“Mission, team, then me”

I’m sure you won’t mind reliving a little Cocktail Party fun.

🎬 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 | Game Eight#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/qS6I05ia6K

— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 31, 2023

An early statistical look at Georgia-Missouri

I’ve watched a fair amount of Mizzou football this season.  They’ve clearly improved as the season’s progressed, especially on offense.  Moving Luther Burden to the slot has proven enormously effective.  They’re getting good production out of Schrader at running back (you may remember him from last year’s game).  And Brady Cook’s hit another gear this season.  He’s third in passer rating in the conference, just ahead of Carson Beck — and, unlike Beck, he’s a threat in the run game.  In their last two games, he’s run the ball 19 times for 104 yards.

They’ve been respectable on defense, too.  But they’re not Georgia, as this Twitter chain shows.

One huge difference:

Missouri currently ranks 62nd in the country for 3rd down conversion rate (41.49%). Georgia ranks 3rd (56.31%).

The Tigers also rank 61st defensively on third down, while Georgia ranks 1st.

— Jonathan Williams (@Dr_JWill) October 30, 2023

Mizzou also trails Georgia in the explosive plays department.

Explosive plays allowed on defense:

UGA:
– 20+ yards: 21 (9th)
– 30+ yards: 7 (6th)
– 40+ yards: 4 (13th)

Mizzou:
– 20+ yards: 38 (85th)
– 30+ yards: 14 (46th)
– 40+ yards: 2 (5th)

— Jonathan Williams (@Dr_JWill) October 30, 2023

So, Georgia has been the better performer in terms of efficiency and explosiveness.  That’s a good combination if you’re Kirby Smart.

One more comparison — as noted before here, Georgia is the least penalized team in the conference.  Missouri?  Not so much.

I guess some noise will need to be made Saturday afternoon in Athens.

All their goal is still ahead of them.

Jimbo Fisher, setting his sights high:

Fisher explained that with four games left, the first goal for the Aggies is to get bowl eligible and move on from that point.

“The goal is to get bowl eligible and then keep walking down the road,” Jimbo Fisher said. “We have four more games.”

That’s why they pay him the big bucks, peeps.  Plus, lowered expectations seem to be working.

In 2022, the Aggies were only able to win five games all season long. So, being at five wins with four games to go does seem like progress. Getting back to a bowl game would, on top of that, certainly be an improvement from that disappointing season…

Then again, Ole Miss and LSU are two of those four games, both on the road, so maybe Jimbo knows best.

***********************************************************************

UPDATE:  Stick around to the end of this clip, when the Laner throws shade on Jimbo’s “goal”.

Lane is an absolute gem

He is not wrong at all here pic.twitter.com/1qt2exneLg

— Aaron Murray (@aaronmurray11) October 31, 2023

When the bandwagon breaks

Dabo gets his feathers ruffled on his weekly call in show.

"To answer your question, I started as the lowest-paid coach in this business … I worked my ass off. I'm not gonna let this smart-ass kid get on the phone" and tell me how to do my job. "I work for the board of trustees." This the hottest he's been all season 100% https://t.co/X5u4BmkwZq

— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) October 31, 2023

Here’s the audio.  The caller was pretty obnoxious, so I can see how Dabo rose to the bait, but still…

https://twitter.com/CFBKings/status/1719165734918508764

I’ll say this — it’s gonna be an interesting offseason at Clemson.

2023 Mumme Poll, my Week 9 ballot

  Still going with undefeated teams with a net ypp of 2.0+, so this week’s ballot remains unchanged from the last:

• Georgia (2.61)
• Michigan (2.69)
• Ohio State (2.55)
• Washington (2.69)

Things may change after this week, though, as FSU just missed with a net ypp of 1.99.

“Georgia being Georgia”

Heather Dinich may have lingering doubts about Georgia, but after the Cocktail Party, Matt Hinton doesn’t.

Two-thirds of the way through the regular season, the Playoff picture is only just beginning to come into focus. Before we wade into the looming hypotheticals on the horizon, though, let’s start on the one undeniable patch of terra firma: Georgia is the best team in college football until further notice. If there was any doubt, Saturday’s thorough, 43-20 beatdown of Florida was an emphatic reminder that the Dawgs are not mere figureheads at the top of the polls. In any realistic scenario, they’re still the team to beat.

He goes on to point out something fun about the remaining regular season schedule.

With 25 consecutive wins under their belts, the Bulldogs are just 1 win shy of Alabama’s run of 26 straight in 2015-16, and just 3 shy of matching the SEC record of 28 straight, set by different Bama teams in 1978-80 and 1991-93. The schedule stiffens over the next few weeks, against 3 ranked opponents (Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee) who boast a combined 10-4 record in SEC play. All 3 harbor visions of a program-defining upset; all 3 will be heavy underdogs. Barring a stunning turn of events, UGA will match the record in Knoxville on Nov. 19, and eclipse it the following week at Georgia Tech.  [Emphasis added.]

That would make for an excellent cherry on top of the sundae.