The Bulldogs trailed much of the night, before rallying behind Eason’s rocket right arm.
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Missouri’s hopes for the upset will largely rest on the shoulders of Drew Lock, who tossed five touchdown passes last weekend. With Georgia down 27-21 in the fourth quarter to Missouri, and facing a tough 4th and 10 with just 1:36 remaining, the odds were stacked against the Bulldogs.
After splitting time with senior Greyson Lambert in the Bulldogs’ first two games, Eason made his first collegiate start and played every snap, completing 29 of 55 passes for 308 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Sophomore S Cam Hilton (St. Louis, Mo.) jumped a route, picked off Eason, and returned the interception to the UGA six-yard line.
Jacob Eason’s second straight start at quarterback for Georgia was kept under wraps.
Additionally, Missouri limited Georgia running back Nick Chubb to 63 yards on 19 carries. Eason played the majority of the second half, accounting for the Bulldogs’ only passing touchdown, a 17-yard connection with wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie.
The first half of the game was all offense as the two teams, who scored a total of 15 in their 2015 meeting, each put up 20 points by halftime.
Missouri (1-2) falls to 0-1 in the conference. That will lose you ballgames, as they learned the hard way.
Now that SEC play is in full swing, head coach Kirby Smart will not regret making Eason his full-time starter under center.
It’s a small sample size so far, but if Missouri can sustain that type of output, it all adds up to a team that will definitely go bowling this season and is moving back in the right direction. “They seem to be bigger than they’ve been in the past, especially inside, and they’ve got a really talented group, so it’s always a challenge when you go to play these guys because they’ve athletic enough and disruptive enough to cause a lot of problems”.
Georgia’s defense has been inconsistent at times but they have done a good job of forcing turnovers.
Lock found J’Mon Moore running free near midfield. Drew Lock threw three touchdown passes, including a 6-yarder to J’Mon Moore early in the third quarter that appeared to be the game victor for Missouri until Eason’s dramatic TD pass. This week the grade comes from the fact that Georgia shanked two field goals, and the punt coverage unit looked lost.
Now, Moore has two 100-yard games in the past three Missouri contests.
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Georgia defensive back Kirby Choates was ejected late in the fourth quarter for a targeting hit on a weird special teams play. However, Moore fumbled and Georgia defender Juwuan Briscoe recovered to ice the game.
