Eli Drinkwitz says Georgia outschemed Tigers in 48-21 blowout
ATHENS — There wasn’t much Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz could say to explain his team’s failures in its 48-21 loss at No. 1 Georgia on Saturday.
But what Drinkwitz did find to say about the No. 22-ranked Tigers’ defeat between the hedges of Sanford Stadium made plenty of sense.
Missouri, Drinkwitz said, never gave itself a fighting chance to pull the upset.
“It was a comedy of errors on both sides, not a good plan offensively or defensively,” Drinkwitz said. “We didn’t get a first down the first two drives — you’re on the road, you’ve got to have sustained drives early to give yourselves a chance.”
And Drinkwitz added, his Tigers needed to execute better against Kirby Smart’s dialed-in football team.
“If you’re going to play the No. 1 team in the country, you’ve got to play better than two for 11 on third downs,” said Drinkwitz, whose team was outgained 468 yards to 286 yards, even with Georgia pulling its starting quarterback and putting its second-team defense on the field with more than 12 minutes left to play.
“You’ve got to play better than giving up an interception on the first play of the game, you’ve got to play better than give up third downs on the first three drives — you have to play better than that.”
Georgia linebacker Raylen Wilson intercepted Missouri quarterback Austin Simmons (17-of-25 passing, 175 yards, 3 touchdowns, one interception) on Missouri’s first offensive play, returning the pick 30 yards to the Tigers’ 7 to set up a quick Bulldogs’ touchdown.
“The interception, obviously, after that it kind of snowballed on us,” Drinkwitz said. “If we saw that coming, we wouldn’t have started with a pass.”
As for Drinkwitz’s comment on Georgia’s third-down conversions on its first three drives, the Missouri coach will be disappointed to learn the Bulldogs faced third down only once on their first three possessions.
But on the one third down UGA faced in racing to a 21-0 lead, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo dialed up the right call, as Gunner Stockton (18-of-24 passing, 252 yards, one touchdown) hit Craig Dandridge Jr. for an 11-yard gain to convert on third-and-6 from the UGA 17.
The Bulldogs held a 31-7 lead by halftime and the Tigers never got closer.
“They did a great job of scheming us up, and obviously giving up 286 yards passing is never going to be a recipe for success,” said Drinkwitz, who opened the week by saying Stockton wasn’t getting enough consideration for the Heisman Trophy.
“They are a good football team, they’re the No. 1 team in the country, they’ve done this to a lot of people that have come in here.”