This is what Kirby Smart was brought in to do.

Smart, a Georgia alum who served at the right hand of college football’s preeminent coach of the millennium to this point, was hired to accomplish what Mark Richt couldn’t: deliver dominating victories against highly regarded competition. It’s not that Georgia didn’t win big games under Richt. It surely did. The problem is, he didn’t do it often enough, particularly in the waning years of his tenure.

All too often, when the going got tough, the Bulldogs got going in the wrong direction.

And that’s exactly what the Bulldogs did Saturday — the Bulldogs of Mississippi State, that is.

Saturday at Sanford Stadium, Mississippi State played the role Georgia had unwillingly performed on more occasions in the last decade than its fan base would like to remember: That of a team utterly outclassed by a similar opponent.

Georgia’s 31-3 victory Saturday looked … dare I say … downright Alabama-like?

Hours after the top-ranked Tide walloped Vanderbilt 59-0 — laying the smack-down on a team that should have known better than to try to poke the bear with smack talk — Smart’s team put on a performance that looked eerily similar to ones Nick Saban has made look routine since 2008.

To wit: Mississippi State came in as one of the hottest teams in all the land — the only one in the country to rank in the top 10 nationally in both scoring offense (47.7 points per game, ninth) and scoring defense (9.3 ppg, sixth). It was coming off a 37-7 win over LSU, its largest margin of victory in the history of that series. And it boasted two of college football’s best players regardless of position: quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

None of it mattered.

Georgia excelled from the jump. Mississippi State wilted.

All it took was the opening drive from each team to see how this contest would turn out.

Mississippi State went three-and-out on its opening possession, losing 3 yards before punting. Georgia needed all of one play to find the end zone, as Jake Fromm connected with Terry Godwin on a 59-yard scoring strike.

Given how well Georgia’s defense has played this season, that score was, in tennis terms, game, set and match.

And that defense made it an unhappy return to his home state for Fitzgerald. One of the most gifted dual-threat signal-callers in the country wasn’t much of a factor with his arm or legs Saturday. He completed 14 of 29 attempts for just 83 yards — to go along with two interceptions. On the ground, he logged 10 carries for 47 yards.

To put those numbers in perspective, he’s only had one game less successful as a starter in the passing department. That came last season against Kentucky, when he threw for only 81 yards. But in that contest, he at least tossed one touchdown to balance out an interception.

He could only wish Georgia gave him that type of opportunity.

Though Fitzgerald is normally every bit as dangerous when he takes off and runs — whether by design or improvisation — that wasn’t the case against Georgia. Since Fitzgerald took over as the starter in Week 2 last season, he’s had only three rushing performances worse than Saturday. One came versus BYU, which held him to 41 yards. There was also a 15-yard effort against — no surprise — Alabama. But his nadir was last season against LSU, when he ran 13 times for 13 yards.

Bottom line: Taken in sum, Saturday’s 130-total-yards outing was the worst performance of Fitzgerald’s college career. That’s compounded by the fact Saturday was the most pivotal game of his career to this point. It was not only the fact that a win would have continued Mississippi State’s ascension in the polls, but a chance for Fitzgerald to show the team he grew up cheering for and hoping to play for one day what it missed by not offering him a scholarship coming out of high school.

Instead, it’s a game Fitzgerald will want to expunge from his memory bank.

And Simmons?

The reigning back-to-back SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week had four tackles. Not terrible. But certainly not close to the havoc he wreaked last week against LSU, when he set career-highs for tackles (7) and sacks (1.5).

But don’t let all this talk about Mississippi State fool you. That was simply done to more fully bring into focus precisely how impressive a performance it was from Georgia.

Offensively, Jake Fromm continues to get better and better. As has already become a trademark of sorts in just four games, Fromm showcased his efficiency against the Mississippi State defense, finishing 9-for-12 for 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

And he could have been even better, if not for a pair of drops, one from Terry Godwin and another from Javon Wims. Godwin’s was especially conspicuous, as he was uncovered at Mississippi State’s 10-yard line that would have given Georgia a fresh set of downs had he been able to haul in the ball.

It was business as usual in the backfield, as Nick Chubb carried 15 times for 81 yards and two scores and fellow senior Sony Michel had seven rushes for 32 yards. True freshman D’Andre Swift, who is already starting to establish himself as next in line once the seniors depart, had 10 rushes for 69 yards.

Even the special teams looked, well, special, with Rodrigo Blankenship nailing his only field goal attempt — from 49 yards, tying his career-long set in last season’s memorable victory over Kentucky — and punter Cameron Nizialek averaging 45.5 yards per attempt on four kicks.

Of course, despite how stellar Georgia appeared in every facet, Smart won’t make much of it.

Cue the quote.

“I know all y’all want to write about how great this was,” Smart told reporters afterward. “But we still have dropped balls. We still have missed tackles.”

In fact, after watching film of Saturday’s triumph, he may find more to nitpick than usual. Always finding ways to improve, even in lopsided victories, was something Smart learned from the best. Watch any game when Alabama has all but wrapped up another win. Saban coaches and rides his players just as hard when they’re up 49-3 as he does when they lead 7-0.

Smart has that same fiery, coach-to-the-final-whistle mentality.

Saturday proved Smart can prepare a team like his mentor, too.

It’s still far too soon to know whether Smart can consistently produce such one-sided wins in SEC competition. That’s what helped Saban separate himself from the rest of the pack. Perhaps Smart won’t come close to accomplishing anything Saban has. And there’s no shame in that. If that comes to pass, Smart wouldn’t be any different than every Georgia coach since Vince Dooley, all unable to bring that long-awaited national title back to Athens for the first time since 1980. In the end, that’s what brought Richt’s tenure to a close.

Saturday, if only for one night, the decision to move on from Richt was undoubtedly a Smart one.