Georgia blasts No. 9 Ole Miss 52-17 in Brock Bowers' return

ATHENS, Ga. — No. 2 Georgia got Brock Bowers back for its top-10 showdown with No. 9 Ole Miss and it trounced the visiting Rebels 52-17 in front of a sold out Sanford Stadium crowd. The win is the Bulldogs’ 27th straight and it came after they had already clinched a spot in the SEC Championship game with Missouri’s 36-7 win over Tennessee.

Carson Beck went over 300 yards passing for the fifth time this season, completing 18 of 25 passes for 306 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Bowers caught three passes for 34 yards and a score while Kendall Milton had nine carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Ladd McConkey pitched in with four catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.

After winning the coin toss, Ole Miss elected to take the ball to start the game and it kept an inauspicious streak Georgia streak alive. The Rebels converted a fourth down and a third down en route to an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended in a 15-yard touchdown run by Quinshon Judkins. The PAT staked the Rebels to a 7-0 lead that didn’t last long.

Georgia took the ensuing kickoff and went on a march of its own. Beck hit Rara Thomas for a 44-yard gain on the third play of the drive and the Bulldogs punched it in three plays later on a one-yard touchdown run from Daijun Edwards. Peyton Woodring‘s PAT tied the game at seven.

Going for it on fourth down came back to bite the Rebels on their next possession. Georgia got the stop, allowing the offense to take over at its own 40-yard line. The Bulldogs quickly turned that into points as Edwards rushed for 31 yards on the next two plays and Beck finished off the drive with a 29-yard dart to McConkey for the score. The PAT gave the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead.

Ole Miss answered when it got the ball back, driving it to the Georgia three yard line and punching it from there on the second play of the second quarter. Judkins got into the end zone again and the PAT tied the game at 14.

The Bulldogs took the game over from there. Edwards got into the end zone for the second time on the night to cap off an eight-play, 75-yard drive and the PAT gave the Bulldogs a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

After the Georgia defense earned its first three-and-out of the day, Milton ended a 62-yard march with a bruising seven-yard touchdown run to extend the lead. Woodring’s PAT made it 28-14 in favor of the home team. The Bulldogs had a chance to add more points before the half but that drive was thwarted by an Ole Miss interception that went off the hands of a diving Dominick Lovett with seven seconds left in the half.

The second half started with a three and out from Georgia followed by what appeared to be a three and out for Ole Miss, but the Rebels ran a successful fake punt to get an extra crack at it. But the Georgia defense stood tall, holding the Rebels right there and forcing the punt.

Beck and company went back to work after that. He led the offense on a 75-yard drive that only took four plays as Milton broke loose for a 33-yard touchdown run to put Georgia up by three scores at 35-14.

Another defensive stop from the Bulldogs resulted in another trip to the red zone for the offense, but this time it couldn’t get into the end zone. Woodring came on to hit 27-yard field goal to extend the Georgia lead to 38-14.

Ole Miss went three and out again when it got the ball back and Georgia made it pay with yet another touchdown drive. Milton ripped off a 51-yard run to get the Bulldogs into scoring position and Beck capped it off with an eight-yard touchdown toss to Bowers. Woodring’s PAT gave the Bulldogs a 45-14 lead.

The Rebels stopped the bleeding when they got the ball back, assembling a 13-play 63-yard march against the Georgia reserves. It ended with a 29-yard field goal from Caden Davis to make the score 45-17.

Georgia inserted its offensive reserves in the game on its next possession but little changed. The Bulldogs leaned on the ground game and got a a 36-yard run from freshman running back Roderick Robinson to get into scoring position. Andrew Paul capped off the drive with the first rushing touchdown of his career and the PAT pushed the UGA lead to 52-17.

Next up for Georgia is a trip to Knoxville where it will wrap up its SEC slate with Tennessee. Kickoff for that game is set for 3:30 p.m. and it will be televised by CBS as its SEC Game of the Week.