ATHENS, Ga. - Most of Georgia's football players were able to celebrate following last Saturday night's 9-6 nipping of Missouri, which snapped a two-game losing streak.
John Theus was an exception.
The 6-foot-6, 303-pound senior left tackle from Jacksonville had mixed emotions in the locker room after the Bulldogs improved to 5-2 entering their lone open date of the season. Georgia had a season-low 298 yards of total offense against the Tigers, and Theus was flagged for a false start and for holding.
"I believe I've had a good year so far and have improved weekly, but this one was a little rough," Theus said. "I gave up a sack or two and had some penalties called on me. I'm thankful that we won, because that makes it hurt a little less, but you never want to play like that."
Midway through the third quarter, Theus was whipped off the edge by Missouri redshirt sophomore defensive end Charles Harris, who sacked Greyson Lambert for a 10-yard loss on third-and-13. It was not the only big play for Harris, who racked up nine tackles.
The Tigers tallied eight tackles for loss, doubling the next highest total (Alabama had four on Oct. 3) compiled against the Bulldogs this season.
"They've got a very good scheme that they all buy into and execute very well," Theus said. "They do a lot of moving around, pinching, slanting and twists, even in the run game, and that's stuff you don't see a lot from other teams. It's kind of unconventional, and they've played us tough every year on defense.
"We had a big win last year, but we got a lot of turnovers, so that score was a little misleading."
When told of Theus beating himself up a bit after the game, Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said the four-year starter is having a good year.
"There have been a few times when he's struggled a little bit," Richt said, "but some of the time in our pass protection, we'll slide a protection one way or the other. If we slide the protection to John and the defender makes a move inside, there is supposed to be a guard waiting on him. Sometimes our guards haven't been in position like they should, so it's kind of looked like John was getting beat inside on a move.
"There also were a couple of times when he just got beat around the edge, but when you go against great pass rushers down after down after down, people don't notice when you block them because there's not a sack. There were a lot of plays we dropped back and didn't have any problems at all."
Richt said Theus and redshirt senior right tackle Kolton Houston have been Georgia's most consistent linemen through the first seven games.
Theus could not remember his last holding call before being penalized against Missouri, which has formed a formidable defense under first-year coordinator Barry Odom. The Tigers rank eighth nationally in total defense, allowing 279.0 yards a game, and rank sixth in scoring defense, yielding 12.9 points per contest.
The Tigers are fifth in the country in tackles for loss, averaging 9.3 a game, so Georgia's offense fared better than most in that category.
"Every year, they reload pass rushers, but I know I have stuff I can do better," Theus said. "I'm going to learn from this and move on."
Mascot change set
Uga IX, also known as "Russ," is retiring as Georgia's mascot next month. The 11-year-old English bulldog worked 25 football games as an interim mascot from 2009 to '12 and another 38 as Uga IX during the 2012-14 seasons.
Georgia will formally introduce Uga X, who will be called "Que," at the Georgia-Georgia Southern game at Sanford Stadium on Nov. 21.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.