The Georgia Bulldogs survived the ‘trap game’ against Mississippi State by a 41-21 win. After the first touchdown drive from MSU, Georgia reeled off 38 points straight, leading to a comfortable win, extending the Dawgs’ series record to 22-6. Despite a blowout 20-point win, the ex-Georgia player pointed out Kirby Smart’s blunder, which could alert their Playoff opponents.

On the November 8th episode of See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack, David Pollack pointed out Kirby Smart’s mid-game Marcus Freeman-inspired move to draw offside. With around two minutes left in the first half, on the 4th and 3, Kirby Smart sent his punt unit onto the field at the Mississippi State 38, but proceeded to substitute the offense. This tricked Georgia’s defense, as DL Jaray Bledsoe jumped offside, giving the Bulldogs a first down. This extended their drive, where Gunner Stockton passed to Zachariah Branch for a 19-yard touchdown with 11 seconds to go in the half to go up 24-7.

David Pollack claimed that it is one of the toughest things for the defense to predict, and they don’t have the time to look out, which forced them into an offside. “That play is really hard,” Pollack explained why it is hard for the defense. “I don’t know what personnel you’re in. So I don’t know what I need to get in. So I don’t have a chance to look at it, you got 12 personnel, one really what pushed it out of the game like out of the way, cuz then they drew them off sides after Mississippi State took a timeout, and they did it twice.” 

He felt that the head coach wasted the move against Mississippi State. If it were him, he would have saved it for the Playoffs. “I wouldn’t have wasted this on Mississippi State.” Pollack claimed, “I would have saved this and put it in my back pocket.” However, he believes that they could see this move more often throughout college football, “because it’s brilliant”. 

This is how Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame tricked Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last season, which cost Georgia their national title last season.

Kirby Smart Gives Credit to Notre Dame

Georgia’s head coach addressed the punt team and offense personnel, changing strategy on the post-game press conference. Kirby Smart believes that it was the turning point of the game. “It was a huge turning point in the game when we got them to jump offsides and cashed in with (Mike) Bobo’s call on the screen,” coach Smart said.

Where Smart admitted that it was the lesson learnt from their loss to Notre Dame in the playoffs last season. “We keep it, we keep a lot of things like that in our back pocket,” Kirby Smart said. “Try to be aggressive and use them. We learned a valuable lesson against Notre Dame. Let’s just say that.”

Georgia’s whole special teams run-in was reminiscent of the Notre Dame vs Georgia Sugar Bowl game, where Marcus Freeman substituted 11 players with their punt team on a 4th-and-1, from deep within their own territory. This made two of Georgia’s defenders jump offside. This helped them extend their drive and maintain possession of the ball, leading to a 23-10 loss.