It wasn’t a perfect game. Georgia certainly didn’t eliminate doubt like it did a week ago against the College Football Playoff’s top-ranked team. If you were looking for a perfect performance to cement the Dawgs as the unquestioned favorites to win another national championship, you didn’t get it Saturday night in Starkville, Miss.

Still, they took care of business, and that’s what elite teams do.

Georgia overcame a handful of mistakes to defeat Mississippi State 45-19 in a road night game. The win clinched the SEC East for Georgia, setting up an SEC Championship matchup against LSU on Dec. 3 in Atlanta. Should Georgia win out in the regular season, as expected, it will likely sew up a spot in the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive year.

Stetson Bennett tossed 3 touchdown passes, including 1 to tight end Darnell Washington for his first score of the season and second of his college career, and the defense held Mississippi State’s 8th-ranked passing offense to just over 200 yards. Mississippi State entered the game passing for 325 yards and scoring over 32 points, but the Georgia defense held serve for the vast majority of the contest.

After MSU closed the gap to 17-12 at halftime with a long punt return for a touchdown, Georgia came out of the break with a 70-yard rushing touchdown by wide receiver Ladd McConkey. McConkey got the ball on a jet sweep, got a tremendous block from Washington down the sideline, and ran the rest of the way for a score.

Georgia was far from perfect for the rest of the game but still never looked back.

Bennett hit McConkey 5 minutes later for a 17-yard touchdown pass to make the score 31-12. Bennett threw his second of 2 interceptions on Georgia’s next possession, a pass that was tipped at the line and hauled in by Mississippi State defensive lineman Tyrus Wheat.

Mississippi State got its first offensive touchdown of the game on the ensuing possession, a 6-yard touchdown pass from Will Rogers to Rufus Harvey to make the score 31-19.

An uneven first half left Georgia clinging to a closer lead than expected going into the break. After the Dawgs took a 17-3 lead, Mississippi State knocked in a field goal and ran a 63-yard punt return to the house to make it 17-12. A 2-point attempt failed, and Georgia went into the break up by 5 points.

On one hand, Bennett was mostly effective through the air. He completed 18 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown in the first half and ran in another score that put the Dawgs up by 14 points. Running left, Bennett beat the defenders to the corner, hitting paydirt for his 7th rushing touchdown of the season.

He also connected with tight end Brock Bowers for the game’s opening salvo, a 2-yard touchdown pass that made the score 7-0.

The Dawgs’ defense was effective, stymying the Mississippi State rushing attack to the tune of just 27 yards on 8 carries in the first half. Rogers tossed for 112 yards but no scores. Forty-seven of those came on one pass to receiver Jaden Walley.