The No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs (8-1) were looking for a statement win against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-5). Georgia is considered a top 10 team, but the Bulldogs rarely looked dominant. In five of their six SEC games this season (Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida), Georgia was trailing at halftime. Georgia needed to show a dominant form, and that’s exactly what they showed against Mississippi State, winning 41-21.
The final score of 41-21 doesn’t show how much of a beat down this game was. After Mississippi State took a 7-0 lead, Georgia scored 38 unanswered points. The Georgia Bulldogs had 567 total yards, the most of any game in this season.
Gunner Stockton delivered another gem of a performance, completing 18 of his 29 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns. Nate Frazier had a career day with 181 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The defense was so stifling, they forced the Mississippi State Bulldogs to bench quarterback Blake Shapen.
Georgia improves to 6-1 in the SEC, wrapping up their SEC schedule with the No. 13 Texas Longhorns next week. Mississippi State drops to 5-5, including 1-5 in the SEC, and while they’ve grown as a program from last season, the Bulldogs are still SEC bottom-feeders.
Takeaways from Georgia’s 41-21 win over Mississippi State
Nate Frazier lived up to his preseason hype
Nate Frazier has largely disappointed the preseason expectations of him being the lead back. Running back Chauncey Bowens, who leads the Georgia Bulldogs in rushing yards (446), has taken his spot as the lead back.
However, in this game, Frazier lived up to the preseason hype, exploding for a career-high 181 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. He had a monster 59-yard touchdown run to make it 31-7, along with a 33-yard run to set Georgia up in field goal range for a 41-14 lead.
If Georgia can get this version of Nate Frazier more often, it would add a different dynamic to an already strong running game.
The offense used explosives
Overall, Georgia’s offense was largely carried by explosive plays. The Bulldogs try to hit a home-run with a lot of play concepts, including dump-offs to Zachariah Branch, power reads by Gunner Stockton, and deep shots to Dillon Bell and London Humphreys.
In this matchup, the Bulldogs had several plays earn massive chunks of yardage. They had seven 20+ yard plays, including two to start the second half; a 59-yard touchdown run by Nate Frazier and a 64-yard touchdown reception by Noah Thomas.
Gunner Stockton is on a heater
Gunner Stockton has rapidly developed in just eleven games as a starter. The biggest moments of development have come in the last three weeks.
In the past three games, Stockton has 776 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and just one interception. He’s only been sacked twice in those three games, too. Stockton is third in the nation in QBR (89.6) this year, and these past three games are a big reason why.
The defense finally generated pressure
The Georgia Bulldogs defense has struggled to generate pressures and sacks the entire season. That wasn’t the case against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
They generated 12 total pressures, according to PFF (premium subscription required). It’s the most the Bulldogs have earned since Week 6 against Kentucky. As a result, the Bulldogs got three sacks. Most of the pressure came from linebackers CJ Allen (0.5 sacks) and Raylen Wilson (1.5 sacks), but it’s a noticeable step forward from past performances from the pass rush.
This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Four takeaways from Georgia’s 41-21 win over Mississippi State
