Preview: No. 1 Georgia at Missouri

WHERE: Farot Field at Memorial Stadium, Columbia, Mo.

WHEN: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET

RECORDS: Georgia 4-0, 1-0; Missouri, 2-2, 0-1

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers, Cole Cubelic); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Eric Zeier, DJ Shockley).

Top-ranked Georgia will look to move to 5-0 on the year as the Bulldogs play their second straight SEC road game before returning home for two straight against Auburn and Vanderbilt.

The Bulldogs, by their own lofty standards, are coming off a lackluster performance in last week’s win over Kent State, despite topping 500-plus total yards of offense for the third time in four games.

As for Missouri, the Tigers are coming off a gut-wrenching loss in overtime at Auburn, a game that saw Eli Drinkwitz’s squad continue to struggle offensively.

Defensively, the Tigers have a physical front line and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has warned reporters about their prowess seemingly all week.

Most experts are expecting a blowout, and that may or may not turn out to be true. However, the big question for Georgia will be can the Bulldogs get back to the standard to which they strive with the toughest part of the schedule yet to come?

WR AD Mitchell – Ankle (doubtful)

WR Arian Smith – Ankle (questionable)

RB Kenny McIntosh – Quad bruise (questionable)

DL Jalen Carter – Ankle (probable)

OLB Darris Smith – Undisclosed (probable)

DB Javon Bullard – Questionable following last Sunday’s arrest

Offense

QB Stetson Bennett—Off to a great start, completing 92 of 124 passes for 1,224 yards and five touchdowns with just one interception, that coming last week against Kent State. Bennett has also rushed for four touchdowns.

RB Kenny McIntosh—Leads Georgia in receiving with 21 catches for 227 yards. Is currently dealing with a quad bruise that could limit his play on Saturday.

RB Kendall Milton – Bulldogs’ leading rusher with 37 carries for 208 yards and three touchdowns.

TE Brock Bowers— Sophomore continues to amaze. Enters play Saturday with 15 catches for 276 yards and two touchdowns to go along with three carries for 82 yards and three touchdowns.

TE Darnell Washington—Devastating blocker is also playing a bigger role in the passing game with seven catches for 120 yards.

WR Ladd McConkey—Coming off a tough game against Kent State, but still leads all of Georgia’s wide receivers with 16 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown.

LT Broderick Jones—Finally reaching his potential. Consistently grades out among the highest of Georgia’s offensive linemen

RT Warren McClendon—Underrated by some, many believe McClendon is the best offensive lineman on the team.

C Sedrick Van Pran—Quarterback of the offensive line is becoming one of the best at the position in the SEC.

Defense

DT Jalen Carter—Has been limited the past two weeks due to a nagging ankle injury, but according to Smart enjoyed his best week of practice and is healthier than he has been.

DE Mykel Williams—Has started all four games at defensive end.

LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson—Anchors the defense at middle linebacker with 16 tackles, including his first two sacks last week against Kent State.

LB Smael Mondon—Tied with Malaki Starks for the team lead in tackles with 17.

OLB Nolan Smith—Has 10 tackles, three for losses of 10 yards

CB Kelee Ringo—Sophomore cornerback has rarely been thrown on three games into the season.

CB Kamari Lassiter—Has been solid opposite Ringo, despite a pair of personal foul penalties. Teams are starting to pick on him instead of going after Ringo.

S Christopher Smith—Veteran is the eyes and ears of the secondary. Is tied with Starks for the team lead in interceptions with two.

S Malaki Starks—True freshman is off to a great start with three straight starts at free safety.

Get back to the standard: The Bulldogs talk all the time about playing to their standard. Against Kent State, that did not happen.

Players admitted there were too many mistakes—both mental and physical—for their liking. Getting back to playing the level of ball they did in the first three games will be Job 1.

That means no turnovers, no issues with alignment, and do a better job of tackling.

Someone to step up at Star: Although we have not received official word, it would appear doubtful that starting star Javon Bullard will make the trip following his arrest early Sunday morning.

Thus, the question becomes who replaces him at star.

The Bulldogs were already without William Poole, who is no longer with the program. With Bullard potentially out, the pickings would seem somewhat slim.

Tykee Smith has seen limited action while recovering from his torn ACL, but the Bulldogs do have other players who have played the position before.

Monday, Smart mentioned Christopher Smith as someone who has repped there, along with freshman Marcus Washington, who has played in just one game.

Start quickly: Missouri appears to be in a bit of disarray after its overtime loss to Auburn. While the defense gave a strong showing offensively, the Tigers haven’t been as consistent as needed, and last week they blew several opportunities against Auburn.

This is definitely one of those games where a fast start by the Bulldogs would go a long way to Georgia securing an easy win, as the main question for the Tigers this week is whether they can overcome any hangover from last week’s loss.

• Last week at Auburn, Missouri had chances to win the game on both the last play of regulation and the last play of the first overtime but Harrison Mevis missed a 26-yard field goal as time ran out in the fourth quarter, and Nathaniel Peat fumbled while going into the end zone for what would have been a game-winning touchdown as the Auburn Tigers survived to win 17-14.

• Auburn's Anders Carlson provided the winning points with a 39-yard field goal in overtime, but that came after he'd missed a 44-yarder but got a second opportunity because of a Missouri offsides penalty.

• In OT, Peat found a big hole and dashed down the left sideline for the endzone. Inside the five, he switched the ball from his left hand to his right reaching for the goal line plane, but the ball slipped free and bounced into the endzone where it was recovered by Auburn's Derick Hall for a game-ending touchback.

• Defense ruled the second half, as neither offense could find rhythm, and the teams combined for 12 punts in the final two frames. With 1:37 to play, Auburn tried to convert on a fourth-and-one situation at the Mizzou 29-yard line. Ty’Ron Hopper stopped Tank Bigsby in the backfield for no gain and Missouri took over on downs. MU's defense held Auburn to 217 total yards, and just 11 yards rushing in the final three quarters plus overtime.

• Quarterback Brady Cook got his offense moving and completed a 39-yard pass to Dominick Lovett that he caught at the Auburn 3-yard line while falling on his back with 0:49 to play. MU moved the ball to the center of the field while running the clock down to 0:03, but Mevis pushed his field goal attempt just wide right.

• Through four games, Hopper totals 25 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss of 24 yards, including two sacks for 15 yards, and one interception for 15 yards.

• Hopper has logged at least four tackles in all four games this season. Against LA Tech and Auburn, he had multi-TFL games, including a sack in each game. Against LA Tech, he snagged the first interception of his career in his first game.

• Three Tigers have double digit receptions through four games: Dominic Lovett, Barrett Bannister and Luther Burden III. Both Lovett (376) and Banister (114) have reached the century mark in totals yards.

Georgia returns to conference play after last week’s relatively sloppy win over Kent State and Saturday night’s game at Missouri should provide the Bulldogs ample opportunity to get back the standard, they always talk about playing too.

At last check, the Bulldogs were favored by 27.5 points, which seems a lot for a road game in the SEC. The Tigers’ defense isn’t the best in the world, but they are physical up front, something Kirby Smart has mentioned a few times.

My question is what kind of mindset will Mizzou be in this week? The Tigers are coming off a tough a loss to Auburn last week as one can imagine. While they’ll no doubt be fired up to welcome the nation’s top-ranked team to Columbia, what happens if the Bulldogs jump out to a quick early lead? How will the respond? My guess, not well. Prediction: Georgia 49, Missouri 10.