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Georgia won, but it never quite got control of Saturday’s game against Mississippi State.
The fifth-ranked Bulldogs moved to 5-1 on the season with a 41-31 win over the Bulldogs. Following the loss to Alabama, Georgia has now won back-to-back games. But neither of them have necessarily been routs, and a rout would have been a reasonable expectation in both instances. Is Georgia trying to find that next gear? Or does Georgia just not have that next gear this season? Those questions will be asked ahead of a massive game against No. 1 Texas next weekend.
For now, here are 3 takeaways from Saturday’s game.
Early-game malaise continues
Georgia is now 1-5 against the spread this season. The Bulldogs are 0-4 when favored by more than 20 points. That includes Saturday’s game, in which Georgia was a 34.5-point favorite at ESPN Bet and won by just 17.
Kirby Smart won’t care about Georgia’s performance against the betting market (nor should he) but that’s probably a pretty clean way to illustrate what’s going on through the first 6 games of the year. Georgia is expected to roll these inferior opponents because, prior to this year, that’s all Georgia has done. But the Bulldogs aren’t running away from FBS teams this season.
They beat Kentucky by 1, beat Auburn by 18, and now have just a 17-point win over arguably the worst team in the SEC this season. A big reason why? First-quarter deficiencies. Georgia isn’t jumping on anyone.
In the last 3 games, Georgia has scored just 17 first-quarter points and averaged 5.1 yards per play. Georgia trailed Mississippi State 3-0 early on Saturday. Carson Beck was picked off on Georgia’s first possession of the game, and the second drive needed 10 plays to gain 38 yards.
Georgia eventually figured things out in the second quarter, scoring 17 points as Beck completed 18 of his 19 passes for 221 yards and 2 scores. Georgia looked deep and shredded an unwitting MSU secondary.
Beck plays spotty
Georgia’s quarterback responded well to the early interception he threw. And he responded well enough after the third-quarter interception. After the opening drive, Beck operated things well and pushed the Dawgs to a 17-point halftime lead with 369 yards of total offense. He finished the day 36-for-48 for 459 yards and 3 touchdowns. But his interception in the third quarter kept the door open for Mississippi State. Georgia had a chance to answer a score with a score and stomp out any momentum. Instead, Mississippi State doubled up and kept the pressure on the home side.
Beck has been fine this season. Mistakes have been there in bad spots. He was great a year ago. With a road trip to Texas on the docket for Week 8, Georgia needs to get that guy back sooner rather than later.
Georgia keeps Mississippi State in it
Mississippi State’s first points of the game came off Beck’s first interception. A touchdown march in the second quarter that brought MSU within 3 points featured a 72-yard pass play and a 24-yard touchdown. Georgia missed a field goal at the end of the first half that would have pushed the lead to 20. Beck was picked off in the endzone late in the third quarter on a drive that followed a Mississippi State score. Big plays from the Bulldogs produced another touchdown on the ensuing drive and suddenly a 24-point lead was down to 10.
Georgia gave up another big-play touchdown late in the fourth quarter to keep the margin at 10. MSU quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. hit big plays of 24, 35, 42, and 72 yards against the Dawgs’ defense. MSU had an explosive pass rate of 16% in the game. The defense left plenty to be desired.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
