'The Kid' Jacob Eason leads Georgia on 80-yard drive in comeback win over Missouri

“The Kid” is already growing up.

He’s sure to have his share of struggles throughout the remainder of his true freshman season. He’s sure to have moments that don’t live up to leading his team on a game-winning 80-yard drive.

But what Jacob Eason displayed in Saturday’s 28-27 win over Missouri is that he’s ready for the big stage many anticipated he would step on soon after arriving to Georgia.

“I’m impressed but I see it every day in practice,” running back Nick Chubb said. “ ‘The kid’ has a bright future.”

With Georgia’s running game stifled, head coach Kirby Smart and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney put the ball in Eason’s hands. Eason went on to complete 29-of-55 passes for 308 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Having to start at Georgia’s 20-yard line and down 27-21 with 3:32 left to play in the game, Eason found tight end Jeb Blazevich for a 17-yard gain. On third-and-10 a few plays later, Eason put up a pass that may have been a touchdown to Reggie Davis, but Davis was pushed to the ground and pass interference was called.

After Sony Michel picked up a 15-yard gain, Eason misfired on three consecutive passes. Facing a fourth-and-10, however, Eason didn’t panic. With Missouri bringing pressure, Eason threw the ball up to receiver Isaiah McKenzie, who leaped in the air and came down with a 20-yard touchdown reception to win the game.

“He keeps his composure,” McKenzie said. “He encourages us in the huddle. In those situations, you wouldn’t expect that from a freshman. For him to come in and do what he does, I love it.”

Eason appears to be Georgia’s starting quarterback moving forward. He has had two consecutive starts following senior Greyson Lambert’s start against North Carolina.

Smart, however, didn’t want to touch the topic and elected not to say whether Eason's the definite top quarterback from here on out.

“I’ll be honest with you, y’all want to make it a controversy. I want to talk about how hard these guys compete,” Smart said. “I want to talk about how Greyson Lambert helped Jacob on the sideline. I want to talk about all the good things about this win. I don’t want to talk about a quarterback competition.”

Eason, like any true freshman quarterback, had some mistakes during the game. The biggest one came early in the third quarter when he threw an interception to safety Cam Hilton, who read where Eason was going to throw the ball before making a break on it.

Missouri was able to score a touchdown on the next play.

Eason still has to get Georgia in and out of the huddle in a timely manner. He also has to work on placing his eyes in the right places when going through his reads.

If Eason performed poorly, Smart said going with Lambert was an option.

That situation never arose. Eason started, played throughout and was a big reason why Georgia came away with a win.

“He’s unbelievable,” left tackle Tyler Catalina said. “The amount of poise he had on that last drive was incredible for a true freshman. He took control of the pocket. He knew what he was doing. He executed.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2016 at 1:59 AM with the headline "'The Kid' Jacob Eason leads Georgia on 80-yard drive in comeback win over Missouri."