Ten for 10 in the SEC, No. 4: Mizzou makes statement with win at Georgia
This fall will mark 10 years since Missouri announced a seismic change: The athletics department would leave the Big 12 conference and join the SEC. Missouri’s new home has brought the department increased revenue, which has helped bankroll improvements like the South Endzone football facility and new softball stadium. But for virtually every sport, the move has brought new challenges, as well — better competition and more pressure to spend to keep pace.
Over the next 10 weeks, we will be counting down Missouri’s top 10 athletics moments from its first decade as a member of the SEC (which is actually nine years of competition because it took a year for the change to take effect). Note that wrestling, which has spent the past nine years as a member of the Mid-American Conference and will rejoin the Big 12 next fall, wasn’t considered for inclusion since it didn’t compete in the SEC.
For our next entry, we look back to Oct. 12, 2013, when the Missouri football team traveled to Georgia for a matchup between undefeated SEC East foes.
Previous Entries:
No. 10: Thomas' one-hitter clinches regional title
No. 9: Cunningham’s ‘flu game’ keys historic upset
No. 8: Mizzou opens Martin era with win over Iowa St
No. 7: Schweizer closes career with sixth NCAA title
When he heard quarterback Maty Mauk utter the two-word play call, former Missouri wide receiver Marcus Lucas couldn’t help but grin. He looked around the Tiger huddle and saw similar expressions on the faces of his teammates. At that moment, he knew the team would be celebrating in the Sanford Stadium end zone momentarily.
The call: Colt 45. The play: Mauk, who had just entered the game for Missouri in relief of injured starting quarterback James Franklin, tossed the ball backward to slot receiver Bud Sasser, who launched a rainbow to fellow wideout L’Damian Washington. Despite being dragged to the ground by a Georgia defender, which drew a pass interference penalty, Washington came down with the ball. The touchdown gave Missouri an eight-point lead in its battle with No. 7 Georgia, which also entered the matchup undefeated.
The double-pass would go down as the marquee moment from one of the signature wins of the 2013 Missouri season, a campaign that saw the Tigers bounce back from a disappointing first season in the SEC with a 12-1 record and SEC East title. The victory over Georgia in Missouri’s first ever trip to Athens served as a warning shot to the rest of the SEC, and Colt 45 provided the firepower.
“It was a huge momentum shift,” Lucas said of the trick play. “... I think from that moment it was just like, no turning back. It just gave us all the confidence like, hey, we’re here, we’re playing with these boys, we’re coming out with a win.”
While the double-pass provided Missouri a key shot in the arm during its upset of Georgia, the Tigers didn’t travel to Athens lacking confidence. Despite the fact that the Tigers went just 5-7 in 2012, including 2-6 in SEC play, Sasser and Lucas both said the team entered the 2013 campaign believing it could contend for a division title — and beyond. Lucas said the team chalked up its 2012 woes to injuries, but at the same time used the disappointing SEC debut as fuel during offseason training.
“Coming off that season everybody was kind of bitter,” Lucas said. “Everyone had a salty taste in their mouth about how the season went. ... I mean, we were at least going bowling every year. But to not do that, we took it personally.
“That year, we kind of shifted our mindset to championships. It was trying to be national champions or bust.”
The Tigers’ confidence only grew during a series of early-season beatdowns. Missouri started 2013 with five consecutive wins, all by double-digits. The Tigers averaged 46.6 points per game and beat Murray State, Toledo, Arkansas State, Indiana and Vanderbilt by an average of 24.2 points.
Despite that early success, Missouri didn’t get much credit nationally. The Tigers barely cracked the rankings prior to traveling to Georgia, ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll. The Bulldogs were favored by a touchdown. That provided a little extra fuel for a Tiger squad eager to prove itself. And what better way to show the team belonged in the SEC title conversation than upending the reigning SEC East champs?
“It was all about respect,” Lucas said. “We wanted to make a statement and make a splash in that game.”
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Georgia struck first when Aaron Murray hit Brendan Douglas for a touchdown, but Missouri wasted little time in punching back. Franklin capped off a nine-play drive when he scrambled into the end zone from five yards out. The score served as a spark for the Tiger offense. Missouri would go on to score on each of its next two possessions, as well, with Franklin hitting Washington for a 16-yard touchdown and tailback Marcus Murphy bouncing a draw play outside, making a couple men miss and turning on the jets for a 36-yard score.
