ATHENS, Ga. — This was supposed to be an easy game for Georgia football.
Georgia faced a struggling UMass team that had already replaced its quarterback due to injury and fired its head coach.
Instead, the Bulldogs' defense struggled at points and allowed the Minutemen to score 21 points. However, thanks to a great day by the offense, Georgia wound up winning 59-21.
Here's how Georgia nabbed a win despite a fairly flawed performance by the No. 10 team in the country.
Offense keeps its momentum
After a terrific performance against Tennessee a week ago, it was unclear if the Bulldogs' offense would be able to keep up the strong performance.
It's been a difficult season for their offense and quarterback Carson Beck, but they turned a corner last week and kept up that strong offensive play for a second straight week.
Beck threw for nearly 300 yards, four touchdowns and completed around 65% of his passes and, for a second straight week, was turnover-free. There was a brief scare when he fumbled the ball but quickly recovered it.
Thanks to Gunner Stockton's solid performance, aside from overthrowing a ball to freshman Jaden Reddell, the Bulldogs reached over 300 passing yards in the game.
Arian Smith had another 100-yard receiving game for the Bulldogs, and Oscar Delp continued his positive momentum from the week before by hauling in his third touchdown in two games. Fellow receiver Dominic Lovett and running back Cash Jones also had two receiving touchdowns of their own.
On the ground, Nate Frazier led the way with a terrific game. He had over 20 carries for 136 yards and three touchdowns. Fellow freshmen Chauncey Bowens and Dwight Phillips Jr. also got a few carries, as the freshman showed out in the ground game for the Bulldogs.
Georgia likely would've scored more than 52 points on offense if not for UMass dominating the time of possession and the lack of consistent protection around Beck. Xavier Truss particularly struggled, as Beck was pressured consistently from the right side.
Overall, it wasn't perfect, and Georgia fans likely wanted even more points, but the offense still looked effective in a solid win.
Defense can't 'cover' or 'smother'
It was not the dominant performance the Georgia defense needed to cement themselves as a potential top competitor in the postseason.
Instead of dominating, the Bulldogs allowed nearly 250 yards rushing and two touchdowns, as Jalen John and CJ Hester carved up Georgia's front seven all game long. The unit as a whole had trouble tackling both, which has been a struggle for Georgia all season long.
Wide receiver Jakobie Keeney-James also had multiple big plays over Georgia defenders, plays that likely should've been knocked away or defended better. He had one, where he was double covered by sixth-year senior Dan Jackson and sophomore Daniel Harris, as still caught the football, as both players seemed to have lost the ball in the air.
Despite the poor performance, players like Mykel Williams and Warren Brinson still picked up sacks and led the team in total tackles. The best play of the evening was a strip sack by freshman Quintavious Johnson, which was recovered by Chris Cole for a 31-yard touchdown in garbage time.
The Bulldogs were able to still grab a win but did not demonstrate any aspects of the "covered and smothered" namesake they've showcased at points this season. They were able to win this game thanks to the offense playing stellar and their opponent not being physically and athletically talented.
However. if the Bulldogs want to make a deep run in the upcoming postseason and take down top teams like Oregon or Ohio State, the defense can't make so many simple mistakes and will need to make more plays like Johnson and Cole's strip-sack and a touchdown they nabbed late in the game.
Taking on Tech
Georgia's regular season will reach its conclusion next week.
After a long season with plenty of ups and downs, the Bulldogs will face arch-rival Georgia Tech the day after Thanksgiving.
While in recent years, the Bulldogs have been able to easily breeze past the Yellow Jackets, this season may not be as easy. They already upset a top-10 team in Miami and will likely be looking to do the same against Georgia.
If the Bulldogs play their best, they'll be just fine. However, if they can't stop quarterback Haynes King and the Yellow Jackets on the ground, it may be a close battle.
Georgia's postseason hopes ride on finishing the season out strong, so time will tell if the team will manage to do just that.