If not for a blocked punt, Georgia's defense would be leaving Columbia, Missouri having surrendered just seven points after suffocating the Tigers' offense in Saturday's 49-14 win.
Missouri managed to tally just 200 yards of total offense with only 22 of those yards coming via the run. Senior linebacker Monty Rice was proud of the effort put in by his teammates on the defensive side of the ball.
“They really didn’t do anything in the first half," he said. "They had the one drive they scored a touchdown on, where they actually drove the ball down the field. The other touchdown, they'd blocked the punt, so they were right there. So, they really didn’t do much the whole game, if I’m being honest. We just kept doing what we’ve been doing all year.”
Junior defensive back Eric Stokes got the day started for Georgia defensively with an interception in Missouri territory on the second play of the game.
"It was big," said head coach Kirby Smart. "It started it off right. That was probably one of the keys to the game, and it got the juices flowing a little bit."
Aside from Stokes' interception, it wasn't a day to fill the stat sheet for any Georgia defenders. Sophomore linebacker Nolan Smith had the lone sack for the Bulldogs. Tackles were spread pretty evenly across the defense, with Lewis Cine leading Georgia with four.
Rice attributed much of the day's success to the depth on the defensive side of the ball, despite recent injuries.
“It just goes back to the guys we have on defense," he said. "J.D. (Jordan Davis) was back. Azeez (Ojulari), Nakobe (Dean), Channing (Tindall). Channing has been showing up this whole year, every time he’s had a chance. We’ve got a lot of guys who can make a lot of plays. They’ve just got to go out there and do it.”
Missouri entered today's contest fourth in the SEC in total offense, averaging 434.8 yards per game. The Tigers' 22 yards rushing was the ninth fewest in a single game by an SEC team this season, with the pass-heavy Mississippi State accounting for five of those weaker performances.
“In today’s day and age, it’s hard to hold offenses to what we held them to today," Rice said. "It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. Nobody is an exception.”