The next play from scrimmage, the Tiger defense delivered another significant blow to the dazed Bulldogs. Earlier in the first half, defensive end Michael Sam, who tied an SEC record with 10 sacks that season, had appeared to sack Murray, but the play got called back due to fellow edge rusher Shane Ray jumping offside. Ray would make it up to Sam. When Murray dropped back to pass following the Murphy touchdown, Ray split two blockers and drilled Murray in the back, jarring the ball free from his throwing hand. The ball bounced right into the grasp of Sam, who sprinted about 20 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. The score gave Missouri a 28-10 lead.
Both Sasser and Lucas said the ability of that 2013 defense to create turnovers helped make that season special. Ray’s strip sack marked the 36th consecutive game during which the Tigers forced a turnover, extending the longest active streak in the NCAA. It wouldn’t be the last takeaway for the defense that day, either. The following possession, Georgia advanced inside the Missouri 10-yard line, but defensive tackle Lucas Vincent jarred the ball free from Douglas and Markus Golden fell on it, allowing Missouri to maintain its 18-point lead into halftime.
“That’s something we knew that they were capable of, and we expected it from them,” Sasser said. “Not just that we thought that they could do it, we expected it. So they showed up and showed out that game. Really, really helped us out and helped us close a good game against a really good team.”
Georgia would claw its way back into the game. After halftime, the Bulldogs put together a field goal drive, then scored consecutive touchdowns. The Missouri offense, meanwhile, moved the chains just two times across its first four drives of the second half, all of which ended in punts. Georgia cut the Tiger lead to two points when Murray hit Chris Conley for a 10-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and even though the Bulldogs’ two-point conversion attempt failed, the home team appeared to have the momentum on its side.
Franklin’s injury further darkened Missouri’s situation. The two-year starter took a big hit to his left shoulder while scrambling for four yards on the following drive, and he held the arm limp as he returned to the sideline. Head coach Gary Pinkel called timeout and inserted Mauk, a freshman who had thrown just three passes in his college career, all during the season-opening blowout of Murray State, into the game.
The first play Mauk faced: third down and six. If the Tigers failed to convert, they would punt for a fifth straight drive and give the ball back to the red-hot Georgia offense. Offensive coordinator Josh Henson opted to keep the ball in Mauk’s hands, calling a quarterback draw. He gained just enough yardage to move the sticks.
Two plays later, on a second-and-one from the Georgia 40, Henson dialed up Colt 45. Interestingly, the player designated to throw the deep ball, Sasser, hadn’t played quarterback since middle school. Lucas joked that he lobbied for the assignment, but the coaching staff liked Sasser’s arm better.
“Earlier in the week, in practice, I thought it should have been me throwing the ball, but we won’t talk about that,” Lucas said with a laugh.
Missouri took the field with Mauk in an empty backfield, flanked by four receivers on his right, one on his left. Mauk had only practiced the play one time, with Franklin taking the majority of the first-team reps during practice, but all he had to do was pitch the ball about five yards and slightly backward to Sasser. Lucas and fellow wideout Jimmie Hunt stepped in front of Sasser and “blocked for dear life,” while Washington streaked toward the end zone. Sasser claims his job wasn’t as simple as just throwing the ball up for grabs.
“He was not open,” Sasser said. “Like I tell him all the time, I had to look off the safety. But in all seriousness, I was just trying to give him some time to try to get down the field, because he took off the line kind of slow to kind of play the run, fake the run, and then he took off and got up to speed, and then I launched it, and he was there.”
Georgia cornerback Shaq Wiggins caught up to Washington while the ball was in the air, but he didn’t have time to turn around and try to bat it down. Instead, he grabbed a fistful of Washington’s jersey and tried to pull him to the grass. Undeterred, Washington reached over Wiggins’ helmet and cradled the ball into his chest.
Even though placekicker Andrew Baggett missed the extra point, Lucas compared the momentum of that touchdown to a defensive or special teams score. The defense would capitalize. On Georgia’s following possession, Missouri forced a three-and-out. The next time the Bulldogs got the ball, cornerback Randy Ponder picked off Murray. That led to a Henry Josey touchdown run, which extended Missouri’s advantage to two scores. Finally, linebacker Kentrell Brothers sealed the win when he intercepted a Murray pass with less than a minute to play.
Looking back at Missouri’s first and only win over Georgia, both Lucas and Sasser say the team wasn’t surprised to win. But beating the Bulldogs between the hedges in front of a sold-out crowd reinforced that the Tigers could play with anyone in the conference, that their championship aspirations weren’t unrealistic.
Later in this countdown, we’ll take a look at how Missouri capped off that campaign.
“That was just another game that allowed us to see that, okay, what we’re doing is working,” Sasser said, “and every week, if we keep building on what we’ve already done, it’s going to be really tough to beat us if we continue to focus the way we are.”
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