You don’t win a nip and tuck game against the vaunted and definitely not terrible Mississippi State Bulldogs without a total team effort. Even then, some Bulldogs are bound to do, well, more than their teammates who appear to be phoning it in. Those intrepid ball players are your MVDs, the Most Valuable ‘Dawgs from Georgia’s underwhelming 41-31 victory over the Bizarro Bulldogs.
Offense: Carson Beck. Beck threw two interceptions, one of which played a major part in making this one a heckuva lot closer than it had any right to be. Nevertheless, he did throw for a career high 459 yards and 3 touchdowns. He did so by hitting 11 different receivers.
Defense: Dan Jackson. The Georgia defense began the game by giving up 12 yards total on the first three possessions of the game. And then Jeff Lebby and Michael Van Buren figured them out and shredded them like G. Gordon Liddy attacking a stack of Nixon White House documents. But among the steadier performers on the night was Dangerous Dan, who finished with 5 tackles (including a couple to prevent first downs) and was about the only member of the secondary not repeatedly and maliciously victimized. Jackson was competent and put forth a uniformly solid effort, which is more than some Bulldogs can say tonight.
Special Teams: Peyton Woodring. Brett Thorson had one punt, and it was fine. Anthony Evans didn’t fumble or bobble any kicks, but also only had a single punt return for all of 6 yards. Woodring hit 2 of 3 field goals and was a perfect 5 of 5 on extra points. That’s 11 points in a game Georgia won by 10 points. Again, Woodring simply did what was expected of him, which on this night is sadly noteworthy.
Feel free to offer your own suggestions in the comments, and…
Go ‘Dawgs!!!