ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Massachusetts Minutemen drew first blood against the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs, but they didn’t keep the lead for long.
The Dawgs won 59-21 over unranked UMass at Sanford Stadium in Athens on Saturday.
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On their first drive of the game, the Minutemen managed to get into the end zone and put the first points of the game on the board. But they weren’t able to keep up the steam moving forward.
Carson Beck threw four touchdown passes, Nate Frazier ran for 136 yards with three scores and No. 8 Georgia overwhelmed Massachusetts 59-21 on Saturday as the Bulldogs tried to protect their College Football Playoff hopes.
Georgia (9-2, No. 10 CFP) needed the big offense from Beck and Frazier to rescue a defense that gave up 226 rushing yards. UMass (2-9) played its first game under interim coach Shane Montgomery, the offensive coordinator who retained his play-calling duties after replacing fired coach Don Brown on Monday.
Jalen John led the Minutemen with 107 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Georgia extended its streak of consecutive home wins to 30, the longest active streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Bulldogs linebacker Chris Cole returned a fumble recovery 31 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Quintavius Johnson’s sack of AJ Hairston and forced fumble set up the play.
Beck avoided turnovers for the second consecutive game. He threw two touchdowns without an interception and also ran for a score in the Bulldogs’ 31-17 win over No. 6 Tennessee on Nov. 16. Beck had 12 interceptions in his previous six games.
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UMass opened the game with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that included nine runs and was capped by CJ Hester’s scoring run from the 4.
The Minutemen added another clock-draining, 14-play, 75-yard drive that covered seven minutes in the second quarter and ended with another 4-yard scoring run by John.
UMass veered from its run-first plan to open the second half. Hairston threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jakobie Keaney-James, who made the catch between defensive backs Dan Jackson and Daniel Harris.
Georgia had only four possessions in the first half and each ended with a touchdown pass from Beck. The senior quarterback connected with Oscar Delp, Cash Jones, Dominic Lovett and Arian Smith for the scoring passes.
This is only the second time in history the two teams have met. In 2018, Georgia beat UMass 66-27.
Both the Associated Press Top 25 and the College Football Playoffs have the Bulldogs ranked No. 10. Only time will tell how Saturday’s win will affect their ranking and playoff chances.
Next Friday, we’ll get some “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” as Georgia takes on state rivals Georgia Tech, a rivalry the Dawgs have lost only four times this century.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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