Georgia vs. Missouri: Early point spread released on Bulldogs, Tigers

In a game likely to go a long way in deciding the outcome of the SEC East, Missouri travels to face Georgia in a pivotal showdown on Saturday. And a year removed from a scare for the Bulldogs on the road, they open as big home favorites.

Georgia opened as a 20.5-point favorite over Missouri, according to FanDuel. The points total is set at 53.5 points.

Georgia enters the game coming off a beatdown of rival Florida on a neutral field, 43-20, in which quarterback Carson Beck looked excellent and threw for 300 yards for the fourth-straight contest.

Missouri was on a bye in Week 9, sitting at 7-1 and coming off a dominating victory against South Carolina in Week 8, 34-12.

With Missouri sitting on one conference loss, the Tigers could seize control of the SEC East with a shocking upset. Otherwise, Georgia will likely only need to topple Tennessee in Knoxville in November to win yet another SEC East crown.

Missouri brings a team full of belief to Athens

The Tigers have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 season. Sitting at 7-1 heading into Week 9, the Tigers will be enjoying their bye week — but have the opportunity to do something incredibly special in Athens the following weekend with a win over No. 1 Georgia between the hedges.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz believes that none of this would be possible without the Week 3 victory over Kansas State. Kicker Harrison Mevis drove in a 61-yard bomb before fans stormed the field having knocked off the reigning Big 12 champions. According to Drinkwitz, the Tigers haven’t looked back.

“We’ve had a lot of buy-in, but we’ve had a lot of belief, too,” Drinkwitz told On3’s Andy Staples during an appearance on his show. “Belief happens when Harrison Mevis makes the game-winning kick in a really tight game. We’ve had buy-in. Last year we had a lot of close losses, a lot of gut-wrenches. I makes you on the fringe. This year when we made that kick, I think the buy-in turned into belief. All of a sudden, there’s a stubborn refusal to allow anything but success in this locker room.

“Even after the LSU loss, I think there was a lot of confidence in our process. … You’re down 14-0 at Kentucky, that could have turned into a boat race but our team said let’s counterpunch right here and we went on a 34-7 run.”