Georgia strengthens hold on No. 1 spot in coaches poll after pounding Ole Miss
Georgia won a few voters over with its 52-17 shellacking of Ole Miss on Saturday night. The latest US LBM coaches poll is out and, as has been the case for the previous 10 weeks of the season, the Bulldogs are No. 1. In this poll, however, Kirby Smart and company have 58 first-place votes. They had 55 last week.
UGA also had 58 first-place votes a couple of weeks ago after its 43-20 drubbing at Florida. Then came a temporary dip after Georgia earned a nine-point home win over then No. 12 Missouri.
Michigan is ranked No. 2 by the coaches with three first-place votes. Ohio State is No. 3 and it also has three first-place votes. Florida State and Washington, in that order, round out the top five.
Oregon comes in at No. 6 followed by Texas at No. 7 and Alabama at No. 8. Louisville cracks the top 10 at No. 9 and Oregon State jumps in at No. 10. Missouri, after a 36-7 beat down of Tennessee, is now the nation’s No. 11 team. Ole Miss loss to Georgia pushes it back to No. 14 while Tennessee, after losing its third game of the season, is down to No. 19.
The top-10 showdown between Georgia and Ole Miss looked like it might be a slug fest early on. The teams traded touchdowns for the first 16 minutes of the game but was all Bulldogs after that. When Ole Miss tied the game at 14 early in the second quarter, Georgia went on a 31-0 run to put the game away.
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Carson Beck eclipsed 300 yards passing for the fifth time this season while Kendall Milton piled up 127 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries. He added one catch for 12 yards. Ladd McConkey racked up 84 receiving yards and a touchdown while Dominick Lovett had 77 receiving yards.
The story of the night, however, was the return of Brock Bowers. Less than three weeks after having tight-rope surgery to aid in the his recovery from a high-ankle sprain, Bowers played 45 snaps against Ole Miss. The Georgia tight end caught three passes for 314 yards and a touchdown.
Georgia racked up over 311 yards passing and 300 yards rushing in the win. Ole Miss came into the game as one of the SEC’s most prolific teams in terms of sacks and tackles for loss and the Bulldogs blanked the Rebels in both categories.
Next up for Georgia is a trip to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. It’s the Bulldogs’ final SEC game of the year and kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
