ATHENS, Ga. – Mississippi State’s football team should get a confidence boost off its much-closer-than-expected game against No. 5 Georgia.

But a 41-31 loss is still a loss and there are some major concerns Mississippi State needs to address if it hopes to pull of an upset or two in the final six games.

Here are some of the things that went wrong for Mississippi State on Saturday against Georgia.

What went wrong?

Run game. Mississippi State ran the ball 26 times for a total of 79 yards. That’s an average of only three yards per carry. Johnnie Daniels’ 19-yard touchdown run was the longest rushing play in the game. Mississippi State appeared to have found a ground game before the bye week, but it was practically non-existent against Georgia.

What went wrong?

Pass defense. Carson Beck set a new career-best with 459 yards and wasn’t sacked a single time. He was rarely pressured when he dropped back for a pass and saw wide open receivers downfield all game. Sure, the defense had two interceptions, but those were more a by-product of being in the right place at the right time.

What went wrong?

Kickoff out-of-bounds. The only “bad” kick of the game for Mississippi State was on a kickoff by Nick Barr-Mira that went out-of-bounds and gave Georgia a short field.

What Went Right? Mississippi State’s Comeback Falls Short vs Georgia

Mississippi State Football: Why Every Team Should Be on Upset Alert

Mississippi State Makes Georgia Sweat But Falls 41-31

SEC football returns between the hedges this weekend as No. 5 Georgia welcomes conference rival Mississippi State in college football’s Week 7 action on Saturday. Let’s check in with the latest prediction for the game from an expert model that picks winners.

Georgia rebounded from its loss at Alabama two weeks ago by defeating rival Auburn at home, moving to 4-1 overall and a 1-1 mark in SEC play, and is a big favorite heading into this matchup against Jeff Lebby’s team.

Mississippi State fell to 0-2 in SEC games after losses against Texas and Florida and sits 110th nationally in scoring defense, allowing nearly 32 points per game, while posting the 90th ranked rushing offense and the 84th scoring attack in the nation.

What do the analytics suggest for this SEC matchup?

For that, let’s turn to the SP+ prediction model to get a preview for how Georgia and Mississippi State compare in this Week 7 college football game.

As expected, the simulations are siding strongly with the home team in this game.

SP+ predicts that Georgia will defeat Mississippi State by a projected score of 43 to 13 and will win the game by an expected 30.1 point margin.

The model gives Georgia a near universal 97 percent chance of outright victory in the game.

SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”

How good is it this season? So far, the SP+ model is 154-141-3 against the spread with a 52.2 win percentage.

Georgia is a 33.5 point favorite against Mississippi State, according to the lines at FanDuel Sportsbook.

FanDuel lists the total at 53.5 points for the game (Over -115, Under -105).

And it set the moneyline odds for Georgia at -20000 and for Mississippi State at +4000 to win outright.

If you’re using this prediction to bet on the game, you should take …

Bettors are almost evenly divided on how to interpret the game, according to the latest spread consensus picks.

A slight majority of bets — 51 percent — suggest that Georgia will win the game and cover the big spread in the process.

The other 49 percent of wagers expect Mississippi State will keep the game within the line.

Other analytical models also predictably side with Georgia against Mississippi State this week.

That includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times to pick winners.

Georgia is projected to win outright in the overwhelming 95.1 percent of the FPI computer’s most recent simulations of the game.

That leaves Mississippi State as the expected winner in the remaining 4.9 percent of sims.

Georgia is projected to be 26.9 points better than Mississippi State on the same field in both teams’ current composition, according to the model’s latest forecast.

Georgia is second among SEC teams with a 74.9 percent chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff and will win 9.2 games this season, according to the FPI’s metrics.

That model gives Mississippi State a win total projection of 2.8 games and a 0.4 percent chance to play in a bowl game this year.

When: Sat., Oct. 12
Time: 4:15 p.m. ET | 3:15 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Today was the start of the 34th year of the Celtic Fest. It is the second year that the fest has started with Demo Day.

Demo Day was from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is now open to everyone and not just those with children. It is a day set aside for observing and learning what different things the fest has to offer.

Suezen Brown, Director of Celtic Fest Mississippi, said that there are different demonstration stations set up around the fest.

“There’s Scottish dance going on, there’s Irish dance, Mississippi Forge Council is here with blacksmithing demos,” said Brown. “On our main stage we’ve got introduction to Irish and Scottish instruments – multiple instruments – happening right at the moment.”

The Mississippi Forge Council was a popular demonstration booth. The booth had items for sell that blacksmiths made themselves. They also actively made items behind the booth, so that attendees could observe and learn.

Lon Wimberley, President of Mississippi Forge Council, said their motto is “By teaching we learn.”

“Once a month we get together and do demonstrations and teach one another and try to pass our craft on to others.”

Don’t worry if you missed Demo Day because the fest started today at 4 p.m. and has many things to experience. Some of these things include the Highland Games Competitions, traditional musicians, Irish and Scottish dancing, ax throwing, booths, and more. So, if you want to attend, you can buy tickets online or at the door.

The fest will continue throughout the weekend until Sunday evening.

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