With the season inching closer, I’m going to preview each of the 12 games Georgia Football will have in 2017.
After the game against Samford, Georgia Football will have it’s second big test of the season. Mississippi State is one of the two SEC West opponents UGA will face in 2017. In many ways, this game is one of the reasons people think this year is a good schedule for UGA. Miss State should not be confused for LSU or Alabama as a power team in the west. They are however more frisky than people think. They will pose a very serious challenge for Georgia so what should we be looking out for?
Who were they last year:
The 2016 season didn’t exactly get off to a good start for the Bulldogs. They lost their first game of the season to South Alabama in a reminder that ‘Minnow teams’ can cause big upsets. Mississippi State would go on to lose 7 games in a 6-7 season that ended with a high, but was mainly just lows.
They gave LSU a good game before losing by 3 and then went on a 3 game losing streak to Auburn, BYU and Kentucky. They were utterly blown out by Alabama 51-3 and lost a high scoring affair at home to Arkansas. In between all this losing however, they managed to pull off a rather huge upset that completely changed the SEC West for the season.
In week 9, they welcomes the #7 ranked Texas A&M. The Aggies had beaten 3 ranked opponents and only had an away loss to Alabama as a stain on their 7-1 record. While people were not expecting them to win the SEC West from Bama, a lot of fans thought that Texas A&M could make a legitimate push for the playoff if they won out. That all ended when they lost to a 3-5 Mississippi State team 35-28. That loss sent the Aggies on a spiral that would result in an 8-5 season.
Missisippi State would go on to beat their rival Ole’ Miss and Miami of Ohio in a Bowl game and finish out the season. Despite having an pretty poor season, two big wins over SEC West teams meant that this was not a lost season for the Bulldogs. This is especially true when you consider some of the talent they will be bringing back.