Gunner Stockton throws for three touchdowns as No. 5 Georgia beats Mississippi State 41-21

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Gunner Stockton threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns and No. 5 Georgia beat Mississippi State 41-21 on Saturday.

Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) surrendered a touchdown on the opening drive of the game and then scored 38 straight points.

“Really proud of our guys. I thought that was a total team effort in a really tough place to play,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “I have a lot of respect for Jeff (Lebby). This team has played great all year. We had good leadership this week and our conditioning was the difference.”

It was a complete mismatch on both sides of the ball as the Georgia Bulldogs held the Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-5, 1-5 SEC) scoreless on six consecutive possessions while scoring five straight touchdowns themselves. Everything worked for Georgia offensively as Stockton finished 18 of 29 passing for 264 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 31 more yards.

Where Georgia really set the tone was in the rushing attack. The visiting Bulldogs had 305 yards rushing and averaged 7.3 yards per carry with freshman Nate Frazier running for 181 yards yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries. Zachariah Branch had eight catches for 68 yards and a score and Noah Thomas finished with three catches for 78 yards and a touchdown.

“It was a total team effort. You can’t run the ball unless you commit to the run,” Smart said. “It takes extra work and reps, but we have a special team that believes in that and a quarterback that believes in that."

A bevy of injuries came MSU’s way in the game. Starting quarterback Blake Shapen left the game in the third quarter with an apparent head injury and did not return. Defensive captain Isaac Smith left the first half with a lower leg injury while safety Brylan Lanier exited in the second half.

Shapen finished the game 10 of 15 for 86 yards and had 15 yards rushing. MSU had 149 yards rushing overall.

Freshman Kamario Taylor came in for Shapen and finished 6 of 10 for 67 yards and had 12 carries for 53 yards with all three of the team’s scores. Fluff Bothwell had nine carries for 44 yards and Brenen Thompson was the leading receiver with four catches for 92 yards.

“I cannot be more appreciative for what our stadium looked like today and what the town and community did to create this buzz for us,” Lebby said. “That’s one of the more frustrating pieces of it for me. For us to go play the way that we did today, we picked a bad time to not go play at our best against a really good football team.”

Georgia has answered almost every week this year and continuously found ways to win but Saturday was somewhat of a concern for Smart. After the early touchdown from Mississippi State, the visiting Bulldogs made sure to stay firmly in the College Football Playoff picture.

Mississippi State had an opportunity for Lebby’s first top-10 win at the school, but the talent discrepancy was too large in this one.

Georgia hosts Texas next Saturday. Mississippi State travels to Missouri on the same day.

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