ATHENS — It was not a great night for the Georgia secondary at large. Cornerbacks Daylen Everette, Julian Humphrey and Daniel Harris all gave up big plays in the pass game. Freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren threw for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 41-31 Georgia win.
Which makes the interception of KJ Bolden, and Kirby Smart’s comments about freshman Ellis Robinson all the more interesting.
The Bolden interception came just before halftime. It was the first of his collegiate career.
“Yeah, it was huge. He’s that type of player that he can go do that,” safety Malaki Starks said. “The first one’s always the most exciting.So I’m really excited for him, it’s gonna be the first of many.”
The interception wasn’t the only big play made by Bolden, as he also had an impressive open-field tackle to get a third down stop for Georgia in the redzone. Mississippi State ended up scoring a touchdown on the next play, but it’s still important to see Bolden continue to make strides on a weekly basis.
“He really understands the reps and the timing of everything,” Starks said of Bolden. “The more times you do it in practice, during practice it gets more comfortable. You’re able to move faster in the game. So I think it’s just his game speed and the way he’s able to move around the field.”
The interception was just the third of the season for Georgia, as Dan Jackson and Starks also have interceptions.
Bolden has been getting consistent reps since the start of the season. The same can’t be said for Robinson, who was Georgia’s highest-ranked recruit in the 2024 signing class.
But with the struggles of the Georgia secondary, what Smart had to say about Robinson after the game raised some eyebrows.
“He’s had the two best weeks of practice that he’s had,” Smart said. “I thought that with the week against Auburn, he really started, like, you can hear him talking in walk-throughs. You can hear him communicating. You see him doing things. And then he had a good week this week in practice.
“He got better. He competed. He did some good things. And you see him understanding the defense.”
Having to rely on a true freshman cornerback is never ideal. Tyson Campbell was the last one to start for Georgia back in 2018.
Robinson won’t do that next week. Especially with the Bulldogs going on the road to take on the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns boast an experienced quarterback in Quinn Ewers and a strong group of pass catchers.
Georgia’s secondary is going to have to play better moving forward. Van Buren is the second quarterback in three weeks to top 300 yards passing.
But it’s not all on the secondary. Geogria’s pass rush has disappeared. The Bulldogs didn’t have a sack for the second time in three games. In those two games, the opposing quarterback has thrown for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns both times.
If that happens against Texas next week, it will make things awfully tough for Georgia. Even with the secondary getting some promising developments from two of its youngest players.
“Texas is a different team than Mississippi State,” Smart said. “They have different structure, they have a different quarterback, different wideouts. I mean, it’s not the same offense or defense. I would have felt a lot better if the 14 points we gave them we didn’t give them. I think it could build some confidence, but we didn’t finish the game the way I would like to. That’s certainly the case.”
