No. 5 Georgia rolls past Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The fifth-ranked Georgia football team used a dominant second quarter to pull ahead of Mississippi State and then rolled to a 41-21 win Saturday afternoon at Davis Wade Stadium. Quarterback Gunner Stockton and running back Nate Frazier led an explosive day for the offense, with Stockton throwing three touchdown passes and Frazier rushing for a career-high 181 yards.

Down 7-3 after the opening quarter, Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) scored 21 straight points in the second to take control and earn its sixth straight win over MSU. It was the Bulldogs’ 47th consecutive win over an unranked opponent, the longest streak in the country.

Georgia finished with a season-high 567 yards of offense — 264 passing and 303 on the ground — while holding State to 322. Stockton was 18 of 29 passing for 264 yards and the three touchdowns; Frazier needed just 12 carries to reach 181 yards, highlighted by a 59-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and a 33-yarder in the fourth. Zachariah Branch led the receivers with eight catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.

Safety KJ Bolden led the Georgia defense with 10 tackles, defensive back Joenel Aguero added seven, and linebackers Raylen Wilson and CJ Allen had six each; Wilson also had 1.5 sacks.

State (5-5, 1-5) took its opening drive 75 yards in 14 plays, going 4-for-4 on third down, and took a 7-0 lead on quarterback Kamario Taylor’s 4-yard touchdown run. Georgia got on the scoreboard on the ensuing drive with Peyton Woodring’s 49-yard field goal, cutting MSU’s lead to 7-3 with 6:41 to go in the opening quarter. Stockton and wideout London Humphreys connected on a 36-yard pass to set up the field goal.

Georgia drove all the way down to the State 2-yard line on its next possession, but came up empty after Dillon Bell was stripped and MSU recovered. Georgia got the ball back a few plays later, with 11 seconds left in the quarter, when linebacker Quintavius Johnson knocked the ball out of quarterback Blake Shapen’s hands and Bolden recovered the fumble at the State 27.

After a 1-yard loss on a screen pass and then a 24-yard completion from Stockton to tight end Elyiss Williams, running back Chauncey Bowens scored on a 4-yard rush to put Georgia ahead 10-7 with 14:04 left in the half. The Bulldogs went ahead 17-7 when Stockton hit tight end Oscar Delp on the right side for an 8-yard touchdown with 5:09 on the clock. Earlier in the drive, Delp hauled in a 29-yard pass to the State 40.

Georgia got a defensive stop on fourth-and-5 at the UGA 23 to get the ball back with 2:25 left in the half. The Bulldogs went 77 yards in nine plays, taking a 24-7 lead with 11 seconds left on Stockton’s screen pass to the left that Branch ran in for a 19-yard touchdown.

The Bulldogs got the ball to start the second half and quickly added to their lead. On second-and-7 at the UGA 41, Frazier got free on the right side and outran everyone for a career-long 59-yard touchdown, making it 31-7. The long run put Frazier over 100 yards in a game for the first time this season and the second time in the sophomore’s career.

Georgia’s offensive fireworks continued on its next drive, this time coming through the air. On third-and-2 at the UGA 36, Stockton found Noah Thomas near the 50 and the receiver did the rest, scoring a 64-yard touchdown to push the Bulldog lead to 38-7 with 9:58 to play in the third.

After Georgia scored 38 unanswered points following State’s touchdown to open the game, MSU got into the end zone on a 1-yard Taylor run with 4:49 on the clock, cutting the lead to 38-14. Georgia answered with a 46-yard Woodring field goal on the Bulldogs’ next drive, making it 41-14 with 12:03 to play in the game.

State’s Taylor scored his third rushing touchdown of the game with 4:47 to play, running in from the 2 to make it 41-21.

Georgia is back at Sanford Stadium next Saturday night against No. 11 Texas. The Bulldogs beat the Longhorns twice in 2024, once in Austin and again in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.

POST-GAME NOTES

*900th Win: With today’s 41-21 victory, Georgia became just the ninth FBS program to register 900 wins. The Bulldogs have been playing for 132 years and own a mark of 900-433-54. The others include Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State and Nebraska.

*Series History: With today’s 41-21 win, Georgia extended its winning streak in the series to six and now holds a 22-6 edge in the series history. The Bulldogs are 5-0 against MSU under Kirby Smart. Also, the Bulldogs are 39-3 in their past 41 SEC regular season games.

*Review Of the Offense: Georgia compiled 567 yards of total offense on 74 plays.

*Georgia started the 2nd half with a 75-yard TD drive on four plays capped by a season-high and career-long 59-yard TD run by Nate Frazier for a 31-7 edge. It was the longest run by a Bulldog since Anthony Evans III went 52 against MSU (who he now plays for) in 2024. It gave Frazier his second career 100+ yard game.

*Georgia’s second possesion of the 2nd half went for a quick score in 1:33 compliments of a 64-yard TD pass from Stockton to Noah Thomas and a 38-7 lead. That was the longest completion by the Bulldogs since Stockton’s 67-yard pass to Arian Smith versus Notre Dame in last season’s Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal.

*Redshirt junior QB Gunner Stockton went 18-for-29 for 264 yards and 3 TDs plus 31 yards rushing on 6 attempts.

