ATHENS — Missouri coach Barry Odom said he knew his team would be challenged in some areas, but not to the extent they turned out to be Saturday night.

“[Georgia] is better up close and in person,” Odom said. “I knew they were good, but I think they’re a little bit better than they may get credit for nationally. Georgia is as good and as solid as a team as I’ve gone against in a long time.”

The No. 6-ranked Bulldogs beat the Tigers 27-0 on Saturday night — the first time Missouri was shut out dating back to a 34-0 loss to the Bulldogs in 2014.

Odom explained the decision not to play Kelly Bryant, who was named a game captain but didn’t take a snap at Georgia after suffering a hamstring injury in an Oct. 26 loss at Kentucky.

“Kelly’s such a great kid and a tremendous competitor, (and) he wanted to play and felt like that he could,” said Odom, who on Wednesday projected Bryant to be in the lineup against the Bulldogs. “But the percentage of being able to run and function and do the things that you need to at that position— I don’t know that it would have been wise to put him out there.”

Missouri backup Taylor Powell was 10-of-22 passing for 84 yards with an interception, sacked twice by the Georgia defense.

“I thought we did a lot of things good,” Powell said, “but it seemed like every time we got a drive going something would happen.”

Most notably, Georgia safety Richard LeCounte had an interception and 71-yard return in the second quarter that flipped what little momentum Missouri could get going on offense.

It was Georgia’s sixth straight win over the Tigers, the Bulldogs leading the all-time series 8-1.

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