First of all, I thought Missouri represented itself very well in its first game of SEC play, likewise for Texas A&M. I think both schools brought a lot of passion/excitement to what is already by far the best college football conference in America.
My thoughts on this game are just as the game itself played out. I thought early on the offense looked really bad. Aaron Murray looked very similar to the way he looked early against Buffalo-everything seemed off target, high for example-which usually can be attributed to nerves/excitement at the start of a game. I guess I just have higher expectations of Murray with this being his third full year starting. I expect he should have played enough games by now that he comes out razor sharp but so far this season, that has not been the case. I was happy to see he looked much better in the second half, he actually got it going late first half when Missouri scored and he marched us right down the field and we scored, only to have Marshall Morgan miss the PAT-which he came dangerously close to doing in week 1 as well. He did look MUCH better on his PAT's in the second half. The defense I thought did a mostly solid job against Missouri's high octane offense. They did break a few TD's on us, one late in the first half, one in the third qtr, but overall the D did a pretty decent job with an offense that I personally think is going to give a lot of SEC teams some problems this year. So, let me just single out some players, performances that I feel are worthy.
Jarvis Jones-what can you say about JJ. He started out on fire, he made himself known early and often, then it seemed he disappeared for about a quarter-he was still playing hard but to Mizzou's credit, he was not a factor during much of the third. In the 4th, just as the announcers were saying, big players make big plays when the game is on the line, Jarvis picks off a pass and scored a TD-it was VERY close and of course the refs and the review booth said he was down on the 1 but I thought it was close enough for him to get credit for that TD. Moments later he rushed in off the left side, hit Franklin just before he could throw the ball, and Jordan Jenkins recovered at the 5-great hustle play by Jenkins I might add. 3 plays later a game that had been Missouri 20-17 late in the 3rd was 41-20 with UGA scoring the last 24 points of the game-Jarvis proved he is one of those elite players that can personally take over a football game last Saturday night.
Richard Samuel-I focus on him because he is a SR that has been through so much, position changes, lack of PT, redshirting after 2 years of playing, the kid has been the ultimate team player and last Saturday night, he made what to me was one of the biggest plays of the night. All UGA fans can remember the SC fake punt last year that went for a TD and broke our back really, this time Mizzou tried to fake a punt and Samuel was the ONLY guy left that could save the punter from getting a first down. They had two guys trying to block Richard but he fought off the blocks and made the play. I think we all got to see how special a kid he is and how special a play he made when Mark Richt immediately went over and gave him a big bear hug after that great play.
Marlon Brown-after missing last week, and having a career that has had a few ups but mostly just average moments, the SR from Memphis made a big splash against Missouri. He had two touchdown catches, made several other strong catches and runs after contact, he was a real difference maker on Saturday. It is always good to see when a kid is in his last year and the light finally turns on for him. I think Marlon will be a big force for us this upcoming year. Remember, he was supposed to be the next AJ Green when he arrived-to me he looks more like Julio Jones when it comes to size-Marlon is a big strong kid.
Marshall Morgan-he missed the PAT which should NOT happen but you have to be encouraged that a kid playing his first SEC road game, at night and on national TV can hit two crucial field goals-the first one being 52 yards. He is also doing a pretty good job on kickoffs when he kicks, certainly it is a VERY good sign for a young kicker to mentally get off to a good start like Morgan has to the this point.
John Jenkins-the big man totally controlled the LOS against Missouri-and you can just see by watching him that he can MOVE to be so big. He blew up the line several times and chased down the QB/RB for the Tigers and made the play behind the line. You have to give credit to Jenkins as well as Washington and Abry Jones because our front DL, along with Jarvis coming off the edge was able to pressure the QB and also basically minus one run, shut down the run game for Missouri and let 7 guys drop in coverage.
Malcolm Mitchell-I thought he looked VERY good in his first game at corner. He came close to getting a few INT's, he seemed to be really good in coverage and also made some nice tackles. I do think our offense will need him some as the season progresses and we get all our players back from suspension but there is no doubt after watching Mitchell play on Saturday, he CAN play corner really well and we might need him over there next year as well.
Todd Gurley-minus the first offensive play of the game where he bobbled the pitch from Murray, he played well. The HUGE 44-45 yard run when Missouri had us pinned at the 7 was a huge play in the ballgame. This kid just really looks special to me, he looks like he has a very bright future. 4 TD's in 2 games is not bad.
Aaron Murray-I save him for last because I was VERY frustrated with him at halftime, as I mentioned before, I think I just have such high expectations for him this year, if he is not perfect I am not happy. I know that crowd and that team was new to him and all our players but he just didn't seem sharp in the first half. He rebounded nicely in the second half and even late first half so that is promising. The INT he threw was REALLY bad and thankfully the D held them to a FG. I thought his WR's didn't help him a few times but there is still room for improvement for Aaron. Still, after two games he has 6 TD passes to only 1 INT, he has not fumbled the ball yet, so I have to say I am happy with him.
I would also like to say I thought the OL did a pretty decent job. Missouri's front 7 were CONSTANTLY moving around prior to the snap, the stadium was loud (Gates and Theus had some trouble as they jumped early 2-3x each during the game). Still, considering the youth of our OL, overall I thought they did a pretty good job in protecting Murray and giving our backs a little bit of space. As the announcers said during the game, the good news is this young line is only going to get better and better.
One player off the top of my head that really seem to struggle Sat night was Michael Bennett. He had 3 drops I think of off the top of my head, he is SOOO sure handed it is always a shock to see him drop a single pass, much less three. Still, he caught the two point conversion and he always does the little things like blocking down field that will win you games.
Next up is Florida Atlantic, which should be another game to get the young guys some valuable experience-course I think after Arkansas losing to La-Monroe, every big school needs to learn that you have to take care of business EARLY and often against teams you should beat, you can't let up either. Arky had a 28-7 lead and didn't score again until kicking a FG in OT to briefly taket the lead. I hope our boys can get focused enough to come ready to play.
Course we KNOW that Sanders Commings and Chase Vasser will be back for the game this week. We still have no idea about Rambo and Ogletree. I would guess at this point, both are serving a 4 game suspension although Ogletree I think would stand the best shot of maybe being able to play this week. We shouldn't need either player this week but I think missing 4 starters and still holding Mizzou to 20 points at their place is a job well done by Grantham and our defense for sure.
Updated on the 8 year old Rams, we beat South 26-0 on Saturday. In the Gwinnett football league, if you beat a team by more than 32 points, the head coach has to pay a BIG fine, up to $500 I have heard but don't know if that is true. We were up 26-0 with nearly 9 minutes to go in the second quarter, yes, 4 TD's scored in about 11 minutes!! So, needless to say we called off the dogs and just had some fun rather than even get the one more touchdown we could have scored without getting a fine-the game was decided and it was time to just let all our boys get a lot of playing time-always good to let the reserves get a lot of quality playing time. Out of 28 teams in our 8 year old age bracket, we are one of only two teams that have shutout every opponent we have faced so far this year. The test will get MUCH tougher this week, we play a North Gwinnett Bulldog team that will probably be the best offense we have played to this point. We shall see if our shutout streak can continue.
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