Georgia receiver George Pickens was on display in the “Show-Me” State on Saturday, showing everyone just how much he means to his football team.
Pickens made one sensational catch after another in the No. 9-ranked Bulldogs’ 49-14 win over No. 25-ranked Missouri at Memorial Stadium in Columbia.
Pickens finished with a season-high 126 yards receiving on 5 catches, including two big touchdowns. It’s the second 100-yard game of his career.
The Tigers (5-4) had swung the momentum in their favor in the second quarter by rallying from 14-0 down to tie the game at 14-14 in the second quarter.
That’s when quarterback JT Daniels went to work, leading a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that Pickens capped with a sensational 36-yard catch in the end zone.
Pickens somehow kept tracking the ball and made the basket-style catch, even as there was a defender who had committed pass interference between him and where he ultimately made the reception.
Referees reviewed the catch and saw that, yes, somehow Pickens maintained control of the ball on the incredibly difficult catch.
It was the first of five straight touchdowns for the Bulldogs who closed the game on a 35-0 run.
“The turning point was that last drive (of the first half) when JT Daniels took Georgia down the field and hit Georgia Pickens with the touchdown,” SEC analyst Chris Doering said. “That was the momentum swing they needed.”
Indeed, Georgia out-gained Missouri 359-44 from the start of that second quarter drive through the end of the third quarter.
Pickens opened the scoring in the second half, too, reeling in a 31-yard pass from Daniels, who finished 16 of 27 for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Georgia didn’t throw a pass until its second drive, at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter, when he found Pickens for a 7-yard reception on a second-and-6 for a first down.
