After a less than stellar start to the 2012 season, Georgia faces a huge test on Saturday night as they travel to Columbia, Missouri to welcome the Missouri Tigers to the SEC.
Missouri features a spread offense that is designed to score points in a hurry. Their quarterback, James Franklin, has a good arm and also has the ability to get out of the pocket and cause havoc with his legs. Missouri wants to show that they are good enough to play with the best in the SEC, and they feel like a win over Georgia will immediately legitimize them in the best conference in America.
Georgia will have to overcome another week of suspensions. Rambo, Ogletree, and Commings will all miss their second straight game due to suspensions for issues that occurred in the off season. However, Georgia should get Malcolm Mitchell back in the secondary after he missed last week's game with a sprained ankle.
Todd Gurley announced his presence with authority last week with an amazing performance against Buffalo. I understand who the opponent was, and it wasn't the stats that Gurley put up that impressed me the most. What impressed me the most is the way Todd Gurley ran the football. With his size, speed, and aggressive running, he looked like Trent Richardson in a Georgia uniform.
One of the biggest criticisms I have of Mark Richt is that it seems he is always the last person to know when Georgia has a special player. It took him to the middle of the 2006 season to start Matthew Stafford who would later be the number 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
The biggest error in Richt's judgement came with another running back in 2007. Georgia suffered a home loss in the second game of the 2007 season because they failed to score a single touchdown against South Carolina. Knowshon Moreno played in that game, and he put up some good numbers. However, in two critical situations when Georgia was in the red-zone, Moreno was on the sideline. Richt had Thomas Brown, a more veteran player, in the game instead. Georgia kicked field goals on both drives with a star watching from the sideline. There is no way to know if Georgia would have scored a touchdown if Moreno was on the field. However, I can tell you that if Georgia scored even one touchdown in that game, they would have beaten South Carolina and eventually played LSU in the SEC Championship game in 2007. With the way the Dawgs were playing at the end of the season, Georgia would have most likely beaten LSU, and gone on to play for the National Title against Ohio State. I know it is a lot of if's, but the line between a good season, and a magical season is very thin.
I say all of that to say only this: Todd Gurley should be on the field on Saturday night. I know he is a freshman and he might miss a block or even fumble at a critical time, but he is a fantastic talent and it has only taken 1 game to see that. Georgia fans have seen a season of Ken Malcome, and he is not in the same league. Gurley should get close to 20 touches in this game, because you don't want to look back at the end of the season and ask why he was watching from the sideline.
Despite my feelings about Gurley, to me, this game comes down to one player: Aaron Murray. Murray has been phenomenal in his first two seasons, and he will be the all time touchdown leader for Georgia before the middle of October, but he has also come up small in big moments. Last season, he made huge mistakes against South Carolina, LSU, and Michigan State. All three losses. As a junior, it will be critical for Murray to finally show the poise that comes with experience and confidence. In 2010 against Florida, Murray had a horrible first half and it was attributed to him being too excited about the game. Of course Georgia lost that game in overtime, despite a fantastic second half by Murray. Last week, Murray missed receivers running wide open for touchdowns on a couple of occasions, and this was again attributed to him being too excited about the game. Murray needs to take a page out of David Greene's playbook.
In 2001 Greene was just a freshman, but he led Georgia to the "Hob-nail Boot" win in Knoxville. In 2002, Greene threw the game winning touchdown pass to Michael Johnson at the end of the Auburn game to clinch a trip to the SEC title game for the first time in school history. In 2003, Greene played spectacularly on the road at LSU in a losing effort. I don't care what anyone says, but the atmosphere this Saturday night in Missouri won't be as crazy as Knoxville, Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, or Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Murray needs to take his team in there, play within himself, and deliver a win against a team that Georgia is better than.
Murray hasn't been able to secure a signature win in his time as Georgia's quarterback. In 2010, he lost on the road at South Carolina, Mississippi State, Colorado (yes Colorado), and Auburn. Last season, Murray and the Bulldogs lost to Boise State, LSU, and Michigan State in neutral site games. Aaron Murray's best victory away from Sanford Stadium would be a tie between beating Tennessee and Georgia Tech on the road in 2011. Not impressive.
For Georgia to be an elite team, Aaron Murray needs to be an elite quarterback. Beating Missouri on Saturday night wouldn't make Murray elite, but it begins to build a resume' of winning to go along with all of those touchdown passes.
I have stated that I believe this team should be either 11-1 or 12-0 and playing in the Georgia Dome at the end of the season for a chance to play for the National Title. This is not an acceptable loss on Georgia's schedule. I know that Missouri has a lot to play for, and I know they want to make an impression, but Georgia is more talented, even with 3 defensive stars out of the game. Georgia's defense will not be at full strength and they will give up some points to a talented Missouri offense, but at the end of the day there is no way that Missouri's defense can stop Murray and all of the weapons that Georgia has. (By the way, look for Jay Rome to have a big game).
Georgia 45 Missouri 31
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