Missouri’s defense prepares for challenge of facing Georgia’s Todd Gurley

Missouri has allowed an opposing running back to top 100 yards in four of five games this season.

Next, the 23rd-ranked Tigers face No. 13 Georgia, which is led by junior running back Todd Gurley, arguably the best running back in the country, at 11 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium. It’s a matchup of 4-1 teams with hefty implications for the SEC East division race.

So what’s the plan?

“You’ve made that a very depressing-type question,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said during Monday’s news conference. “Golly.”

Gurley is the early favorite to win the Heisman Trophy among many oddsmakers.

He ranks third in the nation in rushing yards per game (154.6) behind Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon and Indiana’s Tevin Coleman, who rushed for 132 yards and added 57 receiving yards Sept. 20 in the Hoosiers’ upset win against the Tigers.

Missouri sophomore linebacker Michael Scherer said he expects Gurley to be an even tougher challenge, saying he’s the best running back he’s watched on film.

“Nobody’s even close,” said Scherer, who is second in the SEC with 50 tackles this season. “He’s a big guy, great back and just a freak athlete. He can do whatever he wants — jump over people, stiff arm you, run around you, run through you. You’ve got to stand him up and tackle him.”

Of course, that’s easier said than done.

Through five games, Gurley, who sat out last season's Missouri win at Georgia with an ankle injury, has 773 yards in 94 carries (8.22 average) with eight touchdowns and 27 runs of at least 10 yards. Only Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah has more such runs (29), but he’s also played an extra game.

“He’s a bigger back and he’s got size and great speed,” Pinkel said. “It’s a combination of everything. I have not seen everybody play in the country, but I can’t imagine another back being better than he is.”

Game-planning to stop Gurley, who had 10 carries for 65 yards with a touchdown against the Tigers in 2012, is keeping Missouri defensive coordinator Dave Steckel from getting much rest this week.

“Everything keeps me up every week, but this week the problems are different than other weeks,” Steckel said. “He’s an inside runner, but he’s also fantastic bouncing and taking off with speed. Todd Gurley, I can’t say enough about him. I think he’s a phenomenal football player.”

Defensive end Markus Golden pointed out that the Tigers counter with some good players, too, and won’t shy away from the challenge of slowing down Gurley.

“Todd Gurley’s a good player, but I’m also a good player,” Golden said. “We’ve got a lot of good players. Shane (Ray) is a good player. Harold Brantley, Kentrell Brothers, Mike Scherer — we’ve got a lot of good players on our defense. No one player is going to beat us in a game.

“We’ve got to listen to coach Stec, and everybody’s got to run to the ball, but we aren’t going to change anything up. We’ve got a lot of confidence in ourselves and we’re going to keep doing what we always do, and that’s play hard.”

Gap integrity and tackling have been Missouri’s bugaboos at times during the first five games, but experience has allowed the Tigers to shore up those missed assignments, and some live tackling drills during the last two weeks helped ensure better tackling.

“It comes down to everyone on the defense running to the ball and getting a hand on him, getting pads on him and getting him down,” Scherer said. “ … We tackled at practice. We went live against the scout team on Saturday, and I think it’s going to help a lot.”

This story was originally published October 8, 2014 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Missouri’s defense prepares for challenge of facing Georgia’s Todd Gurley."