Georgia Bulldogs 9, Missouri Tigers 6: UGA wins ugly affair in Athens

The Missouri-Georgia 'rivalry' has given us a garden variety of results over the last three seasons. From the "Old Man/Grown Man" football saga which included a monstrous performance by Bulldogs edge rusher Jarvis Jones, to Mizzou strolling into Athens and whooping the 'Dawgs a year later, to last year's 34-0 drubbing in Columbia, it was anyone's guess what was going to be in store in the 2015 edition of this encounter.

With the benefit of hindsight, I think everyone would have wished for a restart option.

To not mince words, Georgia and Missouri played an ugly, abhorrent and sluggish game on Saturday night at Sanford Stadium. "Between the Hedges" was nothing but a pile of rubbish with neither offense giving even its most staunchest supporters any glimmer of optimism.

Like any game, there had to be a winner. The team that stood tall in the win column on this night was Georgia, whose nine points edged out Mizzou's six. It was an uphill battle for Greyson Lambert and the now Nick Chubb-less Bulldog offense who were pounded and pulverized all evening by the Tigers defense. The leading man, linebacker Kentrell Brothers, was all over the place picking up 17 total tackles on the night. But even his dynamic performance wasn't enough to kickstart the sputtering packard that is the Missouri offense.

The phrase "growing pains" is likely apt in this case. The Tigers offense is young and rich with inexperience. It's showing each time this team goes out to the field, too. Mizzou has notched just 720 total yards in their last three games, with an abysmal 164-yard performance posted tonight in enemy territory.

On 48 total plays, the Tigers amassed just 3.4 yards per play. Georgia did not wind up much better at 3.9, and theirs was perhaps worse because they ran 29 more plays than Missouri did. But even with that said, the point holds serve that Mizzou's offense is nothing short of a mess and not enough superglue in the world might be able to piece the puzzle together right now.

Georgia gets a sigh of relief in the form of a bye this coming week before the annual World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville on Halloween afternoon. Depending on how you feel about Missouri's next opponent Vanderbilt, the Tigers might either get off the schneid or, worst case scenario, the offense sputters - again - and Mizzou looks at Mississippi State, BYU, Tennessee and Arkansas in the final stretch of the season with quite a mountain to climb.