Following a season-reviving home win over then-No. 7 Tennessee, No. 10 Georgia is mindful of avoiding a misstep against UMass on Saturday afternoon in Athens, Ga.
Georgia (8-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) climbed two spots in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings after its 31-17 win over the Volunteers last Saturday. On the heels of a 28-10 loss at Ole Miss on Nov. 9, the Bulldogs outscored Tennessee 31-7 over the final three quarters.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck delivered a much-needed 347-yard, two-touchdown performance in the win.
Beck, who had thrown nine interceptions in his previous four games, was turnover-free Saturday for the first time since Oct. 5.
“This team’s been in some tough situations this year,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “And they’ve never cowered down from those opportunities. They’ve shown resiliency, and they’ve battled back.”
After wrapping up its conference slate, the Bulldogs still need help in qualifying for the SEC Championship Game. Entering Saturday, Georgia sits behind a pair of one-conference loss teams in No. 3 Texas and No. 15 Texas A&M. The Bulldogs are tied with No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss in the loss column but would lose the tiebreaker to each of those teams.
Smart dismissed the idea of worrying about hypotheticals ahead of Saturday’s matchup.
“The focus is on UMass,” Smart said. “I mean, it really is. So, why would I put energy or time into trying to figure out what the best pathway is, including the SEC Championship, when I’m worried about UMass? I just don’t think it’s a quality conversation.”
Georgia and Smart hope to see the injury bug go away. Leading rusher Trevor Etienne (477 rushing yards, seven touchdowns) was sidelined against Tennessee with a rib injury, while wide receiver Dillon Bell (405 receiving yards, four touchdowns) left last week’s game with an ankle injury.
“No update on Dillon really,” Smart said. “He’s got an ankle sprain. It’s stable. It’s not going to require any kind of surgery or anything. So, we’re hopeful to get him back, and same with Trevor.”
UMass (2-8) nearly pulled off its first FBS win of the season last Saturday, however a missed an extra point in overtime proved large in its 35-34 home loss to Liberty. Two days later, the school fired head coach Don Brown after compiling a 6-28 record in two-plus years in his second stint with the program.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shane Montgomery will take over as interim coach for the Minutemen’s last two games of the season.
“We’ve got two games left, two big games,” Montgomery said. “We still have a lot to play for. … There’s two ways you can go from here. You can either feel sorry for yourself and not improve daily, or you can keep improving. If you’ve watched us the last number of weeks, I think you see a team that seems to be improving. We’re excited about going down to Georgia.”
UMass, which has played Georgia once before — a 66-27 loss in the season finale in 2018 — already has faced off against a pair of SEC teams this season. The Minutemen fell to Missouri 45-3 on Oct. 12, and 45-20 to Mississippi State on Nov. 2.
In place of Taisun Phommachanh, who’s out for the season with lower body injuries, the Minutemen will start freshman AJ Hairston. Hairston thrown for 225 yards and a touchdown in two games.
