First-And-10 To Know: State vs. Georgia

STARKVILLE – On the heels of a huge Southeastern Conference win at Arkansas, Mississippi State is back at home and hungry for more. To get it, they'll have to go through one of the nation's best.

MSU (5-4 overall, 1-4 in Southeastern Conference play) hosts No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1) at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. The game will be televised by ESPN.

Ahead of the contest, let's have a look at 10 items to be aware of as State gets ready to square off against the guys from the Peach State:

A victory on Saturday would be huge for Mississippi State in more ways than one. Not only would it add to the program momentum that has been building all season long, but it would also make MSU bowl eligible. The last time State was bowl eligible was in 2022, the final season in the head coaching career of the late, great Mike Leach.
MSU is also attempting to accomplish something that hasn't happened in over a decade. State is seeking its first victory over an Associated Press top-five team since the Maroon and White topped No. 2 Auburn in 2014. That win earned MSU the school's first-ever No. 1 ranking when the AP poll was released the following day.
Saturday is the 28th all-time meeting between Mississippi State and Georgia. It's the fifth consecutive meeting in which Georgia has been ranked inside the AP top 15 and the third meeting in a row in which Georgia has been inside the top five. Georgia has won each of the last five games between the two programs, but MSU and Georgia have split the last two games played in Starkville.
It's nothing new for MSU head coach Jeff Lebby to be staring down a highly-ranked squad. Georgia will be the ninth top-15 opponent MSU has faced since Lebby took over prior to last year. That's 41 percent of State's games since the beginning of the 2024 campaign. Twenty-two percent of MSU's games in that span have been against top 10 teams and 14 percent of State's contests have come against top 5 foes.
For Mississippi State receiver Anthony Evans III, Saturday's game will be his first chance to square off against his former team. Evans spent his freshman and sophomore seasons in Athens ahead of transferring to MSU this year. It's turned out to be a great move for Evans, who enters Saturday tied for first in the SEC in receptions and he's seventh in the league in receiving yards.
Evans and fellow receiver Brenen Thompson have been two standouts of MSU's big-play offense. The duo has each had three 100-plus-yard receiving games this season and on two occasions, each had 100 or more yards receiving in the same game. Evans and Thompson are the first duo in Mississippi State history to have multiple same-game, 100-plus-yard receiving performances in the same season. The only other duo to have multiple 100-plus-yard receiving performances in the same game was Fred Ross and De'Runnya Wilson, but it occurred in two different seasons – one in 2014 and one in 2015.
As has been noted all season, MSU's defense has been greatly improved this year over last season's performance. After allowing 34.1 points and 456.4 yards per game last year, this season, State is allowing 24.7 points and 368.9 yards per game. MSU also already has created two more turnovers than all of last season, including 11 interceptions – a total that leads the SEC and is tied for 12th nationally.
Georgia comes to Starkville as a team that just keeps finding ways to win. Georgia has trailed in five of its six SEC games this season,\ but has come from behind to win all but one of them. Georgia rallied to beat Tennessee and Auburn on the road, then outscored Ole Miss 17-0 in the fourth quarter to top the Rebels in Athens. Most recently, Georgia fought from behind to defeat rival Florida 24-20. Georgia's only loss came in a 24-21 game against Alabama. The only SEC game Georgia has led wire-to-wire was a 35-14 victory over Kentucky.
Saturday's game is a battle between two teams at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of time of possession. MSU, who loves to score from far and put together quick strikes to the end zone, is last in the SEC and 127th in the country in time of possession, averaging 26:47 with the ball each game. Meanwhile Georgia is second in the SEC and ninth in the nation in time of possession at 33:02 per contest.
Starting this weekend, the final quarter of MSU's regular season schedule is particularly tough. All of State's final three opponents are currently ranked inside the AP top 20. Following the tilt against Georgia, MSU faces a road trip to currently-No. 19 Missouri on Saturday, Nov. 15, then State hosts currently-No. 7 Ole Miss in the annual Battle for the Golden Egg on Friday, Nov. 28.

Mississippi State University Athletics

First-And-10 To Know: State vs. Georgia

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Anthony Evans III

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