Inconsistencies and officiating woes plagued Mississippi State University football in the team’s 45-19 loss to No. 1 University of Georgia this past Saturday. 
After an overtime victory over Auburn University on Nov. 5, MSU looked to carry their consistent scoring ability at home against the best team in college football. However, UGA displayed their dominance and physicality inside of Davis Wade Stadium and remained undefeated on the season and clinching the SEC East.
UGA jumped out to an early lead on MSU as quarterback Stetson Bennett found tight-end Brock Bowers for the first score of the game. The MSU defense held UGA to seven points in the first quarter and continuously found ways to get the offense back on the field.
Even though there were officiating woes, MSU could not find a rhythm offensively in the first half against one of the best defenses in the country. UGA held Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense to 141 total yards in the first half of the game.
After the game, MSU quarterback Will Rogers discussed to the media the difficulty of playing against the UGA defense.
“They have all [like] five-star players and they’re pretty good on defense,” Rogers said after the loss. “Coach [Kirby] Smart does a really good job, they had a really good scheme for what we were doing, and it’s hard to finish drives on a good team.”
As UGA led 17-6 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half, Davis Wade Stadium started to become quiet. The silence was short-lived, however, as Zavion Thomas returned a 63-yard punt from UGA for a house-call with time running down in the second quarter.
The electrifying touchdown from Thomas brought the MSU faithful back into the game and kept Leach’s squad within one score heading into the second half.
MSU’s momentum from the end of the second quarter was shut down quickly by UGA, as wide receiver Ladd McConkey found the end zone on a 70-yard touchdown run off of a jet sweep. The UGA offense followed that up with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Bennett to McConkey and pushed the lead to 31-12 towards the end of the third quarter.
After the tough loss to UGA, coach Leach discussed what UGA’s defense did against MSU that made it tough for his squad to put points on the board.
“I thought we did some good things,” Leach said following the game. “There was kind of a feel-out process to see what we were capable of doing. I didn’t think it took us too long. I think that we were, not really tentative, but just sort of feeling our way through the situation.”
With close to five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Rogers found wideout Rufus Harvey for a six-yard touchdown. The connection form Rogers to Harvey decreased the UGA lead to just 12 with still a whole quarter to play, but UGA put their foot on the gas and did not let up.
MSU’s offensive inconsistencies continued into the fourth quarter as UGA put the game out of reach and left Starkvegas with a 45-19 victory and secured them a spot in Atlanta, Georgia, for the SEC Championship game against Louisiana State University.
For MSU football, they will look to rebound and remain healthy against East Tennessee State University Saturday ahead of the ever-so intriguing Egg Bowl against the University of Mississippi on Thanksgiving Day. MSU’s last home game of the season against ETSU will kickoff at 11 a.m. and will be broadcasted live on SEC Network Plus.