Middle linebacker Monty Rice summed it up about as succinctly as he could. He'd been asked if he was surprised that he and his Georgia teammates were able to respond so effectively, after being so disappointed with the postponement of last week’s Senior Day game against Vanderbilt.

“No,” said Rice, after the Bulldogs scored 35 unanswered points to roll past Missouri Saturday, 49-14.

It was as dominating a win for Georgia as it has had all year.

The Bulldogs gobbled up a season-high 615 yards, the most since collecting 656 last year against Arkansas State, while the defense limited the Tigers to a mere 200.

After the game, head coach Kirby Smart admitted he had no idea what to expect following the disappointment of last week. He should have had a pretty good idea.

Along with rushing for 316 yards, the Bulldogs threw for 299 on the arm of JT Daniels, who completed 16 of his 27 pass attempts and three scores.

“I never know whether that’s gonna translate to Saturday, that’s what scared me. I told the coaches, I’m worried we’re going to leave it on the practice field,” he said. “But man, Monday and Tuesday were just incredible. They were in great spirits; they were fired up.”

Wide receiver George Pickens, along with running backs Zamir White, and Daijun Edwards also enjoyed huge days.

Pickens caught five passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns, with White (12 carries for 126) and the freshman Edwards (11-103) accounting for much of the offensive damage for the Bulldogs.

Smart was asked if he thought this was a statement game for his team.

“I don’t know if it was a statement game. I do know that our kids responded to that. They got tired of the criticism because of the two games, the two biggest games, when we didn’t play our best,” he said. “That probably had something to do with who we were playing. But I think Missouri is a good football team, I really do. It’s a team that’s growing, is getting better, and we were able to overpower them there in the second half.”

The Bulldogs appeared to escape Saturday's win unscathed.

Nose guard Jordan Davis returned to the field for the first time in over month, earning the start in Saturday’s game.

Davis injured his elbow against Kentucky back on Oct. 31, and had missed the Bulldogs’ past three games.

With Trey Hill (knee) out, Warren Ericson made the start at center.

Running back Kendall Milton (knee) and Richard LeCounte (concussion/ribs) did not play.

Smart on the weather conditions and Georgia’s enthusiasm: “The weather conditions probably limited both offenses a little bit in terms of being able to do things.

"Look, you can make an excuse and say well, Missouri is not that good, Georgia should beat them. You can say that all you want. But, at the end of the day, those kids showed up, they played and played physical and fast. They practiced really hard all week, when across the country. that’s not happening at every place.”

Smart on Daijun Edwards: "Daijun Edwards, man—all he does is take advantage of opportunities. I thought he had some runs today that were just incredible. And people are like, 'Well it's mop-up duty.' They had the same players in. They had the starters in, and we had our second line in, and he made people miss. He's powerful. He runs the ball hard. I love the kid. He never complains, plays hard on special teams. We have to continue to find roles for him, good football player. He comes from Colquitt County, where they know how to play football down there, and he does a really good job."

…Eric Stokes’ first-quarter interception was his fourth of the year, two of which have gone for a pick-six. It was just the third of the year for Mizzou quarterback Connor Bazelak.

…JT Daniels’ first-quarter touchdown pass of 37 yards to James Cook was his fifth on third down this year. His 36-yard pass to touchdown pass to George Pickens in the third was his sixth third-down TD.

…Stetson Bennett replaced Daniels in the fourth quarter, but only attempted one pass. True freshman Carson Beck also made his Bulldog debut after Bennett, but did not attempt a throw.

…Pickens’ five catches for 126-yard yards were his second 100-yard receiving game. His first was his 175-yard effort in last year’s Sugar Bowl victory over Baylor.

…Georgia outgained Missouri in the third quarter, 284-48.

… Bazelak was forced out of the game early in the second, when the knee of Jordan Davis accidentally hit Bazelak helmet as he was falling to the ground. Fortunately, he was not seriously hurt, as the redshirt freshman would only miss the next two plays before returning to the game on Missouri’s next offensive possession.

