COLUMBIA, Mo. — Georgia linebacker D’Andre Walker doubled the Bulldogs’ previous season sack total in the first half at Missouri, but the senior was far from satisfied Saturday afternoon.
Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) scored a 43-29 victory over the Tigers (3-01, 0-1) at Memorial Stadium, holding celebrated Missouri quarterback Drew Lock in check as the senior signal-caller went 23-of-48 passing for 221 yards with no passing touchdowns and an interception.
The Bulldogs broke what had been a string of 13 straight games where Lock had thrown a touchdown pass, dating back to a loss to Purdue last season.
Walker, however, was more concerned with Lock’s 11-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“It’s bad on our end,” Walker said, asked about holding Lock without a touchdown pass, “because we should have never let someone run in to score on our defense.”
It would be hard to blame Walker, who forced Lock to fumble on both of his sacks, the first one recovered by cornerback Deandre Baker.
“I think you guys gave me all the motivation in the world when you asked if Georgia can get any pressure on him,” Walker said, referring to a DawgNation story that pointed out the Bulldogs entered the game last in the nation with just 0.33 sacks per contest.
“That was my mindset, they said they haven’t had any sacks, so might as well get the ball from him, too.”
Walked had four tackles, two sacks, two tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry.
“We knew we were facing a great quarterback,” Walker said, “and we had to apply the pressure.”
Walker, one of five senior starters, said he was most proud of how his young teammates responded in what became a very physical football game.
“We had a lot of guys go down,” Walker said, “and a lot of young guys that had to step up and play. Everyone has confidence every time we step on the field, and this builds more momentum from here on out.”
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