Mississippi State got back in the win column last weekend and is looking for more this week in its return home to Davis Wade Stadium.
The Bulldogs (5-4, 1-4 SEC) are a win away from being bowl eligible for the first time since the 2022 season, but their next opponent is more worried about College Football Playoff eligibility.
Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC) has its sights set on another conference title and more after a strong start to the season, and could prove to be the toughest test yet for MSU.
The Standard
Georgia is an opponent that carries weight with the name alone. Head coach Kirby Smart built a recruiting powerhouse and a back-to-back national championship-winning program after taking over in 2016, rivaling Nick Saban’s Alabama by the end of his mentor’s career in Tuscaloosa.
While it’s been a couple of years since the last title, Smart’s team has remained a perennial contender because of the new standard, and above all, a ruthless defense.
“Very talented defense, as you all know,” Shapen said of Georgia. “Good team, well-coached, disciplined, all of those things. They’re going to be in the right place at the right time. I think the strength of their defense is the defensive line. The secondary is also good, but the strength is definitely the defensive line. We’ve got a good test on Saturday.”
Smart’s unit ranks 21st in FBS in total defense, and while it’s middle of the pack in terms of pass defense, it ranks 15th in rushing defense. Georgia is one of 15 FBS teams to average fewer than 100 rushing yards against, allowing just 3.07 yards per rush.
MSU struggled to run the ball in Fluff Bothwell’s return to action at Arkansas, and head coach Jeff Lebby pointed to that as something that cannot continue into this week. The imbalance of explosive passing plays and negative run plays nearly doomed the Bulldogs on the road, and reigniting the ground game is a priority if they’re to have a chance against the other Bulldogs on Saturday.
“We can’t be one-dimensional, or it’s going to be really hard for us up front,” Lebby said. “Running the football and finding ways to create some balance is going to be critical for us. I think we have shown that when we have the ability to sit in there and throw and catch, we’ve done a decent job of it. So again, finding a way to run the ball to create some balance, that way we can get the matchups that we want.”
Lebby remarked that he wants to play from ahead. He wants to see his team make the plays early to take hold of a game, but he also recognizes that the opponent in front of them will make that difficult in every way for them, and they have to be ready to respond to however the game plays out.
In Georgia, the Bulldogs face a program that has built a standard and identity over nearly a decade under Smart’s tenure. That’s a standard the Bulldogs want to reach themselves, but in the meantime, they have to learn that it comes with minimizing errors and negatives regardless of how the game is going.
“I know we’re going to respond, and fight, and we’re going to play incredibly hard,” he said. “It was great to have the ability to feel good, to make plays at the end of the game to win the game. When you think about what Georgia has done over a long history since (Kirby Smart) has been there, they don’t blink because it’s programmed. That’s what the program is. He’s had incredible sustained success, and there’s great belief inside those walls that, regardless of what’s gone on, they’ll find a way. That’s built over time.”
Secondary smarts
The Bulldogs have been able to lean on one of the top secondary units in the country this year, snagging an SEC-leading 11 interceptions. Sophomore cornerback Kelley Jones has emerged as a strength as well, breaking up nine passes and ranking first in the conference with 10 forced incompletions.
“They get after it, they’re very disruptive,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said of the MSU secondary. “They confuse you with different packages, have some different looks they use, and they have some long length. I haven’t seen this kind of length in a long time at corner and safety, in terms of length. It allows you to tip balls, knock balls down, intercept balls. They are very lengthy and can get balls down and create havoc through what they do. They’ve done a really good job this year creating those turnovers. They’re plus in the margin, and anytime you’re plus in the margin in our league, that’s winning because it’s a really competitive league in terms of turnovers.”
Another area of improvement for the Bulldog defense has been in defending the run and dialing up pressure on the quarterback. It’s not a strength that puts the defense among the best units in the country, but it is enough to give MSU a chance against a difficult conference schedule.
Preventing big plays has been a struggle, particularly late in games, but the Bulldogs showed against Arkansas that they can shut down a playmaker quarterback with the right recipe.
Taylen Green, who destroyed the Bulldog defense with six touchdowns in 2024, was held down for four consecutive drives in the fourth quarter as the Razorbacks blew a 14-point lead in the final minutes.
“Being able to keep contain on (Green),” MSU linebacker Zakari Tillman said of the key to success in the game. “He’s a big threat with his legs and a big playmaker, just keeping contain on him, and I feel like we did a really good job of keeping him in the pocket.”
Tillman and the MSU defense see a similar threat this week in Gunner Stockton. While he isn’t as prolific as Green, his seven touchdowns on the ground and 4.1 yards per carry show that he has more to his game than what he can do as a passer.
“(Stockton) is a playmaker with his legs as well,” Tillman said. “I think a lot of people probably underestimate his ability with the ball, but we’ll game prep similar (to Green) as well.”
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