Georgia looked like a team on a mission on Saturday afternoon between the hedges, racing out to a 21-0 lead after the 1st quarter and rolling to a 48-21 victory over a ranked Mizzou team that was trying to stay relevant.
But the top-ranked Bulldogs said no.
They won their 3rd in a row after that lone 2026 stumble against Auburn, improving to 9-1 overall and 7-1 in the SEC as they continue their pursuit of a 3rd straight SEC title. The College Football Playoff would come after that possible latest SEC championship, but on Saturday the Dawgs were locked into the task at hand.
And that was taking the life out of a Mizzou team that was 22nd in the Playoff rankings coming into Week 11. But the Tigers were no match for Georgia, falling to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the SEC.
How ’bout them Dawgs? That’s what the postgame celebration message was on Georgia football’s social media account, as these dominant Dawgs rolled up 468 yards of total offense while holding Mizzou to 286 yards.
Georgia was lethal through the air with star quarterback Gunner Stockton, but it controlled things on the ground, too, specifically with junior star running back Nate Frazier.
Sure, Frazier grinded out 72 yards on 14 carries, but it was his nose for the end zone that made the difference. Frazier ran for 3 touchdowns, which was particularly impressive since he came into Saturday with 6 rushing TDs.
So, in 1 dazzling afternoon in Athens, Frazier picked up half of that total. He got started early, too, scoring on a 4-yard run and a 3-yard run to help Georgia rocket out to that 21-0 lead after the opening period.
Frazier added a 3-yard TD run in the 3rd quarter, which gave the Dawgs a 41-7 lead and relegated the 4th quarter to full-on garbage time.
While Frazier was controlling things on the ground, Stockton was superb as usual through the air, going 18 of 24 for 252 yards passing with 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions.
That lone TD toss was a 12-yard scoring strike to Isiah Canion with 6:52 left before halftime that gave Georgia a 31-0 lead. Canion had a strong day, catching 4 passes for 63 yards, as the Dawgs did nothing to hurt their top ranking.
Meanwhile, Austin Simmons and the Tigers couldn’t get much going all day, with Simmons’ 3 touchdown passes coming way too late to make this game competitive.
While Mizzou tries to pick up the pieces down the stretch, Georgia has more work to do to get back to the promised land, starting next Saturday with a primetime matchup in Columbia against surging South Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
