‘You’ve got to strike people and be physical’ to stop the rushing yards, Smart says

As Georgia walked back to the visitor’s locker room at Missouri’s Faurot Field, the emotions weren’t what you’d expect after a double-digit road victory.

Heads drooped and smiles were minimal. Georgia topped Missouri 43-29 and improved to 2-0 in the conference, but it fell short of its standard.

Missouri collected 172 rushing yards and scored four rushing touchdowns in the red zone.

The Bulldogs came out flat and weren’t ready for the running in a pass-dominant offense. It started when Missouri running back Larry Rountree III dragged a mob of Georgia defenders for seven yards to the end zone.

“It definitely felt like a loss,” said Georgia inside linebacker Natrez Patrick, who collected three tackles in the victory and isn’t satisfied with his individual performances through four games. “Guys on the defense weren’t proud of the performance or excited about what happened. We were ready to get after it this week.”

As Georgia headed back to Athens and began to prepare for Tennessee (2-2, 0-1 SEC), the vibe was slightly different on the practice field. Bulldogs’ head coach Kirby Smart was on his usual prowl across the defensive practice field, working with outside linebackers coach Dan Lanning and freshman Brenton Cox.

But the yells were slightly louder and the urgency was a touch higher. Georgia knows what it has to get fixed, even if it’s for what lies ahead on the schedule — LSU, Auburn and Kentucky, the surprise of the SEC East with Heisman hopeful Benny Snell.

“A lot of (the rushing yards) had to do with unwillingness to strike people,” Smart said. “If you don’t strike people, you won’t stop the run in our league. You will not stop the run in our league. So you’ve got to strike people and be physical up front in order to do it.”

After facing two consecutive spread offenses (158 rushing yards allowed against Middle Tennessee), Georgia will face what it’s used to in a pro-style offense in Tennessee. The Volunteers’ approach is to pound their run game — similar to Georgia’s, although not to the same success. Tennessee’s offense ranks 79th nationally.

Tennessee running back Ty Chandler will lead a rushing offense that averages 205 yards per game, but the run-first mentality could play to Georgia’s advantage.

Though it has been deficient in recent weeks, for the season, the Bulldogs rank 33rd nationally by allowing an average of 118.75 yards per game. In its run to the title game in 2017, Georgia allowed 126 yards per game.

Now, more familiarity comes for the remainder of the season.

“It makes it pretty easy,” Georgia defensive lineman David Marshall said. “Because most SEC teams have the same style of offense.”

When the Bulldogs kick off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, a level of excitement will be reborn. They’ll be back in front of a home crowd and with a defensive reinforcement. Inside linebacker Monty Rice missed the Missouri game with a re-aggravation of an MCL injury but is likely to return against Tennessee.

Georgia doesn’t envision the same somber feeling as it walks off of the Sanford Stadium turf.

“It is something we pride ourselves on, and it’s our No. 1 priority,” Patrick said. “This feeds fuel to the fire. We have a chip on our shoulder.”