ATHENS – The Texas Longhorns are ready.
The message in the victorious postgame locker room in Dallas following the Longhorns’ 34-3 win over Oklahoma was winning the Red River Rivalry was nice, but bring on Georgia.
“I’m ready for Georgia. Let’s talk about Georgia,” said Texas safety Jahdae Barron after answering several questions about Saturday’s win. “I’m ready to go watch film already.”
Said senior offensive lineman Jake Majors: “The good teams enjoy wins more than the great teams because the great teams move on and that’s what we want to be. So, we’re going to enjoy this for 24 hours and then we’re going to get ready for next week.”
The Georgia Bulldogs were slightly less eager to move on. Their 41-31 win at home over the SEC’s last-place team was too much of a mistake-filled struggle to leave the Bulldogs bounding out of Sanford Stadium with much in the way of confidence.
(Sunday) we’re going to go back to work and fix whatever we need to fix before we think about anybody else,” Georgia safety Makaki Starks said. “We’ll get there when we get there.”
Said senior wideout Arian Smith: “We haven’t played our best game yet. Coach is telling us our best game is still ahead of us. We know that and we’re going to do what we have to do get there.”
The good news, coach Kirby Smart said, is there is virtually nothing from the Mississippi State to Texas.
“Texas is a different team,” Smart said. “They have a different structure, a different quarterback, different wideouts. It’s not the same offense or defense. I’d feel a lot better if we didn’t give away 14 points. We didn’t finish the way I’d like or might be a little more confident. But this game has nothing to do with that one.”
Following are five other things we learned Saturday:
Scare for Branson Robinson
The Bulldogs held their collective breath when running back Branson Robinson when down with a leg injury 1:11 into the second quarter.
The redshirt sophomore, who is just 14 months removed from major knee surgery, caught a pass in the right flat and carried it for a five-yard gain when he was pulled awkwardly by his right leg. When he did not get up, UGA trainers were quick to run onto the field and assess the situation. After attending to Robinson for several minutes, they helped him up and started to assist him back to the Georgia sideline. About halfway across the field, Robinson shook off the support and fast-walked the rest of the way to the Bulldogs’ bench. However, he was unable to return to play.
“Yeah, I don’t know if it’s real serious,” Smart said. “I think it’s an MCL (medial collateral ligament), a knee. You know, those are sprains. But I don’t know that for sure. So, I don’t know how serious it is.”
Robinson underwent an MRI Saturday, but Smart said he hadn’t seen the results. He suffered a ruptured patella tendon and had surgery in August of 2023 and returned to action this past summer.
Robinson had good production in a short day’s work. He finished with 17 total yards on a pass reception and three runs and scored a five-yard TD late in the first quarter. His availability for next Saturday will be assessed on Monday.
Georgia’s overall health was better on Saturday. Center Jared Wilson (Achilles) and defensive tackle Jordan Hall (shins) were removed from the SEC’s Availability Report on game day, though neither played.
Filling in at wideout
The biggest question going into Saturday’s game was how Georgia might make up for the loss of Colbie Young at split end.
The answer was three-fold: A lot more Anthony Evans, a little more London Humphreys and Dillon Bell all over the place.
Evans, a 5-11, 170-pound sophomore from Converse, Texas, saw the most notable increase. He finished with 5 touches for 93 yards, including a 52-yard run on a reverse, plus another 6 yards on a punt return.
“[Evans] had two of the really solid weeks of practice, continues to get confidence, grows,” Smart said. “He’s made plays down the field. And I thought Mike and the offensive staff did a nice job. You know, we’ve got to find more weapons to help us.”
London Humphreys continued to regain his stamina after missing two weeks with mono, had two catches for 25 yards and one drop. Meanwhile, Bell rarely left the field, playing split end, flanker and slot receiver in different situations. He had 82 yards on 5 receptions, including a highlight-reel 31-yard TD catch.
Eleven different Bulldogs had catches Saturday as quarterback Carson Beck passed for a season-high 459 yards on a school-record-tying 36 completions.
Gameday atmosphere
A week after Smart called out Georgia fans for their early exits and general second-half apathy against Auburn, Smart was pleased with the Sanford Stadium crowd on Saturday.
“I was really impressed with our fans,” he said afterward. “I thought they really helped us. When we came out for kickoff, I thought there was great energy and we needed that. We obviously needed it throughout the game. I think it affected them. A couple of delay-of-games, a couple of procedural penalties, which were big. Could have been the difference in the game.”
Playing a 1-4 opponent that was a 34-point underdog probably didn’t help, but there were more no-shows than usual for the 4:15 p.m. kickoff, which was a technical sellout. And once again, many fans had departed before the end of the game.
It will be more than a month – 34 days to be exact – before the Bulldogs play another home game. Tennessee visits on Nov. 16, after Georgia plays Texas, Florida and Ole Miss away from Athens.
Explosive problem
Once again, Georgia’s defense showed a susceptibility to allowing explosive plays. Mississippi State’s total of eight explosive offensive plays – defined as a run of 12 yards or more or a pass of 16 or more – was the same number the Bulldogs gave up against Auburn. Including 11 in a road loss to Alabama, that’s 27 – or an average of 9 – in the last three games.
That’s just too many.
“We’ve got to continue to get better at some things, the secondary,” Smart said. “Fifty-50 balls, I don’t think we won one, or maybe one 50-50 ball, out there on the perimeter. We worked really hard on that and give them credit. They got some good wide outs, and I thought their quarterback gained confidence throughout the game.”
There was no one defensive back to blame. Daylen Everette, Julian Humphrey, Joenel Aguero and Daniel Harris all were victimized at least once.
Smart often says that explosive-play differential is the best indicator for success and failure in college football. With 12 explosives Saturday, Georgia was a plus-4 on State. But the Bulldogs were even with Auburn the previous week (8-8) and minus-2 to Alabama (9-11) in the season’s only loss. Georgia is plus-15 for the season.
Third-down breakdowns
Some Georgia’s worst defensive breakdowns came on third down. Mississippi State managed to convert five third downs into firsts. Four of them were third-and-long, three were by penalty after Georgia had stopped the play and one went for a 35-yard touchdown. At the end of the game.
Let’s review:
- 2nd quarter, third-and-10, M25 – Pass for Booth incomplete, but first down by penalty due to roughing call on Georgia OLB Damon Wilson;
- 2nd quarter, third-and-1, M34 – One-yard rush by QB Michael Van Buren;
- 3rd quarter, third-and-8, M27 – Pass incomplete to TE Seydou Traore, but Georgia CB flagged for interference;
- 3rd quarter, third-and-10, G45 – Van Buren sacked for 7-yard loss by Georgia OLB Chaz Chambliss, but Chambliss called for facemask after unintentionally pulling off Van Buren’s helmet;
- 4th quarter, third-and-8, G35 – Van Buren’s pass to Kelly Akharaiyi is complete for 35-yard touchdown with 1:47 remaining in game.
Said Smart: “We gave them plays. The play down our sideline and then the touchdown. And then the other drive it was the third downs. There’s two third downs on that one drive. I mean, we’re off the field and we have -- I don’t want to say undisciplined penalties -- but they were just bad timing.”
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