Maty Mauk’s Saturday was low-key.

“I planned on watching football all day, but after practice I was really tired and went back to bed,” the Missouri sophomore quarterback said. “I slept from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.”

Such is the life of a football player on a bye week.

After Mizzou’s comeback victory against then-No. 13 South Carolina propelled the Tigers back into the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, Mizzou got a weekend off.

Two weeks in between games, and the anticipation is building.

This Saturday’s matchup against No. 13 Georgia may set Mizzou on the road to a second consecutive Southeastern Conference Eastern Division championship. However, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said the team has not thought about taking control of its own destiny in the division.

“This league is too good to not take it one game at a time,” Pinkel said.

Mizzou trailed 20-7 on the road against the Gamecocks before Mauk and the offense caught fire after being held in check for three and a half quarters. It was Mizzou’s largest fourth-quarter comeback in school history.

Although it was an impressive win, Pinkel said the team is focused on the new task at hand: Georgia.

“I told our players that I don’t want to talk about (the South Carolina game) anymore,” he said. “That game was a long time ago.”

Pinkel said the Tigers can’t use the bye week as an excuse to come out lazy against Georgia, since they did not take part in what was a hectic week of college football.

“Bye weeks fall where they fall,” he said. “We have to be fresh and ready to go.”

The past week saw five of the top 10 teams and 11 of the top 20 teams fall. Within the SEC, three notable upsets occurred: Mississippi took down Alabama, Mississippi State beat Texas A&M, and Kentucky knocked off South Carolina. Kentucky’s victory over the Gamecocks was the most meaningful of the bunch for Mizzou, which now holds the lone undefeated conference record in its division.

“That’s the best thing, when we can just sit back on Saturday and watch the games,” tailback Marcus Murphy said. “We took a look at some of the teams we have on our schedule in the upcoming weeks.”

Mizzou and Georgia will kick off their game at 11 a.m. The game will be nationally televised on CBS.

“I think every player and coach in the country would rather get up and play at 11,” Pinkel said. “You don’t get any (part of) Saturday to get yourself ready. You better have your head ready to play the moment you wake up.”

The Tigers have to be geared up and ready to go early, as they will face one of the nation’s premier running backs in Georgia’s Todd Gurley. The junior is ranked second nationally in rushing yards per carry and third in rushing yards per game.

“This is going to be a tough test for our defensive line,” Pinkel said.

With all the hype for this game, especially after such a crazy week in college football, Murphy said the team’s mindset remains the same.

“There’s a lot of urgency every week,” he said. “In this conference, you have to bring your best focus every week.”