Friday, October 11, 2013

No. 25 Mizzou @. No. 7 Georgia 2013 Football Preview

The No. 25 Missouri Tigers (5-0, 1-0) embark upon their first ever game between the hedges in Sanford Stadium this Saturday, as the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs (4-1, 3-0) hope to knock off the undefeated Tigers.  On paper the Tigers look like a formidable opponent with five straight wins, but look at who they have played thus far: Mizzou beat Murray State, Toledo, and Arkansas State in Columbia, and won on the road against Vandy and Indiana.

That's zero wins against Top 25 teams.  This is without a doubt the biggest game MU will have played thus far.  However, the Bulldogs have already played and won three conference games this season.  Georgia lost their season-opener against non-conference rival Clemson, but since then they have gone on to win four straight games.  UGA soundly defeated South Carolina and North Texas, and came from behind to win against both LSU and Tennessee.  That gives UGA two more wins against Top 25 opponents than MU has, and if the Dawgs win Saturday the number will increase to three.  The Tigers are going to have a tough time dealing with the rowdy home fans in Athens.

Reasons why Missouri will lose:

Georgia’s Passing Attack & Mizzou’s lack of Pass D
  • Out of 123 Div-I teams, Missouri ranks 113th in pass defense.  Look for UGA QB Aaron Murray to easily throw for over 300 yards.
  • The aforementioned Aaron.  Murray.  This kid is a beast.  He leads the SEC with 306.8 passing yards per game and has thrown for over 1,500 yards so far this season with 14 TDs and only 3 INTs.  And, Murray only needs 325 yards  to eclipse former University of Florida Heisman winning QB Tim Tebow's record (yeah, that Tim Tebow) of 12,232 total yards of offense. 
That's a lot for the Tigers to overcome, but they do have a chance to win against the Bulldogs.  How do they beat Georgia?  Play perfectly.  The Tigers must execute a flawless game plan if they hope to keep this contest close.  UGA is banged up at the RB position and have two true Freshmen playing in their defensive secondary, which could provide MU and James Franklin with some favorable match ups.  However, in the end the firepower of Aaron Murray will be too much for the Tigers to overcome and #GrownManFootball wins at home 41-24. 


*All stats are courtesy of NCAA.com