The Missouri Tigers' SEC debut against the Georgia Bulldogs didn't go quite as planned, and one interesting figure that was apparent by game's end was the lack of a running game. It's not that the Tigers' running backs were ineffective in a 41-20 loss, either. Backs Marcus Murphy and Kendial Lawrence just didn't get many opportunities for whatever reason.
The guesses are aplenty at Rock M Nation. From Bill Connelly:
Perhaps it was because they thought they could be more effective keeping the running backs lined up as wideouts and spreading the defense out? Perhaps it was simply that they didn't think their patchwork offensive line could open up running lanes? Regardless, the two ended up actually doing well on a per-carry basis -- Murphy had six for 43, Lawrence eight for 41 -- though much of that came when Georgia had already opened up a fourth-quarter lead.
Overall, the Tigers put up 102 yards on 39 carries, 20 of which were by quarterback James Franklin. Missouri threw the ball 41 times, making the run-pass ratio pretty even.
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