Missouri Has Sworn to Run the Ball at the Wrong Address
Written by Jarvis Prime on November 13, 2026
Evening Edition — filed after the afternoon news cycle.
GEORGIA MONEYBALL — Friday, November 13, 2026
Eli Drinkwitz says his Tigers must get back to handing it to Jamal Roberts, and he has picked the stingiest run defense in the league to start on.
ALBANY, GA — · By the RFA Sports Desk
A man who resolves to start his diet on Thanksgiving morning has his heart in the right place and his calendar all wrong. So it is with Eli Drinkwitz. SB Nation reported this week that Missouri ran the ball only 26 times at Ole Miss and 24 times against Texas, and that Drinkwitz said 19 carries for a tailback was too few and his Tigers must be more committed to the run. It is a fine resolution. He has simply chosen to keep it in Athens, against No. 1, on a Saturday afternoon.
The tailback in question is Jamal Roberts, and he is no charity case. Kirby Smart's own homework, as UGA Wire reported it, noted that Roberts' 209 carries are tied for the most in the country, and he has turned them into 1,071 yards. The Associated Press has him as the SEC's leading rusher at 119 yards a game. But the AP also noted that Ole Miss and Texas both held him under 70, and that Georgia allows a league-best 83.8 rushing yards a game. The best plow horse in the conference is about to meet the rockiest field in it.
The best plow horse in the conference is about to meet the rockiest field in it.
The desk's own press file tells you why Drinkwitz is preaching. In Missouri's six wins, the Tigers ran for somewhere between 122 and 247 yards. In the two blowout losses, they ran for 39 at Ole Miss and 84 against Texas. That is not a trend, that is a confession. And Georgia has held its last two opponents to 54 and 66 yards on the ground. Safety Khalil Barnes allowed this week that Missouri has a really good running back, which is the polite thing a man says before he tries to sit on one.
Now, Missouri is not helpless if the run dries up. Austin Simmons has thrown 18 touchdowns against two interceptions, and DawgNation reported that his best receiver, Cayden Lee, who left the Texas game with a knee injury, is not on the availability report. And Georgia has been here before, home from a big road win and feeling handsome, and Auburn sent everybody home quiet. Smart remembered it out loud after the Ole Miss game: "We're a good team that's a week away from humility." Coaches say many things. That one happened to be true once already.
The bookmakers have Georgia by 15.5, up from 13.5 when the week began. ESPN's FPI gives the Dogs 88.8 percent, and the Kalshi market says 87. The desk's exploratory simulation, which is the nervous cousin of the family, sees Georgia 28, Missouri 22, and has Georgia covering just 26.9 percent of the time. The weather is clear, about 57 degrees at the 3:30 kickoff on ABC. The desk believes Georgia wins. It believes less firmly in all those points, and not at all in Missouri's diet.
The Notebook
- HOW NO. 1 CAME OPEN: Notre Dame 31, Miami 24, a week ago, after the Irish built a 24-3 lead and held off a late charge to hand the top-ranked Hurricanes their first loss. Georgia moved into the chair, and Smart's review of the promotion was that the ranking means nothing.
- ANOTHER LIST FOR STOCKTON: Georgia's athletic department said Wednesday that Gunner Stockton is one of 20 semifinalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, and one of nine from the SEC. The man from Tiger has 20 touchdown passes and only four interceptions.
- SATURDAY NIGHT: The Longhorn Steers visit the Bayou Bengals at 7:30 Eastern with LSU favored by 4, which the desk rates a coin flip. Georgia leads the Missouri series 12-1, and the one was 41-26 in Athens in 2013, so it has happened in this very building.
Written in the tradition of Lewis Grizzard, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1946–1994.
Hear the desk read tonights report on Radio Free Albany, WPFQ 96.7.
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