Larry Thornton: Thoughts on Mizzou's loss to Georgia

TJ Moe said it best after his Tigers fell to Georgia on Saturday night, “It was set up to be something special.” Where he was wrong was when he finished the comment by saying, “We didn’t do our part.”

Sure the Tigers blew a third quarter lead and ending up losing by 21 to Georgia, but saying they didn’t do their part is incorrect.

Now, let’s not get it twisted. I am not sitting here saying that our Tigers deserve credit for trying their hardest against an SEC team and that they deserve credit for competing. No how, no way. This is not an ‘everyone gets an effort trophy’ column.

I do, however, believe the team deserves a little bit of credit. I don’t care if Georgia is in the SEC, or if they are in the A-10, they are a really good football team and Missouri showed they have the talent to line up toe to toe with the nation’s elite teams and have a chance to win.

Yes, the final score was a 21 point differential, but that was largely created by self inflicted wounds that had little to do with who they were playing. The bad news is, those points still count. The good news is, they can also be corrected. And when the mistakes come from one of the best players on the team in James Franklin, you feel confident they will be corrected.

The defense looked better than any defense I have seen at Missouri in recent history. They were tough, they were strong and they were fast. Yes, Georgia made some big plays. But guess what, Georgia is pretty damned good; they are going to make plays.

To read more, check out Larry's blog at 101sports.com