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Analysis: No. 2 UGA should feel good about sloppy, yet decisive win over Mizzou

The 4-0 Dawgs can derive some satisfaction from their 43-29 victory at Missouri, a game that was even wilder than the 72 total points might suggest.

Make no mistake, it wasn't the prettiest of SEC East showdowns.

There were a robust amount of unforced errors, head-scratching turnovers, baffling missed field goals and precarious play-calls from the respective coaching staffs.

And that doesn't even include head coach Kirby Smart's viral blowup along the sidelines (presumably directed at an assistant coach) and Jeremiah Holloman's inexplicable dance with the devil, in the form of releasing the ball around the goal line during a long touchdown catch/run.

But alas, to the victors go the spoils, and UGA can derive some satisfaction (in between the lingering sighs of relief) about its 43-29 victory at Missouri, a game that was even more chaotic than the 72 total points would suggest.

The No. 2-ranked Bulldogs were never in any serious danger Saturday. Conversely, they were rarely in the clear against the versatile Tigers offense, with quarterback Drew Lock (a presumptive top-10 pick in next year's NFL draft) leading the way.

Even when Georgia held a seemingly safe 33-14 lead in the third quarter, it simply signaled for more go-for-broke plays from the Missouri sidelines, and the Tigers responded with two touchdown drives, totaling 20 plays, that brought their deficit to a respectable 11 points midway through the fourth quarter.

But it was merely fool's gold in the end, slightly duller than the Tigers' bright yellow uniforms on this cloudless day in Columbia.

UGA drained eight minutes of game clock during that period, essentially robbing Mizzou of any chance at a last-minute comeback.

As such, the Bulldogs (4-0, 2-0 in the SEC East) should be excited about their prospects for a division title and conference championship, knowing the latter would represent near-automatic entry into the four-team College Football Playoff.

Here were the highlights from UGA's road win:

**The defense and special teams carried the Dawgs in the first half. For the opening score, UGA freshman cornerback Tyson Campbell stripped the Missouri receiver after a short gain ... and then took the ball to the house for a 64-yard return touchdown.

**With UGA holding onto a 13-7 lead, the special-teams unit put its stamp on the first half with a textbook blocked punt and subsequent touchdown return of minimal distance.

This brilliant play prompted someone on Twitter to opine: "Great college teams find different ways to win every week."

Very true, indeed.

**Quarterback Jake Fromm made the most of his 13 completions, accounting for 260 yards and three touchdowns.

Comparatively, Missouri's Lock only registered one TD for the day–a harmless rushing score.

**Tailback Elijah Holyfield notched 114 total yards (90 rushing) on only 15 touches. His lone catch, a 24-yard reception, should have yielded a modest gain ... but the elusive, lightning-fast Holyfield juked and gutted his way to a sizable chunk of real estate.

**Receivers Riley Ridley (5 catches, 87 yards, 1 TD), Mecole Hardman (2 catches, 60 yards, 1 TD) and Holloman (one touchdown) made the most of their limited targets, bringing an extra gear of explosiveness to an offense full of absurdly athletic playmakers.

Which brings us to this: It's too bad ESPN didn't have access to a Pylon Cam for Saturday's telecast; otherwise, we would have gotten total confirmation on whether Holloman dropped the ball before or after crossing the goal-line plane on his 61-yard scoring catch.

Personally, I thought it was a fumble, but also didn't believe there was overwhelming physical evidence to reverse the call.

Besides, it would have been weird optics, for the game officials to reward a Missouri defense that was porous all day in the art of fundamental tackling.

For the sake of equal time, here are two items to lament from Saturday:

a) The typically rock-steady Rodrigo Blankenship connected on only three of five field-goal attempts. At some colleges, this might be an acceptable success-to-failure ratio; but not at Georgia ... and definitely not with Blankenship, one of the nation's most accomplished kickers.

b) UGA got decent pressure on Lock throughout the day, but the defense still surrendered four rushing touchdowns. This has to be a personal affront to Coach Smart, who maintains every Monday (UGA weekly presser) that the Bulldogs are a "stop-run defense."

This piece represents a UGA-focused account of what happened at Faurot Field. It doesn't really account for Mizzou's numerous squandered opportunities, often failing to flourish during seemingly mundane situations.

But this only plays into Georgia's aura, as a national power. The program carries itself like a hipper version of Alabama:

As in, Speed kills ... but then again, so does power, preparedness and punishing the opposition for untimely mistakes.

And just like Alabama, UGA has the perfect head coach pushing the buttons on gamedays; and that includes Smart's nine seconds of social-media infamy from Saturday.

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