How Two "Huge" Interceptions and A Big Man Ended Missouri's SEC Title Hopes
With eight minutes and 59 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Georgia kicker Jared Zirkel bent down, placed a football on a small black tee and backed up about 10 yards behind him.
To his right, five Bulldogs dressed in Georgia's signature red — matching the entire home crowd, nearly 100,000 people strong — stood ready for the ensuing kickoff.
To his left? The same.
Five more Georgia players waited in a line for Zirkel to take his wind up steps and boot the ball into the end zone, which would prevent the Missouri Tigers from making a kickoff return midway through the final period of play. The Bulldogs had a six-point lead, and the stadium was more alive than at any previous point Saturday.
In that moment, those 11 players were the most important in the world for the onlooking fans at Sanford Stadium. In just three plays, however, the most important player in the world will be a 6-foot-3, 320-pound senior defensive lineman named Nazir Stackhouse. The Bulldogs just didn't know it yet.
After Zirkel's kick accomplished its goal, Georgia's pride and joy — it's defensive unit — took the field to face a motivated Brady Cook-led Tigers offense.
First down.
Cook looked, fired and found Luther Burden III — the sophomore receiver who had already found the end zone once that day — for a quick gain of seven yards.
Second down.
Cook turned and handed the ball off to Cody Schrader. The senior running back, who'd been nothing but a spark plug for Missouri all season, did the rest.
"What else can you say about Cody Schrader?" Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said following the Tigers' 30-21 defeat. "112 yards rushing, I mean, unbelievable. He's just a fighter and a heck of a player."
Schrader did what he'd done all season on that play, turning a quick handoff into a first-down gain after finding a gap to give the Tigers a short field at the 50-yard line.
First down. Again.
Cook fake a handoff to Mekhi Miller and rolled to his right. He scanned the field, didn't see anyone open, so he stopped and looked to his left. A pair of Georgia defenders closed in on him as he began to feel the pressure, so he did what any quarterback would to ward off unwanted defensive attention: throw the ball, just extremely short and off balance.
Interception.
Cook's pass found its way right into the hands of a blitzing Stackhouse as the senior recorded his first caught takeaway of his collegiate career. It's a new experience for him, but he didn't skip a beat. Stackhouse booked it for the end zone, and almost scored.
"You gotta give me some type of credit," he said of the play postgame. "My chest started to stick out, my stomach started to stick out. It's hard to pick up your knees when you got all that meat right there."
Nov 4, 2023; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse (78) reacts and wears the turnover shoulder pads after intercepting a pass against the Missouri Tigers during the second half at Sanford Stadium.
© Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
The interception ended an all-too-quick, three-play drive for the Tigers, which couldn't have turned out any worse, especially only down six with a chance to take back the lead. And to add insult to injury, not only did Stackhouse's takeaway end Missouri's drive, but its SEC East hopes, too.
"[That play was] huge," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said following his team's victory. "Biggest play of the game. It was slow motion ... he just took it out and knew he was going to score, and he didn't realize how far he had to run. He was out of breath about half way."
Out of breath or not, Stackhouse made it happen for the Bulldogs. He took advantage of a Missouri miscue and used it to help give his team the ball back, which it turned into three more points on the other end.
Then, it was the Tigers' turn again — and things didn't get better.
With a nine-point deficit pushing it against the wall, Missouri once again sent out its offense to try and generate points. The Tigers knew they'd need to score twice, so they did their best to get down the field quickly, but that only ended with a similar result.
On the 10th play of a two-minute drive, a very overthrown ball from Cook landed right in the hands of Javon Bullard. As soon as he came down with it, Missouri's fate was settled.
Yes, the Tigers did have a minuscule chance to mount a miraculous comeback, but that was before their second straight turnover. After that, their conference title hopes were really extinguished.
But even still, Drinkwitz didn't blame his quarterback.
"[Brady] got us to the fourth quarter," he said. "Obviously, that was very tough. He [was] gritty just like he always is, and I know he's gonna beat himself up, but he doesn't need to. That's what happens when you play quarterback and go on the road.
"He did everything he could to give us a chance to win. Obviously, we gotta see what happened on the turnovers, but [I'm] not disappointed at all."
Drinkwitz might not be disappointed in his quarterback — and the rest of his team would likely tell you that same thing — but that didn't make the Tigers' loss any less painful.
For the second straight year, Missouri stood up to the Bulldogs. The top team in the SEC East — and to most, the country. The Tigers looked Kirby Smart's squad in the eyes and didn't waiver, but they still couldn't finish with the win, at home or on the road.
"There's a lot of hurt guys in that [locker] room," Drinkwitz said. "We put a lot into this one, and we knew it would be a four-quarter fight. [It's] just disappointing to be so close, but so far away at the same time."
But even if the Tigers are in fact "far away" from being in the same boat as the reigning two-time champions, their development this season proved that they're equally as far from the bottom they'd gotten all-too used to over the last few seasons.
In other words, Missouri isn't done fighting just yet.
"There's still a lot of football left," Drinkwitz said. "There's still a lot of football to play and, we've got three tough football teams left. Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We have to pick ourselves up and get back to work."
So, with a bit of added motivation stemming from a second year of heartbreak at the hands of Georgia, the Tigers will do just that.
And when Tennessee Volunteers kicker Josh Turbyvill bends down, places a football on a small black tee and backs up about 10 yards behind him, they'll be out to prove it.
As Turbyvill looks to his right, he'll see five of his own teammates patiently waiting for him to take his wind up steps and boot the ball into the end zone. Same on his left.
But as he looks forward, he'll see 11 Missouri Tigers locked in, motivated and ready to put in work in front of a packed Faurot Field.
And at that moment in time, they'll be the most important players in the world.
