UGA Football Defense Struggles In 41-31 Win Over Mississippi State
Real Georgia Fans Don’t Miss the Dawg Post Newsletter - Sign up now!
ATHENS - Dawg Post gives the latest news and notes from Georgia’s 41-31 win over Mississippi State.
*Another Win: With today’s 41-31 victory, the No. 5 Bulldogs extended their home winning streak to 28 games dating to 2019, which leads all of FBS.
*Georgia now leads the series with MSU 21-6 including 4-0 under Kirby Smart.
*Georgia has now won 44 of its past 45 games including 30 of its past 31 SEC regular season games. The Bulldogs are 51-3 in their last 54 games.
*With the latest victory, Georgia’s 2024 senior class improves to 47-3 overall and 41-1 in the regular season.
*Summary Of The Offense: The Bulldogs posted a season-high 605 yards of total offense on 77 plays including 459 yards through the air.
*Senior QB Carson Beck finished 36-for-48 for a career-high 459 yards with 3 TDs and 2 INTs.
*Beck’s career-high 36 completions ties a school record, joining Cory Phillips (vs. Ga. Tech 2000) and Eric Zeier (vs. UF in 1993 and vs. UK in 1994).
*The 459 passing yards is the third most in a game in Georgia history and the most since Eric Zeier had 485 vs. South Carolina in 1994, going 31-for-51. Zeier holds the mark with 544 against Southern Miss in 1993 when he was 30-for-47.
*After falling behind 3-0, Georgia went 38 yards on 10 plays in 4:56 before settling for a game-tying 45-yard field goal with 7:09 left in the 1st quarter.
*Georgia took a 10-3 lead on its next possession, going 81 yards on eight plays, capped by a five-yard rush by Branson Robinson, his third this year.
*Up 13-3, Georgia went 75 yards on five plays in 2:14 that ended with a 31-yard TD catch by Dillon Bell, his team-best fourth of the year, for a 20-10 lead.
*The Bulldogs went 80 yards on six plays in 2:54 to extend their lead to 27-10 following a one-yard TD pass from Beck to Lawson Luckie.
*Georgia went 81 yards on a season-high 16 plays in a season-long 7:26 to go up 41-24 as Trevor Etienne scored on a 4th-and-1.
*The Bulldogs had 146 rushing yards on 29 attempts. Freshman Nate Frazier had 10 carries for 43 yards. Anthony Evans had a career-long 52-yard rush.
*In the first half, Georgia built a 27-10 edge with 369 yards of total offense on 46 plays. The Bulldogs did not punt.
*State converted two Bulldog miscues into 10 points.
*4th Down Success: Georgia converted two more 4th Downs and is now 10-for-11 on the year including making their last nine attempts. Coming in today, Georgia ranked fourth nationally in 4th Down Conversions at 89%.
*Catching Up With The Receivers: Eleven different Bulldogs had a catch today as the Bulldogs threw for a season-high 459 yards.
*The leading receiver was senior Arian Smith with a career-high 134 yards on five catches including a 55-yarder in the first half and a 42-yarder for a TD in the 3rd quarter. Junior tailback Trevor Etienne had a team-high six catches for 35 yards. Bell tallied five catches for 82 yards and a score.
*Defensive Review: State tallied 31 points on 385 yards of total offense on 63 plays. In the first half, State had 10 points on 130 yards on 28 plays.
*State’s second possession of the game came at the UGA 26 following a tipped pass/interception by Brice Pollock. State had to settle for a 47-yard field goal by Kyle Ferrie after running four plays and losing three yards for a 3-0 edge.
*MSU had 10 yards on its first 13 plays today before hitting a 72-yard completion to Mario Craver from Michael Van Buren. The drive ended with a 24-yard TD strike from Van Buren to Kelly Akharaiyi that converted a 2nd-and-goal to pull State to within three at 13-10 with 8:46 left in the first half.
*Following an INT in the endzone, State drove 80 yards in 8 plays, converting a 4th-and-goal from the two to cut it to 34-24 with 2:40 left in the 3rd quarter.
*Georgia’s leading tacklers today were junior Malaki Starks with seven while senior Dan Jackson had five.
*Freshman KJ Bolden notched his first career interception. It came at the UGA 19 with 27 seconds left in the first half. It did not lead to any points.
*Special Teams In Action: Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring tallied 11 points on 5 PATs and field goals of 45 and 32 yards plus handled kickoffs too. He made his first nine field goals of the year before missing a 55-yarder at the end of the first half.
*Junior Brett Thorson’s first and only punt came with 48 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. It covered 36 yards and was fair caught.
*Sophomore Anthony Evans had one punt return for six yards and no KOR.
*Captains, Coin Toss And Helmet Decals: Georgia’s captains were Cash Jones, Arian Smith, Chaz Chambliss and Nazir Stackhouse.
Georgia won the toss and deferred the ball until the second half. The Bulldogs wore green ribbon decals on their helmets today to raise awareness that Mental Health Matters in conjunction with Hilinski’s Hope.
*Up Next: The No. 5 Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1 SEC) visit top-ranked Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) Saturday, Oct. 19th at 7:30 pm (ABC). The Longhorns posted a 34-3 win over No. 18 Oklahoma in Dallas earlier today.