… Georgia’s blocked punt attempt late in the second quarter was the team’s first since 2015 against Alabama.

…With center Trey Hill missing the game after undergoing surgery to correct a meniscus injury, the longest starting streak now belongs to Stokes, who is now at 24. The longest active starting streak on offense is 10 for left tackle Jamaree Salyer. Hill’s streak ended at 26. Redshirt sophomore Warren Ericson made his second career start but first at center. He started the 2020 Sugar Bowl at right guard. Junior nose Jordan Davis returned in a starting role after missing the last three games. … Seniors Ben Cleveland, Malik Herring, and Monty Rice served as the captains. Rice has now been a game captain a team-high four times this year. Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half.

… Coming in today, Georgia ranked second in the SEC in Scoring Defense (20.6 points per game). The Tigers were held to 200 yards of total offense and 14 points. In the first half, Missouri tallied 14 points, running 32 plays for 121 yards of total offense. Seventy-five of those yards came on the Tigers eight-play touchdown drive. The Tigers’ second touchdown drive covered just one yard following a blocked punt. In the second half, the Tigers were shut out and held to just 79 yards of total offense on 22 plays. Lewis Cine led the Bulldogs with four stops.

…In the first half, the Bulldogs had 71 rushing yards on 19 attempts and finished the game with 316 yards after going for 245 in the second half on 26 rushes. Redshirt sophomore Zamir White had a team-high 37 yards on eight carries in the first half and finished with 126 yards on 12 attempts. Then, White had 44 yards on his first two carries of the second half and ultimately went over 100 yards with a 43-yard touchdown scamper to make it 35-14 in the 3rd quarter. It was his third 100-plus-yard game of his career. James Cook added a nine-yard rushing touchdown to go with a receiving score. He's the first Bulldog to do that since 2018, when D’Andre Swift did it against Alabama. Freshman Daijun Edwards got his first career TD, a six-yarder, and finished with a career-high 103 yards on 11 attempts. Today was the first time since the 2018 Kentucky game when the Bulldogs had a pair go over 100 yards. That day it was Swift (157) and Elijah Holyfield (117).

…Sophomore George Pickens had five receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns to lead the receivers. In the first half, junior running back James Cook had just one catch, but it covered 37 yards for a touchdown. Pickens' first half score covered 36 yards and was his team-leading fourth of the year. It gave the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead with 37 seconds left in the half. In the second half, Pickens tied his career high with his second touchdown, a 31-yard strike on 3rd-and-10, and it put him over the 100-yard mark for the second time in his career. He had two touchdown catches versus the Tigers last year, and had 175 yards in the 2020 Sugar Bowl win over No. 7 Baylor. Freshman tight end Darnell Washington had a career-long 35-yard catch and finished with two catches for 61 yards, while freshman Jermaine Burton had five for 38 yards.

…Redshirt sophomore kicker Jack Podlesny went 7-for-7 in points after and missed a 43-yarder in the rain in the fourth quarter. Georgia has made an NCAA record 329 consecutive point after kicks as the streak includes six kickers, dating back to 2014. Junior punter Jake Camarda finished with two punts for a 49.0 average and took care of the kickoffs with all of them resulting in touchbacks. Georgia had a punt blocked that Missouri took over at the UGA 1-yard line and converted to a game-tying touchdown with 1:20 left in the first half (14-14). It marked the first time since the 2015 Alabama game that the Bulldogs have had a punt blocked. …At kickoff, the temperature here was 39 degrees. In the Smart era, the previous coldest temperature at kickoff was 40 degrees, against Missouri last year in Athens.

The last time Georgia played a game that began in the 30s was the 2014 Belk Bowl in Charlotte on Dec. 30. It was 39 degrees, and the Bulldogs defeated Louisville 37-14.