Let's make one thing clear here when it comes to No. 5 Georgia traveling on the road to play unranked Mississippi State in Starkville. This is a quintessential trap game. Georgia has a huge home date vs. Texas in primetime in two weeks. Meanwhile, Mississippi State is fresh off its fifth win of the season and hoping to play spoiler with an 11:00 a.m. CT kickoff at Davis Wade. Should UGA be concerned?
Honestly, maybe not... Georgia is now a 9.5-point road favorite over Mississippi State. While wagering on a Georgia point spread is not for the faint of heart, the Dawgs were always a multi-score favorite over the other Bulldogs, even if the bookmakers and national media did not want to admit it. As far as if Mississippi State can pull off the upset, the Bulldogs could, but history is not in their favor to do this.
After taking a gander at their matchup page over on Winsipedia, a few things stand out. Georgia owns the all-time series record at 21-6. Granted, Georgia and Mississippi State do not play all that often, despite being SEC teams since its creation nearly a century ago in 1932. Of those six wins that Mississippi State has gotten past Georgia, only one has come in the last 50 years, which was in 2010.
That was during Aaron Murray's first year as the Georgia starting quarterback on Mark Richt's team.
Georgia has the far better college football history over Mississippi State
Looking at that 2010 game, Georgia lost on the road to Mississippi State, 24-12. That loss came in the midst of a dreadful 1-4 start for the Dawgs. In a way, that campaign was the beginning of the end for Richt. Murray was only a redshirt freshman then. Furthermore, that was also during the four games where A.J. Green was suspended for selling his Independence Bowl game jersey. What a time it was...
Yes, Dan Mullen was just starting to get cooking in Starkville around that time, as he left Gainesville only two years prior. In essence, Mississippi State needed somewhat of a perfect storm to beat Georgia that one time. Georgia has won the last five meetings in this SEC series dating back to 2011. It includes a road win in Starkville over Mike Leach's final team during the undefeated 2022 season.
Not to be mean, but this is not likely going to be the game that Mississippi State achieves bowl eligibility from. They just won their first SEC game in ages after beating lowly Arkansas who already fired their coach. Is Mississippi State going to achieve bowl eligibility? Potentially, but those Bulldogs will really need to flex their muscles over a Missouri Tigers team that is down two of its quarterbacks.
Crow could be served here with a shocking Georgia loss, but those cowbells will wake the Dawgs up.