Members of the Georgia football team celebrate with fans after they beat Missouri 34-0 in their game, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014, in Columbia, Mo.Georgia's defense under first-year coordinator Jeremy Pruitt had a performance for the ages in Saturday's 34-0 skunking of No. 23 Missouri.
The No. 13 Bulldogs, for the first time in program history, shut out a ranked team on its home field. Georgia blanked No. 20 Florida 44-0 at Jacksonville in 1982 and also shut out No. 18 Missouri 14-0 in the 1960 Orange Bowl.
"Coach Pruitt does not like people scoring on him," Bulldogs junior outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said during postgame interviews. "He was ecstatic, telling everybody that they played a great game. It's definitely a great feeling knowing that you've shut an SEC team out."
This was Georgia's second shutout this season, the Bulldogs having routed Troy 66-0 last month.
Georgia held Missouri to 76 first-half yards and collected five turnovers, including four interceptions. Sophomore Quincy Mauger had two interceptions for the Bulldogs, while senior Damian Swann and freshman Dominick Sanders each had one.
"I thought we played really well up front," coach Mark Richt said in his news conference. "I thought we pressured at the right times, and when we did pressure, our DBs stuck to their receivers."
Six members of the secondary have combined for Georgia's eight interceptions this season. The Bulldogs had just seven interceptions all of last year.
Keeping in touch
Though junior tailback Todd Gurley was suspended for Saturday's game and did not make the trip, he was able to keep in touch with coaches and teammates. Richt said he exchanged text messages with Gurley on Friday night.
Gurley spoke with his teammates before the game game via Skype on linebacker Amarlo Herrera's phone.
"I love Todd," Richt said. "We all love Todd."
Richt said he would not make any predictions about when or if Gurley would return to the team. ESPN's Darren Rovell reported Saturday evening that Georgia has paid more than $75,000 in insurance premiums for Gurley.
Mauk's rough day
Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk completed 9 of 21 passes for just 97 yards and suffered the four interceptions. He was also responsible for losing a fumble.
Tigers coach Gary Pinkel was asked after the game why he didn't pull his sophomore starter and said, "because I didn't want to."
Pinkel has directed the Tigers to four seasons of at least 10 wins, including last season's 12-2 finish, but he also has suffered four losing years. Missouri played Saturday like a team potentially headed for trouble.
"I've been here before," Pinkel said. "It's not a lot of fun."
Back on track
Junior kicker Marshall Morgan made a season-long 47-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to put the Bulldogs up 3-0 and added a 29-yarder later in the period.
Morgan set an SEC record last month at South Carolina by making 20 consecutive successful field-goal attempts but missed his final two kicks against the Gamecocks. He has made four straight since and is 7-of-9 for the season.
Odds and ends
Nick Chubb's 38 carries were the most by a Georgia player since Verron Haynes had 39 during a 2001 win at Georgia Tech. ... Georgia's 58 rushes overall were the most in the Richt era. ... The Bulldogs have a plus-9 in turnover ratio this season after getting four interceptions in a game for the first time since whipping Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl after the 2007 season. ... Sophomore Brendan Langley, who was a reserve receiver early last month, started at cornerback for the first time this season and for the fifth time in his career. ... Redshirt junior receiver Justin Scott-Wesley played for the first time since tearing his ACL in last year's win at Tennessee.