*At the half, Georgia enjoyed a 24-7 lead with 285 yards of offense (109-rushing, 176 passing) on 38 plays versus MSU.

Georgia came in averaging 32.5 points a game while MSU allowed 24.7.

*Down 7-0, Georgia’s first drive resulted in a 49-yard field goal to cut it to 7-3 with 6:41 left. The key play in the drive was a 36-yard completion from Gunner Stockton to junior London Humphreys.

*Trailing 7-3 with 5:16 left in the first, Georgia got its second possession and drove 65 yards to the MSU 3 before a fumble by Dillon Bell. MSU’s drive ended with a turnover forced by Georgia. MSU came in today +4 in Turnover Margin while Georgia was -2. Georgia scored 7 points off 1 MSU turnover.

*Georgia’s third drive resulted in a TD, going 27 yards on four plays in 1:00. It was keyed by a 3rd-and-11 completion by Stockton to freshman TE Elyiss Williams for 24 yards and capped by a four-yard TD rush by redshirt freshman Chauncey Bowens. It put Georgia up 10-7 with 14:11 left in the first half.

*Up 10-7 with 12:11 left in the first half, Georgia went 90 yards on 13 plays in 7:02 for a 17-7 lead. The drive ended with an eight-yard TD catch by tight end Oscar Delp. A chunk play on the drive was a 29-yard catch by Delp. It marked Georgia’s fourth drive of 90+ yards this year and fourth taking at least seven minutes.

*With a 17-7 lead, Georgia looked to attempt a 4th-and-3 at the MSU 38 with 30 seconds left after initially putting the punt team on the field twice, forcing an MSU timeout and then an offsides that resulted in a first down. It led to an eventual TD on a 19-yard catch by Zachariah Branch and a 24-7 lead with 11 seconds left.

*In the first half, junior Zachariah Branch tallied a team-high six catches for 57 yards and one TD.

*In the running game, the Bulldogs had 109 yards in the first half and were led by sophomore Nate Frazier with 58 yards on five carries and redshirt-freshman Chauncey Bowens with 26 yards on six carries plus one score. Frazier would go over 100 yards in the second half following a 59-yard TD scamper. Frazier is the first Bulldog since 2023 to rush for 181 yards. The last Bulldog to rush for over 150 yards was RB Kendall Milton for 156 yards in Georgia’s win over Georgia Tech in 2023.

*A Look At The Defense: MSU finished today with 322 yards of total offense on 68 plays.

*MSU won the toss and elected to receive. On its opening drive, MSU went 75 yards in 14 plays for a 7-0 lead. It marked the sixth out of seven SEC games where the Bulldogs fell behind early in the contest. The drive took 5:34. The rest of the half MSU had 87 yards on 25 plays.

*MSU’s second TD came with 4:49 in the 3rd quarer to trim Georiga’s lead to 38-14, and it was another 14-play, 75-yard drive.

*On MSU’s second drive of the game, Georgia forced a three-and-out after eight yards. MSU’s third drive resulted in a forced fumble by sophomore Quintavius Johnson and recovered by sophomore KJ Bolden at the 27. It was the first career forced fumble and recovery for Johnson and Bolden. It led to an eventual 10-7 lead. MSU was forced to punt on its fourth possession.

*With MSU trailing 17-7, it attempted a 4th-and-5 at the UGA 23, and the pass fell incomplete with 2:25 left in the first half. Georgia responded with a TD.

In the first half, MSU was held to seven points. MSU gained 162 yards on 39 plays (81 rushing and 81 passing). Coming in today, Georgia was allowing just 19.6 points a game while MSU was averaging 33.2.

*Georgia’s leading tackler was sophomore KJ Bolden with 10 stops followed by junior Jonel Aguero with seven. The SEC’s leading tackler, junior CJ Allen had six stops. Allen and junior Raylen Wilson combined for a sack during MSU’s opening drive. Allen leads the team now with 4.5 on the year. Wilson had another sack, this one for a loss of 14 late in the 1st quarter and finished the game with six total stops.

*Special Teams Update: Junior PK Peyton Woodring tallied (11 points on five PATs and two field goals) (49 and 46 yards) plus he handled the kickoffs with one going out of bounds. Woodring is now 12-for-13 on the year in field goals including 5-for-6 from 40-49 yards. In his career, Woodring is 15-for-17 from 40-49 yards.

*Junior Zachariah Branch had 1 kickoff return for 19 yards. In the first half, senior Brett Thorson did not have to punt. His first punt came with 2:06 in the 3rd quarter, and it covered 47 yards with no return as it was fair caught at the MSU 9. His second punt covered 40 yards for a fair catch in the 4th quarter and was his 12th this year placed inside the 20.

*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Zachariah Branch, Monroe Freeling, CJ Allen and Daylen Everette.

*MSU won the toss and elected to take the football.

*Redshirt sophomore DL Xavier McLeod made his first career start. Junior DL Jordan Hall had started all eight games this season before getting injured in the win versus Florida last week and is now out.

*Junior CJ Allen owns the longest starting streak on the team at 12 games dating to 2024.

*Up Next: Fifth-ranked Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) plays host to No. 11 Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) next Saturday with kickoff at 7:30 pm (ABC). The Longhorns enjoyed an open date.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Coming soon.