Georgia football took on Mississippi State in a pivotal November SEC matchup Saturday afternoon. While Mississippi State will never be viewed as a big game, Georgia had to win this game to keep all of their goals in front of them. Thankfully that is exactly what they did, but this time they actually won a game in dominant fashion 41-21.
There was a lot to be proud of from this game, but there are five important observations that resulted from this game that Georgia will be able to build off of going forward.
1. Georgia finally played a complete game
It may have taken nine games for Georgia to accomplish this, but they finally played a complete game.
Georgia looked like they were going to get off to their typical slow start after giving up a touchdown on the opening drive of the game, but it was all UGA after that. The Bulldogs scored 24 unanswered points to finish the first half and then started the second half with two more touchdowns to put the game completely out of reach.
Georgia showed just how great they can be when they play a full 60 minutes, now the question is if they can do that again against the better teams left on their schedule. Thankfully Georgia will get that chance against Texas next week.
2. Nate Frazier's career game came at the perfect time
Nate Frazier had the game of his career against Mississippi State. He may have only run the ball 12 times, but he exploded for 181 yards and one touchdown. For those doing the math at home, that's an impressive 15.1 yards per carry.
Frazier was not having the best season so far this year, so this big performance came at the perfect time. He began the season as Georgia's starting running back, but Chauncey Bowen's emergence this year took that job from him. But this game not only showed that Frazier might deserve to be the starter again, but it proves that he is someone Georgia's offense can't live without.
So while Kirby Smart and his staff decide how to divvy up the carries between Frazier and Bowens, Georgia can rest easy because they have two running backs are are more than capable of starting in the SEC. Everyone will have an opinion on who should get the most carries, but at the end of the day this is a good problem to have as both running backs deserve as many carries as they can get.
3. Tight end dominance
Not only was Frazier dominant in the run game, but Georgia's tight ends had an amazing game. And it's about time that group had a big game.
Oscar Delp led the way for the tight end group as he hauled in three receptions for 41 yards. He even snagged a touchdown as well which was the first of his season. Elyiss Williams also had a big catch for 24 yards as well. This may have been his only catch of the game, but he continues to show how much of a force he is going to be throughout his career.
Georgia has had issues getting their tight ends involved at times this season. But UGA's offense has always been at their best when they can get that group active, and it looks like they finally figured out how to do that on Saturday. So look for Georgia's tight ends to have another big performance against Texas next weekend as it appears UGA has finally found a way to improve their consistency.
4. Defense finally got multiple sacks and a takeaway
The biggest complaint about Georgia's defense this season has been the lack of pressure they have created against opposing offenses. In fact, Georgia was only averaging one sack per game entering this weekend. Georgia however did not have a problem creating pressure against Mississippi State on Saturday as they finished with three sacks and six tackles for loss.
On top of that, Georgia also forced a turnover as well. Sure it would have been nice to force more than one turnover, but combining the one takeaway with the immense pressue on Mississippi State's backfield and this game was a big win for the defense.
Now the hope is that Georgia can create this pressure the rest of the season, especially against Texas next week. But if they can do that, then there is no team Georgia can't beat in the country.
5. Georgia proved ESPN haters wrong
Entering this matchup many people thought that Mississippi State was going to be able to hold their own against Georgia. The term "trap game" was being thrown around a lot, but it was ESPN who had the most negative things to say about Georgia.
ESPN's College GameDay spoke in great length Saturday morning about how much they liked Mississippi State over Georgia in this matchup. In fact, every member of the crew picked Mississippi State to cover the spread with Desmond Howard actually picking Georgia to lose. But the exact opposite happened as Georgia won in dominant fashion.
Knowing how ESPN works, they will likely ignore this result and continue talking about how much they don't believe in this Georgia team. But for now everyone can celebrate just how much Georgia proved ESPN wrong on Saturday.