It has been a truly amazing week in the world of college
football. Last Saturday, we were treated to one of the most exciting Saturdays
I can remember. In the wake of half of the top 10 going down, I was ready to
write a long piece on how the playoff committee should analyze the current
standings.
Then the news broke.
Thursday afternoon we learned that Todd Gurley was indefinitely
suspended, and all of a sudden, here were all these stories and details about Georgia’s
best player selling his autographs in the back of cars. The information has
been coming out steadily since the story broke, and it seems that we will have
a resolution to the Gurley suspension by early next week. I won’t speculate on
the length of the suspension, but trust me that is all it would be,
speculation. Within the span of two hours on Friday afternoon, the AJC reported
that their “sources” were telling them the suspension would be 2-3 games, and
then it was that Todd Gurley would be suspended for the season. Later in the
night, Georgia’s AD had to come out with a statement because there was so much
misinformation being spread.
Today, we get back to why we love college football. Today we
can focus on the games.
Georgia travels to Missouri for a game that will almost
certainly decide who plays in the SEC Championship Game. Georgia fans were pessimistic
before the suspension, so there is obviously no chance of winning now that
number three is not playing. The reason Georgia fans are so doom and gloom
about this game is they have seen Georgia be so mediocre at times this season.
Georgia’s passing offense has been simply offensive. Hutson
Mason looks like a game-manager at best and a game-wrecker a good portion of
the time. The Georgia defense can look absolutely fantastic on one play, and
then allow a receiver to be running free in the secondary on the very next
play. There is no way you could have confidence that this defense could come up
with a big stop when we needed one.
We have seen what this team is capable of in the second half
against Clemson, and ever since, we have struggled to understand how that team
could look so mediocre against teams that aren’t that good like South Carolina
and Tennessee.
Obviously there is no way we can go on the road today and
beat Missouri, the defending SEC East Champions, right?
Wrong.
There is one part of this equation that I promise you will
matter on Saturday that you haven’t considered: How good is Missouri?
Because he played against Georgia last year, you might be
able to tell me the name of Missouri’s starting quarterback, Maty Mauck (Also
because it’s a weird name). Name another player on the team.
Wait, they have that wide receiver with three names that is
a beast. Nope, kicked off the team for hitting his girlfriend.
They have the defensive end that was the SEC’s defensive player
of the year. Nope, he is busy breaking down barriers in the NFL.
What else you got?
Don’t feel bad, I couldn’t name anyone on their team either.
When you look at the numbers, Missouri is the very
definition of average. There are 120 teams in the top level of college
football. Missouri ranks 76th in total passing yards, 59th
in total rushing yards, 42nd in points scored, and 33rd
in points allowed. That’s right, they aren’t in the top 25% of any of those
categories.
Well they are 4-1 on the season, so they must have played
some pretty good teams. Nope. Wins over South Dakota State, Toledo, UCF, and
South Carolina.
Well there you go, they beat South Carolina. Georgia couldn’t
do that, so obviously they are better than Georgia. Missouri did beat South
Carolina 21-20 at South Carolina three weeks ago, however, they trailed in that
game by 13 points with less than 8 minutes to go. South Carolina practically
gift wrapped the game for the Tigers, by allowing them to stay in the game, and
then giving them a chance to win late. Over three and a half quarters, against
a defense that Georgia scored over 30 points against, the Tigers managed just
one touchdown. Missouri should get credit for winning the game, but the reality
is that they were fortunate.
One week before their victory over the Gamecocks, Missouri
lost at home to Indiana. Just let that sink in a minute.
Now I’m not telling you that Georgia is going to walk all
over Missouri today, but I do want you to know that this is a game of two teams
with some major issues. We are all too familiar with Georgia’s issues, but don’t
be surprised today when Georgia is in this game. I don’t think Georgia will be
able to overcome an early deficit, but I also don’t think Missouri is good
enough to put Georgia away early and walk to an easy victory. Once the Dogs get
on the field and see that they can play with this team without number three,
the Tigers are in trouble.
For one day, for one game, the Todd Gurley suspension could
work in Georgia’s favor. The team has to feel blindsided. Their best player and
leader was on the practice field on Wednesday getting ready for this crucial
game, and he was suspended 24 hours later. This is their friend. Nothing can
unite a team like feeling that they are being attacked. The bunker mentality is
a common tool used by coaches to motivate a team when the world is seemingly
against them.
No one believes in us, except us, so let’s go out there and
show Missouri, the SEC, ESPN, and the entire world that this team is just that,
a team, and we are much more than one great player. We are the Georgia
Bulldogs, we play for the “G” on the helmet, and not the name on the back of
the jersey. Let’s go out there today, and show the world who we are.
How does that make you feel? How would that make you feel if
you were 20 years old and one of your good friends had been dragged through the
mud by an angry memorabilia salesmen from Rome?
Without Todd Gurley, Georgia will not win the SEC. Without
Todd Gurley, Georgia will not make the College Football Playoff. Without Todd
Gurley, the rest of this season will be a huge disappointment.
But today, for one day, Georgia can come together as a team,
depending only on the man to their right and left, and they can win this game.
We will let tomorrow take care of tomorrow, but for today, we will stand up as
the Bulldog Nation and say that we are bigger than one player, no matter how
great that player is. We are the University of Georgia, and today, just like
every other day, it’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog.
Georgia 34 Missouri 27
Go Dawgs.
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