3 things to know about Georgia victory vs. Mississippi State

The Georgia Bulldogs faced Mississippi State on Saturday night at Sanford Stadium with the Crimson-wearing Bulldogs coming off a 37-7 thrashing of LSU. They couldn’t keep up the momentum and found themselves on the other end of domination.

Georgia started with a burst. The Bulldogs found the end zone on the offense’s first play of the game, a 51-yard pass from Jake Fromm to Terry Godwin with 12:37 to play in the first quarter, and kept the defense applied pressure all night for a 31-3 victory.

A stifling Georgia defense held Mississippi State to 280 yards (123 in the fourth quarter when trailing by 28 points) and forced two turnovers. UGA finished with 404 yards of offense (203 rushing and 201 passing) and scored two rushing touchdowns and two passing.

Here are three things to know from the game:

Stellar night by Jake Fromm

The maturation of an already precocious freshman quarterback. In the first half, Fromm completed all eight pass attempts for 160 yards and one touchdown. He had a passer rating of 309.3 at that point. That rating had previously soared to 363.6 after his first six completions.

Fromm’s first throw of the second half was not an official attempt because of a pass-interference call, but his first two official attempts were incomplete. The second of the two was a nice pass dropped by Javon Wims.

Then on his third attempt of the half, he connected with tight end Isaac Nauta for 41 yards and a touchdown with 5:45 left in the third quarter. That was the second catch of the night by a tight end. Georgia hasn’t thrown to the tight end much this season, which may have contributed to Nauta being so open.

Fromm finished 9-of-12 passing for 201 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. His quarterback rating was 270.7.

UGA’s stifling defense

Mississippi State entered the game ranked ninth in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 47.7 points per game, and was averaging 493 yards per game of offense. In the first three quarters Saturday, they scored three points and gained 157 yards. Early in the fourth quarter, Georgia forced the fourth three-and-out of the game by Mississippi State.

Mississippi State rushed for 73 yards on its first drive of the fourth quarter, after rushing for 78 through three quarters. However, that drive ended with three incomplete passes on goal-to-go plays at the Georgia 11. Each of the plays featured tight coverage by Georgia defensive backs.