SEC EAST STANDINGS
Team / SEC / Overall
Missouri / 1-0 / 4-1
Florida / 1-1 / 2-1
Georgia / 1-1 / 3-1
Kentucky / 1-1 / 3-1
South Carolina / 2-2 / 3-2
Tennessee / 0-1 / 2-2
Vanderbilt / 0-3 / 1-4
Georgia’s football team enters this week with a significantly improved position in the SEC East race — but without one of its emerging stars.
Missouri’s comeback victory Saturday night at South Carolina put the Bulldogs back in control of their destiny in the division race, negating the advantage the Gamecocks had achieved by beating Georgia two weeks earlier. But Georgia still has six SEC games to play and will be without freshman tailback Sony Michel for an extended stretch.
Michel, who had emerged as a major contributor on offense and special teams, injured his left shoulder in the Bulldogs’ 35-32 victory against Tennessee on Saturday.
“I can’t imagine him playing any time real soon,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said Sunday.
Richt didn’t provide a more specific timetable, saying he hadn’t received medical reports with details on the injury. But one of Michel’s former high school teammates, Tarvarus McFadden, a heavily recruited defensive back at American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla., posted on Twitter that Michel “is out 6 weeks.”
Michel’s injury came one week after he had 155 yards rushing and three touchdowns against Troy.
While losing Michel for now, Georgia’s offense appears to be finally regaining wide receivers Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley, neither of whom has played since undergoing knee surgeries last year. Both are expected to practice Monday as the Bulldogs begin preparations for Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt.
Asked about this week’s plan for Mitchell, Richt replied: “Play. Practice and play.”
Richt predicted the return of Mitchell and Scott-Wesley will bolster Georgia’s passing game, which caused much alarm in Bulldog Nation when quarterback Hutson Mason threw for only 147 yards against Tennessee.
“When you play quarterback, you’ve got to deal with the good and the bad, and right now I’m sure he’s frustrated with not getting many deep balls thrown and completed and all that kind of thing,” Richt said Sunday. “I’m sure that he’s looking forward to getting better as we go and also looking forward to having a few more weapons to work with.”
Despite the lack of a passing attack, Georgia got its first SEC win of the season by beating Tennessee behind tailback Todd Gurley’s career-high 208 yards rushing. Hours later, Georgia got another needed result: Missouri’s victory against South Carolina gave the Bulldogs a fresh start, essentially, in the SEC East race.
“It allows us to have some control, where before we had to hope that South Carolina would lose another game because we knew in a head-to-head (tie) with them we lost the tiebreaker,” Richt said. “So when it comes to mathematics … we’re now in control. If we win the rest of our Southeastern Conference regular-season games, then we win the East. …The goal is to have control and then to win.”
Said Georgia defensive end Ray Drew: “Why can’t this be our time? We came within a play last year of beating Auburn, who played for the national championship. We came within two-three yards of beating Alabama two years ago. So why can’t our time be now? We have to step up.”
Missouri moved into first place in the Eastern Division by beating South Carolina 21-20 after trailing 20-7 with seven minutes to play. That was the Tigers’ first SEC game of the season and left them as the only East team without a league loss.
Georgia evened its SEC record at 1-1, the same as two other East teams — Florida and Kentucky. South Carolina, picked to win the division in a preseason media survey, dropped to 2-2 in league play.
Georgia plays at Missouri on Oct. 11, a game for which the Tigers can begin preparing because they are off this week.
Georgia and Missouri are the only SEC East teams ranked in this week’s Associated Press poll — Georgia No. 13 (down one spot from last week) and Missouri No. 24. In the coaches’ poll, Georgia is No. 12 (up one spot from last week) and Missouri unranked. By contrast, six SEC West teams are ranked in the top 15 of both polls.
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