STARKVILLE, Miss. — Georgia’s last two games of the season are as close to meaningless as they could get in terms of their overall effect on the big picture. Technically, the Bulldogs don’t have to beat either Kentucky next Saturday or Georgia Tech in the final week of the regular season to be able to play for postseason seeding in the Dec. 3 SEC Championship at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The teams that will meet in the conference title game are the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (10-0, 7-0 SEC), clinching the Eastern Division’s berth on Saturday night with a 45-19 win over Mississippi State, and No. 7 LSU (8-2, 6-1), which locked up the West with a 13-10 win over Arkansas in Fayetteville coupled with Alabama’s 30-24 win over Ole Miss in Oxford.
Just don’t bother to ask Georgia coach Kirby Smart or the Bulldogs how much time or resources they will devote to getting themselves ready for the SEC title tilt.
“You know what the answer to that question is: We’ve gotta focus on Kentucky,” said Smart, who improved to 76-15 on Saturday as Georgia’s head coach. “Why would anybody think that we’re going to talk or even think about them (LSU). We have two games to play, right? That’s the farthest thing from my thought process.”
Logistically, it was kind of a crazy weekend for the Bulldogs. Due to high winds and inclement conditions Friday, Georgia had to bus to Atlanta in order to fly its Delta charters into Columbus, Miss. And then Smart found himself stir-crazy Saturday night knowing that Kentucky had extra time to prepare for next Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. (CBS) matchup in Lexington.
“All I can think about now is how fast I can get on that plane to get rest so I can get ready for Kentucky tomorrow because they were done at 12 (p.m.),” Smart said. “They played at 12 today. They played at home at 12.”
Here are five things we learned during Georgia’s domination of Mississippi State on Saturday:
1. Turnover issues
Georgia turns the ball over too much. Then again, maybe it doesn’t.
The Bulldogs’ unblemished 10-0 record says they don’t, anyway.
Saturday against Mississippi State represented the fourth time this season that Georgia lost the battle of turnover margin in a game. The Bulldogs had two turnovers to zero takeaways against the Maroons yet managed to score a 26-point victory.
The other three games in which Georgia came up short on turnover margin were Kent State (3 to 1), Missouri (2-0) and Florida (3-0). Yet the Bulldogs won the four-game set by an average margin of 17.3 points.
Georgia had two more turnovers Saturday on interceptions by Stetson Bennett. Each came as a result of the ball being redirected behind the line of scrimmage. One came when Bennett’s arm was grabbed by a defensive lineman as he tried to throw a deep ball to Ladd McConkey, which came up short and was intercepted by safety Collin Duncan. The other was an incredible deflection to himself at the line of scrimmage by linebacker Tyrus Wheat.
Defense has kept the turnovers from being devastating for Georgia. In fact, while not creating any actual defensive takeaways Saturday, the Bulldogs forced State into three turnovers on downs.
“The fourth downs ended up like our turnovers,” Smart said.
2. Jalen Carter’s impact
For the second consecutive week, other defensive players made more overall plays than Jalen Carter, but no one could claim a bigger impact on the opposing offense.
With eight tackles each, linebacker Smael Mondon and safety Malaki Starks had the most stops for the Bulldogs. But Carter racked up seven tackles and also had another sack and 1½ tackles for loss against State.
The presence in the middle of the defense for the 6-foot-3, 310-pound junior is having a residual effect up and down the line.
“That dude is special,” Smart said. “That one play he made, he beat the guard so fast and he was in the backfield so quick. Their splits are huge. I’d hate to be a guard on an island trying to block him like that. … To block 88, man, that’s some hard stuff. He’s giving us a chance to go where we need to go on defense. He’s healthy, he’s playing and he’s taking the burden off those other guys.”
Officially, Carter has missed only two games this season due to ankle and knee injuries. However, he barely got on the field at all for the South Carolina and Kent State games, the latter for just one offensive play. But after playing third downs only versus Florida on Oct. 29, Carter has played about 100 plays in Georgia’s last two games.
3. Stetson Bennett’s good outweighs bad
Bennett will be criticized for his two interceptions Saturday, and maybe justifiably. But the Bulldogs’ sixth-year senior and third-year starter did way more good than bad against Mississippi State.
Bennett completed 25 of 37 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns in the win. For the season, he has completed 68% of his passes for 2,895 yards and 14 touchdowns with five interceptions.
“Look, Stetson understands our offense, and he put us in some really good situations,” Smart said. “He made some really good throws. He did have a couple picks, a couple poor decisions he got away with that weren’t (picks). But he made some good throws.”
Bennett also had his seventh rushing TD (11th of career). He now has 53 career TD passes, good for fifth in school history. He led the offense to 28 points in the second half.
4. More injuries
Another game, more sidelining injuries for the Bulldogs. The latest victim was starting nickel back Javon Bullard.
Bullard had to leave the game with 7:52 to go in the third quarter after hurting a knee on a tackle of running back Jo’quavious Marks. Bullard returned a short time later, but then pulled himself out again and sat for the rest of the game.
“He told Will (Muschamp) he couldn’t go,” Smart said. “So, I don’t know if it was the knee or if it was something else.”
Tykee Smith, who rotates regularly with Bullard, logged most of the snaps the rest of the way at the “star” position, as Georgia calls its fifth defensive back. Smith finished with six tackles (five of them solo), and Bullard had four.
The Bulldogs were happy to be able to welcome back senior Robert Beal into the fold at outside linebacker. He started after missing most of the Tennessee game with a “stinger” in the shoulder/neck area. He finished with one tackle while sharing time with Marvin Jones Jr. (one tackle) and Chaz Chambliss (one).
Georgia already was playing without star players including OLB Nolan Smith (pectoral muscle) and receiver A.D. Mitchell (ankle).
5. Special issues
It was not a particularly good night for Georgia on special teams. The Bulldogs gave up a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown to Zavion Thomas with three seconds remaining in the first half. They also were whistled for roughing the punter, which resulted in an automatic first down on fourth-and-long. That came early in the fourth quarter on a drive that finished with UGA stopping the Maroon Bulldogs in the red zone.
Georgia did get a 47.7-yard average out of Brett Thorson, and senior kicker Jack Podlesny tallied nine more points, going 1-for-1 on field goals (28-yarder) and 6-for-6 on PATs.
Podlesny is 17-for-19 on field goals this season. He leads the team with 101 points overall.
