Georgia clinches SEC East with 45-19 win at Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Georgia went on the road and secured its spot in the SEC Championship game on Saturday. The Bulldogs got a 45-19 win over Mississippi State and will now take on LSU on December 3 for the league crown.
Stetson Bennett connected on 25 of 37 attempts for 289 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also ran for another score. Ladd McConkey touched it six times and piled up 141 total yards and two scores.
Georgia got a three and out from its defense to start the game and the offense went to work. Bennett went five of five passing to lead the SEC East Bulldogs on a 73-yard march. He found Brock Bowers for a two-yard touchdown to cap it off. Jack Podlesny’s PAT gave Georgia a 7-0 lead.
Podlesny tacked on three more to finish off UGA’s next drive. He connected from 28 yards out to make it 10-0 in favor of the visitors. Mississppi State answered back with a short field goal of its own to cut the lead to 10-3.
Georgia didn’t get score again until late in the second quarter. Bennett capped off a 75-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run and the PAT made it 17-3 in favor of UGA.
The rest of the first half was a disaster for Georgia. The Bulldogs busted a coverage and allowed Mississippi State to get into the red zone and get three points. Then when Georgia made a half-hearted attempt to try and drive with under 50 seconds left in the half, it ended up punting the ball back to MSU.
Zavion Thomas fielded that Brett Thorson’s punt and took it 63 yards to the house. Mississippi State went for two but failed and the first half ended with Georgia leading 17-12.
It took just two plays for Georgia to score a touchdown when it got the ball to start the second half. McConkey took an end around on the second play from scrimmage, broke a couple of tackles, and turned it into a 70-yard touchdown.
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Georgia got another touchdown on its next possession. It was McConkey getting into the end zone again, this time from just 17 yards out on a pass from Bennett. It capped off a 67-yard drive and Georgia took a 31-12 lead after the PAT.
After another UGA defensive top, the offense had it 3rd and 11 from its own territory. Bennett dropped back to pass and stepped up into the pocket before throwing. The ball was batted at the line of scrimmage by Tyrus Wheat, who intercepted the pass and went down with it at the Georgia 22-yard line.
Mississippi State punched it in two plays later on a six-yard touchdown toss from Will Rogers to Rufus Harvey. The PAT cut Georgia’s lead to 12 at 31-19.
Georgia wasted no time in getting those points right back. It went on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that was aided with a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a UGA field goal attempt from the MSU five-yard line. The Bulldogs punched it in with a two-yard touchdown pass from Bennett to Darnell Washington. The PAT pushed Georgia’s lead to 38-19.
Mississippi State was stopped on fourth down the next two times it got the football, essentially putting the game on ice. Georgia will take on Kentucky next Saturday. Kickoff in Lexington is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
