ATHENS — Georgia took care of business on Saturday, beating UMass 59-21.
The same cannot be said for some of the top teams in the SEC, as Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M all lost on Saturday. Those losses helped Georgia move up to No. 6 in the Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 14.
Alabama lost to 24-3 at Oklahoma. Ole Miss went to Florida and fell 24-17. Texas A&M lost in quadruple overtime to Auburn. Add in Indiana’s loss to Ohio State and three previously top 10 teams all lost on Saturday.
At the top of the Coaches Poll, Oregon still sits at No. 1. The Ducks were off this week and take on Washington this week. Behind Oregon is Ohio State at No. 2, Texas at No. 3, Penn State at No. 4 and Notre Dame at No. 5.
Georgia was far from perfect against UMass on Saturday, as the Bulldogs gave up 226 rushing yards on the afternoon.
After the game, Kirby Smart was not all that thrilled with his team’s defensive effort.
“I don’t know that it was just tackling,” Smart said. “We did not tackle well, but it was more than just tackling. It was — like, I hate to say it, I just don’t think that our guys were ready to play and energized to play as their guys were. Their guys wanted it more than us, and it’s very rare that I could sit up here and say that. Like, they were playing harder, they were moving us, they were playing physical. They had some nice RPOs and some nice play designs, but it wasn’t about that. It’s, I want to — like, desire. That’s the biggest thing.”
Georgia will see a step up in competition this week, as it takes on Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are 7-4 on the season and coming off a 30-29 win over NC State.
Georgia Tech has not beaten Georgia since 2016, Smart’s first season in Athens. But Brent Key has made his feelings about Georgia well known.
And Georgia knows Georgia Tech will be aiming to make things difficult.
“It’s a huge game, it’s a rivalry game, it’s the end of the year, it’s inner state, it’s conference,” Smart said. “It’s representing your state, your program, and your conference.”
The College Football Playoff rankings for Week 14 will come out on Tuesday night. Friday’s game against Georgia Tech is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET start on ABC.
You can see the full Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 14 below.
Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 14
- Oregon
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Penn State
- Notre Dame
- Georgia
- Miami
- Tennessee
- SMU
- Indiana
- Boise State
- Clemson
- Alabama
- South Carolina
- Arizona State
- Ole MIss
- Iowa State
- Tulane
- Texas A&M
- BYU
- UNLV
- Army
- Memphis
- Missouri
- Illinois