COLUMBIA, Mo. — The two most important characteristics Georgia coach Kirby Smart seeks in his football team are composure and resiliency, and the top-ranked Bulldogs needed to rely on both to rally past Missouri on Saturday night.
Or, as Smart put it: “We had to OD on those.”
Kept out of the end zone until the fourth quarter and facing a 10-point deficit, the reigning national champions got their ground game going just in time to avoid the upset. Kendall Milton finished off one long drive with a touchdown run, then Daijun Edwards got into the end zone with just more than four minutes to go, lifting the Bulldogs to a 26-22 Southeastern Conference victory.
“They played really physical and really hard and whipped us up front, but I’m really proud of us,” Smart said. “We always talk about rising to the competitive nature of the opportunity, and we did that tonight.”
The Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0) trailed almost the entire way before finally solving the red-zone woes that forced Jack Podlesny into kicking four field goals. Quarterback Stetson Bennett also struggled all night against the blitzing Missouri defense, but he still wound up passing for 312 yards with no interceptions.