The Missouri Tigers looked good in Saturday’s 61-21 drubbing of Eastern Michigan, but now the real work begins.

If Mizzou wants to earn bowl eligibility in 2016, defending Faurot Field when tougher teams come to Columbia is a must.

The Tigers have the chance to pick up a critical home win this Saturday, when No. 16 Georgia comes to town.

Last year, the Bulldogs slogged their way to a 9-6 victory in one of the uglier games in all of college football.

This year, though, both teams are improved, which should lead to a better, more watchable contest.

But if the Tigers are to inch closer to a 2016 bowl game, there are three key battles they need to win on Saturday night:

Special teams: One way for lower-ranked teams to pull off upsets is to make big special teams plays.

Mizzou had plenty of good plays on that side of the ball — Corey Fatony’s punts and Johnathon Johnson’s punt return touchdown — against Eastern Michigan. But the Tigers also had plenty of negative special teams plays, like Tucker McCann and Turner Adams each missing extra points.

To defeat Georgia at home, the Tigers will need to have a flawless performance from their kickers, punter and returners — and contain Georgia’s dangerous return man, Isaiah McKenzie.

Quarterback: Sophomore QB Drew Lock was outstanding against the Eagles, throwing for 450 yards and a school-record-tying five touchdowns.

Meanwhile, both of Georgia’s quarterbacks, Jacob Eason and Greyson Lambert, struggled against Nicholls.

Georgia’s secondary is one of the best in the nation statistically after finishing first last season in fewest yards allowed per game.

Last season Georgia allowed just one 300-yard passing day — to Tennessee. Missouri was one of nine opponents that failed to crack 200.

So the task Saturday is significantly more difficult than facing West Virginia and Eastern Michigan, but if Lock continues taking care of the ball and finding open receivers, the Tigers will have a fighting chance against the Bulldogs.

Turnover margin: Through two games, the Tigers have forced five turnovers and committed three. Against Eastern Michigan, Mizzou snagged two interceptions, but lost two fumbles.

An even turnover margin won’t help the Tigers this weekend against Georgia. Mizzou’s defense shared the SEC lead with four interceptions. It needs to be opportunistic and pounce on every loose ball and grab every errant pass to give the offense short fields to work with.

One positive for the Tigers is that Lock has thrown 88 passes with an interception this season. He leads the SEC in passing yards (730) and is tied for second in touchdown passes (6). He’s the SEC’s only quarterback with more than two touchdown passes who hasn’t thrown an interception. If he can continue taking care of the football during Saturday’s game, Mizzou will have a chance.

Mizzou and Georgia will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Central time at Faurot Field. The game can be seen on the SEC Network.