"Hell Month" has begun, and Missouri feels like its in hell right now.
Head coach Calvin Smith has tried to motivate his guys to be ready for the start of this period of four straight ranked opponents through the month of October.
"Welcome to hell," he said. "Population: Missouri Tigers."
It was a field day for No. 14 Georgia (4-2, 3-2) on Saturday, led by Todd Gurley's 220-yard, two-touchdown performance with the Bulldogs cruising to a 38-24 victory over the Tigers (3-3, 1-2).
Add that with James Franklin throwing five interceptions during the worst game of the season thus far for Mizzou, and it was an all-around bad day on both sides of the ball. The Tigers gained more yardage than their opponent once again (456-394), but every interception by Franklin resulted in points for Georgia.
"I'm disgusted with myself," Franklin said. "To have the season like I've had and to throw it all away with a game like that is absolutely pitiful. We had the chance to hang tough with a good team, and I screwed it up. Simple as that."
Franklin completed 20-of-36 passes for 299 yards, but the majority of those yards came late in the game with the Tigers attempting a furious comeback down 21 points. Dorial Green-Beckham had another solid outing with nine catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns, but he was quiet for the majority of the first half with only three catches.
The 105 yards is the lowest output of the season for DGB, who continues to climb the nation's leaderboard in each receiving category and make a case for the Biletnikoff Award.
Despite a rough day for Franklin, Mizzou found its groove in the running game with Henry Josey rushing for 137 yards on 25 carries. The Tigers have struggled over the last few games running the ball with Josey, but Mizzou's offensive line did well in making running lanes.
"He's not the fastest, but he's one of the smartest," Smith said about his running back. "He knows when things are coming to him and how effective he can be when he's patient. When he's on, we're just as good of a football team."
Meanwhile, in terms of the Bulldogs' dominant running game, the hype surrounding Aaron Murray quickly shifted over to Gurley with his breakaway speed and prowess to find the endzone. The SEC's fourth leading rusher is up to 638 yards on 36 carries less than the conference's leader, Jeff Scott of Ole Miss.
Murray played well, going 15-of-20 for 188 yards, but the sophomore Gurley stole the show with the highest output from an SEC running back this season.
"That kid has wheels," Franklin said. "Just watching him from the sidelines, it was insane to realize he's a sophomore. He may be 6-1 and weighs 232, but he's got speed on him."
And now, it's time to hit the road for "Hell Month" when the Tigers travel to Gainesville, Fla. to take on No. 12 Florida. The good news for Mizzou? The Gators are banged up, and in an important way.
Florida will be without quarterback Jeff Driskel for the next two weeks with an abdominal tear, left guard Max Garcia with a broken wrist and sophomore defensive end Jonathan Bullard is out with a dislocated ankle.
Driskel suffered that abdominal tear on Nov. 28 in a 31-28 win over Kentucky. Junior quarterback Tyler Murphy started the last two games for the Gators in a 34-6 win over Arkansas, and a 31-26 loss to LSU.
"No matter who's at quarterback, we need to come out ready to roll," Smith said. "We need to somehow win. That's all.
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