There have certainly been some anxious moments for Georgia this fall.
Three times this year, the Bulldogs either found themselves trailing or tied going into the half.
Fortunately, that’s when Kirby Smart’s team begins to play its best ball. Saturday’s 30-21 win over No. 12 Missouri was another example.
Tied 10-10 at the half, a field goal on the Tigers’ first drive put the Bulldogs in a three-point hole.
But as they did when trailing South Carolina by 11 at the half and tied with Auburn 10-10 at the same juncture, Georgia found enough answers in the second half to keep its unbeaten season alive.
“We are a very composed team,” quarterback Carson Beck said. “We’re resilient, and I think we’ve shown that at this point in the season. We stand on that.”
Smart agreed.
Although his Bulldogs may give their fans heartburn from time to time, so far, they’ve always had an answer.
"They believe in our system. We've built a culture of competitive edge in the fourth quarter, and we believe we're the best-conditioned team that's going to win games in the fourth quarter. We're going to align with each other,” Smart said. “I got goosebumps going down my back when they went down and scored and Sedrick Van Pran was yelling at the defense to run off the field. 'We got your back. We got your back. We're going to be fine.’”
The Bulldogs needed every point.
Even after Peyton Woodring’s final field goal put Georgia up by nine, the Tigers were still technically in the game until Javon Bullard’s interception with just under two minutes left to play.
“Missouri was a really good team, and I think going in, we knew this was going to be a fight. just because of how talented they are, and how well they execute on both sides,” Van Pran said. “This was a big test. We’ve got some big opponents coming up who we respect a lot. It’s going to be up to us to go out and compete.”
Beck, who completed 21 of 32 passes for 254 yards and two scores, also picked up a first down running the football on a 15-yard dash.
"I say it often because everybody asks that question. I always had a lot of confidence in Carson. All the things he's doing now, he did them in our practices,” Smart said. “He did it against a 2021 defense that may have been one of the top-three defenses ever. And he did it every day out there. And he would go against those guys and they were like, "Man this guy ain't flinching." I've seen all these things before.”
So has Van Pran, who said Georgia’s second-half comebacks aren’t by accident.
“It’s one of our DNA traits,” Van Pran said. “But I also think it’s the love and connection for the guys in the room, knowing that guy may not be having his best game, but he’ll get that back and be accountable.”
