COLUMBIA, Mo. - Nothing else mattered. When Georgia's offense needed it, the Bulldogs got it.
Georgia struggled offensively for the first three quarters against Missouri. The team didn't move the ball at times. When it did, the drives bogged down in the red zone and resulted in field goal attempts.
With 14:09 remaining in Saturday's contest at Faurot Field in Columbia, Georgia got the ball back trailing 22-12. The Bulldog offense then appeared, mounting two straight touchdown drives to take the lead before running the clock out on its final possession of the game.
"It does not matter," quarterback Stetson Bennett said. "We know we played poorly before this. We know that we didn’t score a touchdown before this. But it doesn’t matter now. It does not matter now. We’re going to get it done."
The turnaround began in the halftime locker room.
The Georgia coaching staff drove home a simple message. The Bulldogs needed to forget the mediocre first half and focus on what needed to be done in the final 30 minutes to overcome a 10-point deficit.
"With a little more wisdom, it doesn't do any good to yell and scream and holler," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said of the halftime message. "The kids want to do well. You've got to help them. The environment makes that hard, and part of that is planning. You know, having a good plan that if things aren't going well, what can you go to?"
Georgia moved the ball better coming out of the intermission. But a pair of promising drives both resulted in field goal attempts. One hundred-thirty yards of offense produced just six points.
Early in the fourth quarter, Georgia took over again down by 10 points. The Bulldogs marched 75 yards in 10 plays, including a fourth down conversion inside the five. The drive culminated in a one-yard scoring plunge from Kendall Milton.
After another defensive stop, the Bulldogs took over at their own 32-yard line with 7:15 remaining. For the first time all night, the running game emerged.
Kenny McIntosh ripped off gains of six and 22 yards to start the drive. A pair of completions set Georgia up with a first down at the Missouri 12. After a screen to tight end Brock Bowers set up a first and goal, Daijun Edwards put the Bulldogs in front for good with a one-yard touchdown run.
"I think just having tremendous trust in each other," center Sedrick Van Pran said. "The whole night, we talked about composure. Coach Smart told us a couple weeks ago about, there was going to be a point in the season when we were going to have to turn in our composure card. We were going to have to give it to our brother and tell him to calm down if he didn’t make a play or he struggled. I think that was the theme for the whole night."
The offense's work didn't end there. Georgia's final drive started with 3:39 remaining, with the Bulldogs needing to grind out some first downs to ice the game.
After struggling to run the ball most of the game, the Bulldogs ran it seven times for 41 yards. The offensive line mauled its way to three first downs and a Georgia victory.
"When we had to run it, that was about the only time we could run it, when we had to," Smart said.
Smart talks with his team about rising to the opportunity when it presents itself. Trailing by 10 points in front of a raucous Missouri crowd, Georgia's offense had an opportunity to either rally or fold.
The Bulldogs chose the former, ascending the summit of the second-biggest fourth quarter deficit overcome in Smart's tenure.
"When you have to have it, you have to have it. Nothing else matters," Van Pran said. "At the end of the day, you’ve got nothing to lose. When you need it, you need it."
