Georgia football is a nearly five-touchdown favorite on Saturday at home against a Mississippi State team that’s lost four straight — including to Toledo.

Ho-hum.

This isn’t the kind of game that will light a fire under a Bulldog fan base that coach Kirby Smart wants to see more from after offering a rare critique for their energy level at homecoming last week.

Ah, but unranked Vanderbilt just stunned Alabama and Arkansas took down Tennessee in top 5 upsets last weekend.

“What’s going on in our league just shows you have to be ready to play each and every week,” said Arkansas coach Sam Pittman, the former Georgia offensive line coach.

Smart said he’s not leaning into those results as motivation for his team.

"We don't rely on the motivation of others,” Smart said. “I just don't think that's a great way to go about things. We're really focusing on pride in performance this week.”

Instead, Smart shared this with his team: “If they're doing a Netflix documentary on you this week, who would you want to watch it? And would they approve? Would you send it to your parents, would you send it to an NFL team if they did a Netflix documentary on your performance, your pride, and how you practiced this week?'”

That worked when Georgia practiced Tuesday because he said it was as good a practice as they’ve had.

Of the upsets last week, he said of the sport now: "The margins are tighter. Everybody's got the ability to go get people's backups."

Why Georgia will beat Mississippi State

Misssisssipi State freshman Michael Van Buren Jr. isn’t easing into his role as a starting quarterback.

Two weeks after he made his starting debut at Texas, he goes up against Georgia in his second career start Saturday. Van Buren went 12 of 23 for 144 yards with no TD passes or interceptions and rushed for a 12-yard touchdown.

“You have an 18-year old kid walk into that setting, another setting this Saturday at (4:15), it’s going to be an incredible challenge for a true freshman quarterback to go play the way we need him to play to give us a chance to win the game,” Mississippi State first-year coach Jeff Lebby said.

Mississippi State ranks 89^th nationally in yards per play at 5.56, according to cfbstats.com and is 81^st in scoring at 27.4 per game.

“We’re going to have to do a great job of taking away the football and taking advantage of some opportunities,” Lebby said. “We’ve got to score touchdowns and not kick field goals.”

Mississippi State ranks 96^th in turnovers gained and 77^th in touchdown percentage in the red zone.

Why Mississippi State will beat Georgia

Can Mississippi State pull the major upset like other SEC teams did last week?

It’s a longshot, but it did trail No. 1 Texas on the road 14-6 late in the third quarter Sept. 28 before losing 35-13.

This is probably not the game that Georgia receiver Colbie Young being suspended after his Tuesday arrest will be felt, but it could a week later at Texas.

Young has been a red zone threat and a target on back shoulder throws. He has 11 catches for 149 yards and 2 touchdowns and led Georgia in receiving yards with 51 last week against Auburn.

“To me, it’s just a guy that’s played a bunch of ball,” Lebby said. “They’ve got an incredibly deep room. You see guys that are capable whether it’s the first series of the game or the last series of the game. They’ve signed really good recruits there, they’ve signed really good receivers there. They’re not going to be with a shortage I don’t expect by any means.”

London Humphreys, who had two catches for 40 yards in the fourth quarter against Auburn, could benefit the most.

Will this be a chance to get more Georgia tight ends involved in the passing game?

Oscar Delp has just three catches for 25 yards and Stanford tight end transfer Benjamin Yurosek has yet to catch a pass this season.

“I think that we would love a little more production from each other just because we’re playing with great effort, but we’re not frustrated,” said tight end Lawson Luckie who has 7 catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns.  “The catches are going to come, and we know that. We’ve just got to keep doing our job, going harder in practice.”

Georgia will need to be as loose with the ball as it was against Alabama for this one to be tight in the fourth quarter.

Prediction

Georgia 38, Mississippi State 10

Georgia has yet to play close to a complete game this season. Could this be the week? The Bulldogs’ offense still hasn’t hit its stride, but Georgia has scored 31 points in every game except vs. Kentucky which has one of the SEC’s best defenses. Mississippi State’s defense ranks last.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football vs. Mississippi State: Scouting report, prediction