Inside the numbers: Mississippi State-Georgia first half stats
Mississippi State and No. 5 Georgia have reached halftime in Athens, Ga., and Georgia holds a 27-10 advantage.
Mississippi State’s defense helped the visitors get on the scoreboard first. Sophomore Brice Pollock collected a tipped Carson Beck pass for his first interception of the year and State took over inside the Georgia 30 yard line. The Bulldogs, however, had to settle for a 47-yard field goal by Kyle Ferrie and led 3-0 with 12:05 left in the opening quarter.
Georgia quickly answered Mississippi State on the ensuing possession. Georgia stuck to the ground for the most part and ended the drive with a 45-yard field goal from Peyton Woodring, tying the game at 3-3 with 7:09 remaining in the first quarter.
The host Bulldogs found the end zone for the first time late in the first quarter. Georgia marched 81 yards in eight plays and took a 10-3 lead thanks to Branson Robinson‘s five-yard touchdown run with 2:03 remaining in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Woodring added his second field goal of the day. This time it was from 34 yards out and Georgia increased its lead to 13-3 with 10:51 left in the first half.
Mississippi State would also find paydirt on its next possession, highlighted by a 72-yard reception by freshman receiver Mario Craver. On 2nd and goal from the Georgia 24-yard line, freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren connected with a wide-open Kelly Akharaiyi for a touchdown pass and State cut the Georgia lead to 13-10 with 8:46 left in the half.
The offenses continued to roll up the points later in the quarter. Georgia quickly responded with a 75-yard drive that was capped off by a Beck 31-yard touchdown toss to Dillon Bell, giving Georgia a 20-10 lead with 6:32 left in the half.
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Beck wasn’t done in the first half, either. He finished off an 80-yard drive on his next series and tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to Lawson Luckie, giving Georgia a 27-10 advantage with 1:56 left in the opening half.
In the first half, Georgia rolled up 369 yards of offense with 317 coming through the air. Georgia had three penalties for 30 yards and were 3 of 6 on third down. Georgia also held the ball for 19:24 in the opening half.
Mississippi State managed just 130 yards of offense in the first two quarters with 116 coming through the air. The Bulldogs had four penalties for 40 yards and were only 1 of 7 on third down. State had the ball for 10:36 of the first half.
Individually, Beck was 27 of 34 for 317 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Trevor Etienne had six catches for 35 yards for Georgia and Nate Frazier led the ground game with four carries for 26 yards.
For Mississippi State, Van Buren was only 5 of 15 passing for 116 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Davon Booth had four carries for seven yards while Craver had two catches for 75 yards.
