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Missouri running back Nathaniel Peat runs as the Auburn defense closes in on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. Missouri faces Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Missouri running back Nathaniel Peat runs as the Auburn defense closes in on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. Missouri faces Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Before fumbling at the goal line Saturday, Nathaniel Peat carried the ball 20 times for 110 yards. He ran hard, he broke tackles and he, by most accounts, was Missouri’s best offensive player at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The latter will influence Peat’s usage this week against Georgia much more than the former.

“We’re gonna give him the ball again,” Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz said Tuesday. “We’re gonna give him the ball again. That’s what we’re gonna do. Really no more to say about it. He made a mistake. We all learn from it, we all grow from it and we move on. To err is human.”

Against Auburn, for the first time this season, Peat was Missouri’s leading rusher in both carries and yards. He out-carried Cody Schrader, who took the bulk of the carries Week 1, 20 to 7. That progression is likely at least in part because Peat was still recovering from a soft tissue injury, but he appears to be fully healthy now and ready to handle Missouri’s running back workload.

Drinkwitz has full confidence in Peat to bounce back this week, just as he has in Harrison Mevis.

“I’ve stood over many a three-foot putt and yanked it,” Drinkwitz said. “I have 100% confidence in Harrison Mevis. That young man hit a game-winner, 37-yard field goal versus Arkansas in 2020. He had a 54-yarder versus Boston College to tie it up and send it to overtime. He’s got the career record for 50-yard field goals, and one play is never gonna define any one individual.”

Mevis doesn’t believe he needs to change much in his routine after starting his third season 5 for 8. He said he just didn’t hit a clean ball on the would-be game-winner and pushed it.

It remains to be seen how many chances  Missouri will have to kick against Georgia’s defense, but a couple makes from Mevis would go a long way toward easing Missouri fans’ nerves. He doesn’t share those nerves, though.

“You don’t wanna move much as a kicker,” Mevis said. “Some guys do that and they get in trouble with one thing, and (they develop) bad habits, and stuff like that.”

Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker compared one of the Bulldogs’ tight ends, Darnell Washington, to LeBron James. Sounds terrifying for the Tigers, but it’s not as bad as it sounds.

It’s actually worse, because Washington is the second-best tight end on Georgia’s roster.

Brock Bowers is Georgia’s leading receiver as a sophomore, following up a first-team All-SEC campaign as a freshman. He’s also received three handoffs this season and wound up in the end zone all three times, clocking in at 27.3 yards per carry. At 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, ridiculously physical and ridiculously fast for his size, Bowers, who Baker compared to Chiefs superstar Travis Kelce, is proving nearly impossible to stop.

“The way they utilize (Bowers), split him out at receiver and play traditional tight end, where he’s very physical at the point of attack,” Baker said. “And obviously, they give him the ball on the sweeps. They utilize both those guys in a lot of different ways.”

Much of the responsibility in dealing with Washington and Bowers will fall on Missouri’s linebackers, Dameon Wilson and Ty’Ron Hopper, and Star positions, Martez Manuel and Daylan Carnell.

All four will have two big responsibilities: The first is using their size and speed to handle the two monsters in man-to-man coverage; the second is crashing toward the line of scrimmage, hard, when they see a jet sweep for Bowers — or any number of the Bulldogs’ other talented backs and receivers — start to happen.

“I think the Star position really just suits everything about me,” Carnell said. “Being able to cover and being able to be in the box. Like I said, making it simple so I can play fast and be physical.”

As Drinkwitz said he would be, Luther Burden III is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game. Many have called for Missouri to get Burden the ball more and perceive the start to his career as disappointing.

However, as PowerMizzou’s Gabe DeArmond pointed out, it wasn’t as slow a start as people think. Burden is second in the nation among true freshmen in touches, fourth in all-purpose (receiving, rushing, returning) yards and tied for first in touchdowns.

“Let’s not put undue expectations on people,” Drinkwitz said. “Let’s let people grow. Eighteen-year-old people still have maturing to do and growth to do and learning. Let’s just celebrate what they’re doing that’s really good.”

Even if Burden plays this week, it’s important for Missouri fans to keep a few things in mind. One, he’s most likely limited by a lower-body injury. Two, Georgia’s cornerbacks (and everything else) are really good. Three, he’s a true freshman and there is a learning curve involved with getting open and making plays downfield against Power Five competition.

“I thought there was a really good article about (Alabama defensive end Will Anderson),” Drinkwitz said. Anderson was a Heisman Trophy candidate last season. “Working through his pressure to perform and get as many sacks as he did last year. … We’re trying to alleviate pressure, alleviate performance anxiety. And I think the way you do that is to allow people to play free and confident.”

Soble is a sports reporter for the Missourian. Twitter: @jacksoble56

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