ATHENS, Ga. — For much of the afternoon, this was not the best game for Georgia in the eye test department — especially on defense, which continued the general program effort to make sure you never know what to expect from this team.
In the end, though, the expected blowout still happened. And while No. 10 Georgia puttered around for a while with UMass, events elsewhere were making this a good afternoon for the Bulldogs’ position in the College Football Playoff hierarchy.
Takeaways after Georgia’s 59-21 win over U-Mass, including what the day meant in the big picture.
The Playoff push
Kirby Smart spent much of the week complaining that the College Football Playoff selection committee wasn’t giving Georgia enough credit for its schedule. He probably hopes committee members didn’t notice his team up only 10 points early in the third quarter over a 2-8 team that fired its head coach six days earlier.
But as Georgia pulled away early in the fourth quarter, the video board at Sanford Stadium showed the waning moments of another game: Florida’s 24-17 upset of Ole Miss, resulting in a rare ovation for the Gators in this stadium.
That game, along with No. 5 Indiana’s convincing loss at No. 2 Ohio State, may propel Georgia up a couple of spots. That’s no guarantee. Indiana still has one fewer loss than Georgia, and Ole Miss still has a convincing win over the Bulldogs.
But the chances of Georgia moving up are clearly improved, with the goal to eventually secure a first-round home game. If it moves up only two spots, and the rankings stay the same, the Bulldogs would not yet be in position to get a home game because the top four seeds go to conference champions. The key word of course is “yet,” and Georgia has to take care of business next Friday against Georgia Tech.
The SEC championship still isn’t off the table either. Alabama would need to lose one of its final two games — at Oklahoma tonight or next week against Auburn — or Texas or Texas A&M could lose on Saturday and then win their showdown next week. There’s also a scenario in which Georgia moves up in the tiebreakers over Alabama if Missouri loses both of its remaining games.
Cue Chris Berman “Whoop”
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— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) November 23, 2024
Georgia’s defense
Good-naturedly — but sort of not — Smart had punter Brett Thorson speak to the defense after the Aussie’s open-field tackle against Tennessee. The message apparently didn’t get through. There were missed tackles throughout the first half and a generally mediocre effort against a UMass team that came in ranked 118th nationally in total offense and 116th in scoring.
UMass took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards, all but 1 yard coming on the ground. In all, the Minutemen racked up 165 rushing yards in the first half, averaging 5.9 yards per run. That was already close to a season-high yielded by the Georgia defense, which had been 173 at Alabama.
There was a bevy of big plays. A 38-yard run on the first drive. A 75-yard completion early in the second half, in between two Georgia defenders who could neither break up the pass nor make the tackle afterward.
And just when it seemed safe for Georgia to start resting the starters, the defense gave up a 68-yard run up the gut late in the third quarter.
Georgia’s offense
It should’ve been the offense — with numerous players out due to injury — with excuses. But quarterback Carson Beck led the team to a touchdown on each of its four drives in the first half and six of the first seven drives overall, with the exception being a field goal.
Beck finished with 297 passing yards and four touchdown passes before ceding to Gunner Stockton in the fourth quarter.
Freshman tailback Nate Frazier racked up 136 rushing yards and three touchdowns, with fellow freshmen Dwight Phillips Jr. and Chauncey Bowens also getting some valuable touches. The receiver group, just as banged up, saw Cole Speer and Sacovie White targeted early.
All in all, the game went as expected for the offense — other than not being able to get the youngsters in earlier, thanks to the unexpected difficulties on defense.
(Photo of Carson Beck: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
