I’m starting to wonder when Vegas will start to catch up with the Georgia team most of us have already figured out. Since no one in the conference has beaten anyone by 33 points, who in their right mind would have bet on the Dawgs at 33.5, when they haven’t played 4 quarters of complimentary football all year? I’m sure Vegas is getting theirs in other games, but they have to be losing their shirts on Georgia this year. Not that anyone is crying for them. Anyway, this game again played out as expected, with Georgia staking out a large lead and then not playing to their standard the rest of the way. The latter part of that sentence is the difference in the team this year. I thought the crowd played their part well, the offense showed up for four quarters, and the defense for two. Kirby certainly exceeded his screaming quota of on the sideline, sparing few from his wrath. It didn’t seem to make much of a difference though as MSU made a mini-comeback as the defense played without their first half intensity. But hey, this team needed an easy win and got it. On to the bullets:

• Good first several series by the defense, as they were very active and applied good pressure to the freshman QB. TID in particular continues to dominate, and the run defense was elite in the first half.
• Interesting to see Chris Cole with early PT; he’s seemingly already passed Troy Bowles from last year’s class and looked decent on Saturday. I’d prefer he not play next week though, unless absolutely necessary.
• The offense again started sloppy with whiffed blocks from Fairchild and Humphreys, multiple low throws from Carson and the drop by Luckie. That said, Etienne ran hard all night and took some big shots from the MSU linebackers that our OL failed to reach.
• Speaking of the OL, the pass blocking was terrific through most of the game, other than a couple of miscommunications. I also loved Bobo mixing in some counter run play designs with our usual inside zone and man schemes. That seemed to neutralize MSU’s good run defenders. File that away for next week.
• As for Carson, I thought he got unnecessarily antsy on several throws and imagined pressure that wasn’t there. With regard to his two INTs, the first one was Fairchild’s fault for not getting his hands on the MSU defensive lineman, and the second one apparently was the result of a pass interference that was not called or shown on TV. If that’s the case, then he had one hell of a day. Those explosive pass plays seemed to galvanize the offense and I believe the Dawgs scored on every possession with an explosive play.
• Woodring missed his first FG of the year, but it was a long one so we can forgive the atypical duck-hook.
• I know a lot of people don’t like that Bobo runs all those short passes, but when Miss State decides to play a 10 yard umbrella coverage the smart thing to do is take what you’re given. Eventually they started playing man and that’s when Carson took advantage with intermediate and long throws.
• Branson Robinson took several shots on his R knee before the injury play. I haven’t seen any update on him, but I do hope he can come back. Roderick Robinson should be back soon, but until then it’s just more Nate Frazier, which I’m totally ok with.
• Earnest Greene needs to lose weight. His feet look slow and he’s doing too much reaching.
• The bomb against Daniel Harris was a well designed play that created confusion between Harris and the safety. But Harris’ technique also was awful. MSU used the same motion on the TD that followed, overloading one side and creating poor recognition between the corner and safety. Maybe Starks was too honest last week about being confused which position he’s playing. And Maybe he needs to just stick to Safety. I fully expect Sark to run many of these pre-snap motions next week.
• Bolden was definitely held up by an OPI – thanks for calling one against our opponents, SEC refs!
• TE comeback game? Luckie continues to play well, Delp made some nice blocks and catches, and did anyone see Yurosek make his first great block? It came right after he blocked Arian Smith out of the play, but let’s all pretend we didn’t see that. And then he got back to his typical whiffed blocks in the 4th quarter. 🙄
• Absolutely gorgeous throw and catch to Bell in the 2nd quarter, even though Carson had him initially and didn’t pull the trigger.
• Weekly DB criticism – how about just turning around and making a play on the ball? Also, too many loafs, poor play recognition and miscommunication. If not for the murder-tackling Dan Jackson and Starks blanketing WRs in the slot, this secondary would be average. 
• Mykel still limping but beat 2 OL and a RB a for a tipped pass at the end of the half. Beast! Please get healthy.
• Damon Wilson, Chris Cole and Chaz Chambliss continue the year-long tradition of killing the defense with horribly timed stupid penalties on 3rd down. Please, just stop.
• Beck’s throw to Arian was beautiful and went for 65 yards in the air. Think the NFL folks will like that?
• 12 straight completions from Beck to finish the half, as he calmed down and got his touch back. Then came the opening 3-play TD drive of the second half, and it looked like Georgia would cruise to a 30-something point win. But the defense had other plans. (Maybe literally.)
• Blatant holding on Dan Jackson on the 19-yard rushing touchdown, but the edge wasn’t set, Walker didn’t replace that edge and Starks was late to see the outside run action.
• I think I like Evans’ speed as a replacement for Colbie Young’s size, especially if the TEs continue to round into form. More, please!
• I know I say it almost every week, but Nate Frazier is sooooo fun to watch.
• MSU had some nice designs on short yardage, and Lebby used eye candy with motions and forcing the defense into unusual conflicts in those spots. Again, Sark will have several plays waiting for the back seven.
• Micah Morris at FB was fun and I hope to see that one again soon.

It appeared to me that Georgia just wanted to go to the locker room after the opening TD of the second half. MSU would not go lay down by its dish though, and I’m sure that frustrated the Georgia players. But they should have expected it, because MSU gave Texas 4 quarters of hell too. This game never felt in jeopardy, but let’s be clear: this ain’t the Georgia teams of the last 3 years. I have serious questions about the player leadership, lack of consistency and focus on defense. A lot of folks think Georgia will get blown out here in Austin this week. It’s certainly possible if they play undisciplined, the secondary doesn’t fix their issues and they can’t put pressure on Ewers. But UT hasn’t played a single team with an offensive pulse, and the Dawgs definitely have that. I’ll be there watching in person, and if anyone is making the trek to Austin, hit me up and hopefully we can have a drink together. Go Dawgs!