Georgia Football: Play of the game against Mississippi State
Georgia football smacked Mississippi State around Athens Saturday night on route to a 31-3 win to move into the top-10 for the first time in 2017.
It was the most hyped Georgia versus Mississippi State game ever. For the first time, both teams came in ranked in the top 25. Each had a signature win already in 2017 and both are shooting for the championship of their respective divisions.
This had all the makings of an historic SEC clash and was the biggest game of the day in the conference. But the game did not live up to the hype. Georgia dominated Mississippi State from start to finish. And that’s why choosing the play of the game was so easy.
After Georgia’s defense forced a three-and-out featuring a six yard loss on the first play from scrimmage, the offense took over at the Bulldawgs 41-yard line. Jake Fromm lined up under-center with Nick Chubb in the backfield. Surely Georgia’s first play of the game would be a handoff to Chubb.
And it was, only Chubb didn’t keep it. Instead he turned around and toss the ball back to Fromm who stepped up and threw the ball to Terry Godwin who made the catch and ran the rest of the way for a 59-yard touchdown.
After that, Georgia had a 7-0 lead just mere minutes into the game. And with that lead, in that fashion, Georgia owned the momentum of the contest and never let up. Moments later, Chubb gave Georgia a 14-0 lead, and they led 21-3 at halftime.
Georgia went on to outscore Mississippi State 10-0 in the second half to defeat their foes 31-3. But without that first touchdown, the game may have gone differently. It completed the perfect start to the game that put pressure on Mississippi State that they just couldn’t recover from. \
Now Georgia looks not only like the best team in the SEC East, but a team that could realistically compete with Alabama. Joey Galloway of ESPN’s College Football Final went as far as saying that Georgia has already won the East and that we will actually get an exciting SEC Championship Game.
Next: Five takeaways from Georgia's win over Mississippi State
It’s probably too early for us to buy into all of that yet. But so far in 2017, Georgia appears to be a legit contender for Alabama’s spot at the top of the SEC. Beating Mississippi State in the way they did is a big step in that direction.