Tuesday Tiger Notebook

GET THE INSIDE SCOOP EVERY DAY WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION

Looking for its first win in a month, Missouri’s task isn’t going to get any easier this weekend. The Tigers are preparing to face Georgia, which is unbeaten, ranked in the top five in both major polls (4th in one, 5th in the other) and has pounded its last two SEC opponents by a combined score of 86-14.

“Playing as complete football as anybody in the country,” Missouri head coach Barry Odom said on Monday.

The Bulldogs are led offensively by one of the country’s best running games. Nick Chubb has 618 yards on the ground and Sony Michel has 406. Freshman D’Andre Swift and sophomore Elijah Holyfield are both averaging at least 5.9 yards per carry as well.

“They’ve got four backs who could start for a lot of people across the country,” Odom said.

The running attack has helped ease Jake Fromm into the role as starting quarterback. The freshman took over when starter Jacob Eason was hurt and has completed 60% of his passes with ten touchdowns and just two interceptions.

“Obviously his physical skill set is pretty darn high,” Odom said of Fromm. “Some of the zone read stuff he’s pulled the ball and made a first down. When they bring pressure, he doesn’t really look that affected by it. Pretty calm really for the number of snaps he’s played. He hasn’t tried to do too much but he’s a really, really talented guy.”

But it’s the defense that really has people buzzing about Georgia. The Bulldogs brought back ten starters from a season ago and have held opponents to an average of ten points per game over the first half of the season. Teams are averaging just 242.7 yards per game, giving UGA the nation’s third ranked defense overall.

“They’re good,” Mizzou offensive coordinator Josh Heupel said, offering a concise scouting report.

Heupel did expand, praising all three groups on the Bulldog defense.

“I think they’re really pretty balanced on all levels,” Heupel said. “It’s a big test. All three levels, pretty good.”

“They swarm the ball really well,” quarterback Drew Lock said. “They’re going to come down and they’re going to attack us. We’re going to attack right back. It’s gonna be a fistfight every single play, which is what we expect.”

Missouri is 1-1 in Athens since joining the SEC. The Tigers won there in 2013 to propel them to the SEC Championship Game. But that is Missouri’s only win in the series’ five games since it became an annual matchup.

Radi Nabulsi

BALL SECURITY A BIG ISSUE

If Mizzou has plans of making this one close—much less pulling off one of the season’s biggest upsets—the Tigers need to hang on to the football.

“I do have concerns,” Odom said. “We’ve got to protect the ball. That’s the most important thing right now for our program. Defensively getting it back, offensively taking care of it.”

By turning it over twice at Kentucky, the Tigers moved past San Jose State in turnover margin. At minus-2 per game, Missouri is now tied for 128th out of 130 FBS teams. One of the miscues in Lexington was a Damarea Crockett fumble, his second in two games and his third of the season.

“At the end of the day I think every player at every position, it’s about working through it,” Heupel said. “If you compete in practice and emphasize things, then you should be able to take it to the field with confidence.”

But if Crockett is worried, he isn’t letting on.

“It’s not something I think about it at all,” Crockett said. “I know I’m not a fumbler. That’s not what I do. So that’s how I’m going to keep looking at it.”

Crockett said the bye week helped him feel fresh and healed after a bruised tailbone had slowed him for the previous two contests. He saw his touches dip not just because of the fumble, but also because Ish Witter put up the best game of his career. Witter had 139 yards rushing and 24 more receiving as the Tigers put up 24 second half points.

“You know exactly what you’re gonna get from him every single day and every single rep,” Heupel said. “I thought he did a great job, got a ton of work, especially late in the ballgame. He was really managing everything. Did a good job catching the football out of the backfield, does a good job recognizing his protection responsibilities and then ran with assertiveness and aggressiveness.”

“His toughness he brings to the table is great,” Crockett said.

The effort also kept Larry Rountree III from seeing more action in the backfield. Rountree did, however, get involved on special teams, returning a kickoff 35 yards.

Jordan Kodner

ANYTHING BUT SPECIAL

Outside of that return, Missouri’s special teams continued to be anything but. The Tigers missed two field goals (they got a reprieve on one thanks to a running into the kicker penalty) and had another one blocked. Two of the errors came thanks to bad snaps. In response, Drew Wise enters this week of practice in an open competition to take over for James Workman.

“I do feel good about our kicker,” Odom said. “I feel really good about our holder. I don’t feel very good about our snapper and our protection. We’ve bought ourselves a whole bunch of work on that unit.”

Tucker McCann is now 6-for-9 on field goals this season. Odom was asked if he would attempt a critical field goal again, as he did last week from 45 yards in a three-point game.

“Depends on the yard line and the wind,” he said.

HITTING A MOVING TARGET

No word can stir up more controversy in football than “targeting.” Missouri lost DeMarkus Acy to the rule in the first quarter against Kentucky. Acy, who had started the game well, hit a receiver on a swing pass. The receiver appeared to drop his head as Acy went to hit him, which resulted in helmet to helmet contact.

“(Acy’s) eyes were down, but right before contact they came back up and he led with the front of his face. Split second decision,” Odom said, while saying he supported the rule. “It’s a little bit difficult in teach in that certain circumstance.”

Acy wasn’t available for interviews on Tuesday, but one of his defensive teammates stuck up for him.

“If a guy’s coming down or he’s lowering his shoulder on me, I’m gonna protect myself,” linebacker Terez Hall said. “I’m not fixing to let him punish me. That will never happen.

“No, it’s not a fair rule. You line up with some shoulder pads, you run full speed from that wall and they say you’re not protecting yourself till the last second, you duck your head. If I duck my head and hit you and you went backwards because it was a hard hit, it was a loud contact, hey man, I got to protect myself too. I’m not fixing to let you just knock me apart.”

Mikala Compton

INJURY UPDATE

Cornerback Christian Holmes, who dislocated his shoulder in fall camp, tweeted a step on his way to recovery on Monday.

However, we were told on Monday Holmes isn’t yet cleared to practice with the team. He is working out, but is likely still a few weeks away from a potential return. Charles Harris returned from a similar injury in nine weeks. If Holmes meets that timetable, he could potentially be available to return as soon as the October 28th game at Connecticut.

Meanwhile, A.J. Logan, who is suspended for the first six games of the season as the result of an NCAA academic investigation, is back at practice.

WATCHING THE TIGERS

This week's game will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. Central time on Saturday night. It will be televised on the SEC Network. Next Saturday's Homecoming game against Idaho was set this week for an 11 a.m. kick, also on the SEC Network.