Cocktail Thursday: Missouri Edition.

If your Georgia Bulldogs are nursing a rare two game losing streak and you're not at all sure that it's about to end, you could probably use a drink. Allow me to help.

It's really amazing when you get right down to it. Mark Richt-coached Georgia teams have lost back-to-back games 10 times in 15 seasons. But they've lost 3 or more in a row only once, a disastrous 4 game slide in 2010 tha started with a 17-6 loss at South Carolina and culminated with an embarrassing defeat at Colorado in A.J. Green's first game back from suspension for selling his own property for a fair price on the free market. But I digress.

The point is, when Georgia hosts Missouri this weekend the 'Dawgs will be treading on the border of territory which they have not trod since the darkest days of the Richt era. If this one goes in the "L" column things may get ugly around Athens going into the bye week.

I mentioned this on the podcast earlier this week, but it bears repeating. There comes a point in almost every football team's life (and a football team is very much an organic thing, as anyone who's been a part of one can attest) when it simply refuses to be pushed around anymore. When it has a moment akin to Ralphie from A Christmas Story snapping and beating the uncharted hell out of a shocked Scott Farkus. For Tennessee that moment came last week. Believe me, the Vols are going to drop some more football games this season. But last week they'd had enough and it showed.

My hope is that the Georgia Bulldogs have that moment this weekend (though I'd settle for a close, ugly win followed by a breakout in Jacksonville). My sense is that this is a Georgia football team which is still struggling to find an offensive identity, behind a quarterback doing the same. It features a good bit of youth on defense, a unit which really misses vocal leaders like Amarlo Herrera, Ray Drew, and Damian Swann. This group will improve, so long as they don't give up on this season. If they do, then Georgia fans will justifiably ask some very tough questions of their head coach and athletic director. Because there are issues on this team, but not the kind of issues that you would expect to lead to a 3 game SEC losing streak, especially not against the likes of struggling Tennessee and Missouri squads.

These are not things that haven't already been said by others. But again, they bear repeating. The story of this football team remains incomplete. If the blanks are filled in with victories over Missouri, Florida, Kentucky, Auburn, and Georgia Tech then Georgia fans will once again go into next season with hope. Hope that an experienced backfield with a healthy Nick Chubb can combine with a newly experienced (and more deeply talented) defense to give the Bulldogs a chance to finally get over the hump.

I could suggest something for you to drink this weekend. But I suspect this is one of those weekends on which you all should be left to your own devices. Because we're in a general disagreement over whether the glass is even half full or half empty. Much less what we should pour into it. So share with us your potent potable plans for the weekend, or an old favorite. It's drinker's choice here at Dawg Sports.

This will also be the open thread for this evening's ESPN 7:00 matchup between Kentucky and Auburn. I hope you'll join me in wishing for the sweet joy of watching Auburn lose to Kentucky and Tiger fans meet Gus Malzahn with pitchforks out. Until later . . .

Go 'Dawgs!!!