Five things to know for Georgia football vs. Missouri Tigers in SEC Saturday night matchup

Georgia football visits Missouri for an SEC East matchup Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Here are five things to know ahead of the game:

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Georgia Bulldogs looking for a crisper outing

Georgia’s lackluster showing against Kent State — viewed against the prism of a dominant first three victories — came without being dealt a dent on its won-loss record.

This was not nearly as close a call as Nicholls State in 2016. It wasn’t a Vanderbilt stunner that same season or a South Carolina upset in 2019.

Georgia didn’t come close to covering the 44 1/2-point spread, but coach Kirby Smart has taken pains to say the Bulldogs still had a pretty good day in some respects in the 39-22 victory when he was asked this week about the play of the offensive guards.

“If you had 500 yards of offense, it's hard to say you played poorly,” he said. “I always want to play better. There's not a guy out there - it's not the guards. You can point a finger at the quarterback, the center, the guard, the tackles, the receivers. Everybody can play better, and we can coach better, too, as coaches."

Georgia had two fumbles by Ladd McConkey, Stetson Bennett’s first interception of the season and the second fake punt of the year against the Bulldogs.

“When they call third down punt alert, we’re all ready to go out there on the field, ready to go execute for that drive,” said running back Kenny McIntosh, who left Saturday's game early with a quadriceps injury. “When that punt fake happens…we just have to sit back down and let the defense go back out there and get another stop.”

Status report for key Georgia football players

Two starters for Georgia could be missing and another still limited for the Missouri game.

Wide receiver AD Mitchell could miss his third straight game with a sprained ankle after sustaining the injury early in a week two game against Samford.

Javon Bullard, the starter at the “Star” nickel back spot, may be suspended after he was arrested for DUI and six other misdemeanors early Sunday. Smart on Wednesday left it still as an issue “that will be handled internally.”

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter who has played sparingly the last two weeks with an ankle injury practiced this week “and is taking more volume,” Smart said. “He’s rotating with the guys at defensive line and looks much better this week.”

There is good news for Georgia at wide receiver where Arian Smith could be back sooner than later after having surgery in the preseason for a high ankle sprain.

“Arian more than AD [has practiced], but we're still hopeful on both,” Smart said.

Tykee Smith, who did not play last week, safety Chris Smith and cornerback Kamari Lassiter could slide in for Bullard at the “Star.”

“I feel a good amount of people are prepared to fill in if that is the case,” cornerback Kelee Ringo said.

Georgia’s defense was hurt with passes on the perimeter against Kent State including on a 56-yard touchdown pass play.

Kent State had 157 of its 188 receiving yards after the catch.

Missouri Tigers WR Luther Burden one that got away

Last October, Missouri won a major recruiting victory when Luther Burden tossed aside Georgia and Alabama hats and picked up a Tigers one when he decided to stay in his home state.

The five-star wide receiver signee already has become the seventh Missouri player in history to have a receiving, rushing and punt return touchdown in the same season.

He has 10 catches for 78 yards this season, but is questionable for Saturday, according to coach Eliah Drinkwitz. Burden sustained an injury—the nature of which was undisclosed—in the first quarter of the loss to Auburn last Saturday.

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“Really proud of the toughness he showed in the third and fourth quarter trying to give it a go and doing what he could for our team,” Drinkwtiz said. “In fact, he was not supposed to do anything but fair catch the punts. But in that fourth quarter, he was trying to provide a spark and decided to return that one. But our priority is getting him healthy and doing the very best we can for him. So, I look forward to working with him all week to try to get him back.”

The 5-foot-11, 208-pound East St. Louis native was the nation’s No. 1 rated wide receiver and No. 3 player overall by the 247Sports Composite.

“He's strong, he's physical,” Smart said. “You watch him as a returner, you know, he makes people miss. They find ways to get him touches. He catches the ball out of the backfield, speed sweeps. He runs deep. And he returns the ball. He's a very elusive, physical runner. You can tell when people go to tackle him, you can tell, he's stout.”

Ringo said he’s watched Burden footage this season and from high school.

“He’s a pretty good player, has pretty good size,” Ringo said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Red zone woes for Georgia football

Jack Podlesny is tied for fifth in the nation in most field goals per game. He is 8 of 9 through four games.

All but one of them have come with the Bulldogs in the red zone including 3 times last week.

Georgia is 66th in the nation in red zone touchdown percentage at 65.4 after getting TDs on just 3 of 6 trips when it reached the 20 against Kent State.

“I hate that we have had to kick as many as we've had,” Smart said. “That's been the Achilles heel of our offense. You may not punt, but we kick a lot of field goals.

Stetson Bennett was sacked on a third down before the first field goal. Daijun Edwards gained 2 and 3 yards after Georgia got to the 19 before an incompletion on the second field goal.

"It goes back a little bit to the run game,” Smart said. “When the field tightens up and shrinks, that's where the run game is more glaring because the boxes, they’re tighter to the box. There are less people in the deep parts of the field, and they are in your front yard. You gotta block them and run through them. Some of them are just misses.”

Another Podlesny field goal came after a personal foul penalty. Kendall Milton gained 3 yards on first down and the Bulldogs couldn’t salvage the drive with unfavorable down and distances.

“We have to do a better job,” Smart said. “We've looked at it really hard. First down run percentage, second down run percentage. Third down conversions in the red area are critical because they get you a new set of downs. We've been there a lot, but we haven't converted as much as we need to. If it all had to boil down to one thing, I would say accuracy in the passing game, and then being effective at running the ball into heavy boxes."

Explosive runs wanted for Georgia Bulldogs RBs

Brock Bowers has 3 carries and 3 touchdowns this season including a 75-yarder last week that is easily Georgia’s longest run of the season.

Milton has the longest gain by a running back on the ground this season of 27 yards.

The Bulldogs had 11 runs of 30 or more yards last season, according to cfbstats.com.

McIntosh said getting longer runs “has to come with patience. …Being patient running the ball through the holes. We’ve been having decent runs, just haven’t been able to finish it,” by “getting downhill vertically.”

But, he said, “It’s going to come, definitely,” McIntosh said.

Georgia could turn more to 5-foot-10, 220-pound freshman Branson Robinson who had just three carries against Kent State. He has 67 yards rushing on 14 carries this season.

“Branson, we've got to keep trying to bring him along and get him ready,” Smart said. “Because he's got a physical skill set that we need.”

Missouri is 30th in the nation in rushing yards per attempt allowed at 3.17 and limited Auburn to 1.8 yards per carry.

"They're really physical and big up front,” Smart said. “They did a good job of stopping the run last year versus us. Their size up front, athleticism up front, is really aggressive. They played Auburn really aggressive in term of the box count they were in. Some of the run stunts they run are some of the ones we run. They're getting after it and challenging you to do something outside of that. They don't have to have that many and they can still stop the run because they're physical up front.”

Georgia rushed for 168 yards on 33 carries in a 43-6 rout of Missouri last season.

“ If you just watch our game last year, a lot of the same people are playing in both sides,” Smart said. “I feel like Missouri has always been massive and one of the most physical fronts we play against."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football vs. Missouri Tigers five things to know about the game