Georgia Football: Five Keys to Georgia Beating Missouri
The Georgia football team will travel to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Tigers. Suddenly Missouri is becoming a trendy upset pick. Here are five keys for the Dawgs preventing an upset.
Play Grown Man Football
Grown Man Football is a slogan that was made famous in 2012 when Georgia Football defeated Missouri 42-20. Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson of Missouri, started the banter by declaring that the Dawgs play “old man football”, in the days leading up to the game.
Once the Bulldogs completed the beat down, linebacker Christian Robinson, assisted by quarterback Aaron Murray, held up a coaches white board with the words “Grown Man Football” written on it.
The fans of Georgia Football that were in attendance there in Columbia Missouri, chanted “Grown-Man Foot-ball” from the stands.
Grown Man Football is about playing hard and physical. The main goal of Grown Man Football is to dominated the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball. It’s about forcing your will on your opponent, and dictating to the opposition, rather than just sitting back and reacting.
Outside of maybe defending National Champion Alabama, no team is more equipped to play Grown Man Football than the Georgia Football squad. The offensive line is fully equipped to play a grind it out style.
The Bulldogs offensive line is one of the largest in the USA, averaging 329 pounds per man. Centers are usually smaller, so if we remove senior center Lamont Gailliard from the formula, the Dawgs line averages a massive 335 pounds each!
The Georgia defense is tailor-made for Grown Man Football as well. Head Coach Kirby Smart and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, have designed the Bulldogs’ defense to stop the run first and foremost.
The Dawgs’ defensive line will have a challenge. The Missouri offensive line is nearly as big as UGA’s, averaging 328 pounds per player. This will be particularly challenging when Missouri tries to run the ball from three and four wide receiver sets, against Georgia’s nickel and dime packages.
The Tigers’ rushing attack is led by 210 pound sophomore running back Larry Roundtree III. Roundtree has carried the ball 47 times for 260 yards and one touchdown. That’s an impressive 5.5 yards per carry.
Defensive linemen Jonathan Ledbetter, Tyler Clark, and Julian Rochester must be strong at the point of attack. Safety JR Reed and whomever is playing the star position, (likely Mark Webb or Tyrique McGhee) will be an intrical part at stopping the run, in the nickel and dime sub packages.
One thing to watch will be rather Georgia Football decides to unleash more formations with three down linemen, such as nickel 3-3-5 and dime 3-2-6, or more 4 linemen sets such as nickel 4-2-5 and dime 4-1-6.