No. 1 ranked and undefeated Georgia scored four touchdowns in the 2nd half to pull away from Mississippi State for a 45-19 win Saturday night in Starkville. The victory clinched a spot in next month’s SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett was 25-37 for 289 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a score as the Bulldogs improved to 10-0 on the season and 7-0 in the SEC. Georgia has now won 25 straight regular season games, 18 of those in the SEC.
Georgia will now face LSU in the league’s December 3rd title game. The Tigers clinched a spot earlier Saturday with a win against Arkansas and Ole Miss’ loss to Alabama.
For Georgia, Saturday’s game started out well as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 17-3 first half lead but Mississippi State closed the half on a 63-yard punt return to cut Georgia’s advantage to 17-12 headed to the locker room.
But Georgia was able to thwart any talk of an upset by scoring early and often in the second half.
Ladd McConkey scored on a 71-yard run just 47 seconds into the third quarter and then scored again on Georgia’s next possession, catching a 17-yard TD pass from Bennett.
The visiting Bulldogs then put the game away in the fourth quarter on tight end Darnell Washington’s 2-yard touchdown reception and Kendall Milton’s 34-yard TD run.
“I’m really proud of our team,” said Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. “When you go on the road anytime in the SEC and you play in an environment like this at night, tremendous adversity, and our guys responded again and again and again to some tough situations.”
Smart is now 3-0 against State and 76-15 overall in seven seasons.
The Georgia defense held Mississippi State to 308 yards of offense, right at 100 yards below their season average. State was also just 3-17 combined on third and fourth down conversions.
“I thought we could’ve finished drives better, but they’re (the Georgia defense) just good at making it difficult,” said MSU head coach Mike Leach.
The loss drops State to 6-4 on the season and 3-4 in the SEC.
Georgia gets back in action next Saturday on the road for a 3:30 kickoff against Kentucky. The Wildcats are 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the conference after Saturday’s 24-21 loss at home to Vanderbilt.
©2022 Cox Media Group
