornerback in college and has played in nickel and dime packages this season. Fellow freshman Ennis Rakestraw Jr. will likely be tasked with covering Georgia’s top wideout, George Pickens. Pickens’ numbers have dipped a bit from last season, but he’s still averaging 13.4 yards per catch for his college career.
“It’s always nice when you don’t notice they’re freshmen when you’re going back and grading the tape,” Walters said. “This is going to be JC’s first start, so I think he’ll be just fine. He’s 6-2, 200 pounds and he just benched 300 pounds twice the other day as a true freshman corner, so I got full confidence in him. Obviously Ennis is Ennis. So they’re young guys, but they’re going to be playing against young guys, too, so they’re excited to go play.”
Missouri will certainly need its defense to improve from last week. Facing a defense ranked first in the SEC in rushing and second in both scoring and yards per play, the Tigers can’t count on the offense to score 50 against Georgia. But the defense has overcome adversity, both in the form of poor performances and missing personnel, already this season. Following a Week Two loss at Tennessee in which the Volunteers rushed for 232 yards, Missouri — down three of its top four defensive tackles — held LSU to 49 yards on the ground and came up with a game-winning goal line stand. The Tigers also rebounded from allowing 41 points and 514 yards at Florida by holding its next to opponents to a combined 10 points and 479 total yards.
At this point, Walters is confident his unit has fixed the mistakes it made against Arkansas. He expects to prove this week that performance represented an exception to the rule.
“I’m glad we got to correct those mistakes after a win,” he said. “You can’t freak out and abandon what’s made you successful, and you can’t panic over one outing. So our guys understand that.”
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