The Georgia Bulldogs hosted the Mississippi State Bulldogs in their last home game at Sanford Stadium for five weeks. They eventually won 41-31, but, as they say, it wasn’t pretty at times. It was UGA’s 28th consecutive home victory and improved their record to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference.

   As is the case with a lot of Bulldog games, it was a tale of two halves. The offense had their best game so far against an SEC team with quarterback Carson Beck completing 36 of 48 passes for a career-high 459 yards and three touchdowns. The 36 passes tied a team record for completions. He did have a pair of interceptions…but, one was on a deflection…the other was killing a drive at the goal line.

   At the half, it seemed like Georgia had underperformed even though they had 27 points and 369 yards of offense.

  The defense had done a good job only allowing 10 points with three of that coming on a short field goal after the first turnover. The MSU offense had just 130 yards of offense with 72 of that coming on one deep pass and another 24 on a TD score leaving just 34 yards otherwise.

    Key plays included a spectacular 31-yard touchdown catch by Dillon Bell and a 1-yard scoring pass to tight end Lawson Luckie.

    UGA had seven possessions and scored on five of them taking a 27-10 lead into the locker room.

    Then, there was the other half. Beck opened the second half with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Arian Smith, extending Georgia’s lead to 34-10.

    But, Mississippi State somehow began to figure out the UGA defense.  

   Freshman quarterback, Michael Van Buren Jr., who had been mostly ineffective up to that point, ignited his team’s offense. Van Buren completed 20 of 37 passes for 306 yards, throwing three touchdowns leading a spirited comeback attempt.

    He connected with Kelly Akharaiyi for two touchdowns, narrowing Georgia’s lead to 34-24.

   Despite the surge, UGA’s defense managed to hold firm when it mattered most. With the game on the line, Beck orchestrated a crucial 16-play touchdown drive, culminating in a short run by Trevor Etienne that solidified Georgia’s lead at 41-24.

   In the final minutes, Mississippi State added another touchdown, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Georgia’s earlier lead. The game ended at 41-31, highlighting both teams’ offenses but also exposing some defensive vulnerabilities for UGA.

    Georgia is definitely happy with the 605 yards of total offense they put up. Carson Beck and Arian Smith had career-best games in yardage. But, the team has still not put together four quarters of football.

    “It’s like they didn’t beat us. We gave them two plays,” Kirby Smart said. “The play down our sideline and then the touchdown. And then the other drive 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’re just bad timing on them.”

   Things definitely don’t get  easier as Georgia must address its defensive lapses before heading to Austin to face the top-ranked Texas Longhorns next week.

   Coach Smart acknowledged the need for improvement, particularly in their secondary, which struggled against Mississippi State’s passing attack, something Texas will definitely be licking their chops about.

  The #1 ranked Longhorns are coming off a 34-3 thrashing of longtime rival Oklahoma. Gametime is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on ABC-TV.