Georgia at 4-0, focusing on Vols

STARKVILLE, Miss. - D.J. Shockley is cramming a career's worth of firsts into his only season as Georgia's starting quarterback.

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He had his first 300-yard passing game in his first start on the road. But the successor to major college football's winningest quarterback was most pleased with a first he didn't reach - his first loss.

Shockley threw for a career-best 312 yards in the No. 7 Bulldogs' 23-10 victory over a Mississippi State team that was looking for another upset of a Southeastern Conference East Division opponent.

"It's one of those things where we've got to win, and I did enough to get our team a win and play well," Shockley said.

Shockley, a fifth-year senior who spent the past four years watching while David Greene led the Bulldogs to a Division I-A record 42 wins, also established personal bests in completions (21) and attempts (36) despite gusty, Hurricane Rita-related wind and occasional showers.

"Shock did some amazing things," receiver Mohamed Massaquoi said. "When you have a quarterback like that, who does the things that he'll do, it makes it very easy for the receivers to do their part."

Shockley, a winner in his first three starts Between the Hedges, hit the road for the first time as the starter and came out poised against a Mississippi State team which remembered its stunner against then-No. 20 Florida last season.

Mississippi State took a quick 3-0 lead, but Shockley led Georgia to a touchdown on the Bulldogs' first series. He made a nifty improvisation to elude a tackler, rolled back to the right and hit Danny Ware from 28 yards out to put Georgia ahead for good.

"This is his first start in a hostile environment, and he played pretty darned good," coach Mark Richt said.

His second road start figures to be significantly tougher.

Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) is already thinking about avenging last year's loss to Tennessee when the Bulldogs visit Knoxville on Oct. 8. Shockley said he would savor the Mississippi State win for only a few hours before turning his attention to Tennessee.

The Volunteers gave Georgia its first loss last season, a 19-14 setback that helped keep the Bulldogs from reaching their third straight SEC title game.

This time, Georgia has two weeks to prepare for the Volunteers, who still must play two games in a six-day span before meeting the Bulldogs. Tennessee visits LSU on Monday night and is home against Mississippi on Oct. 1.

"We'll watch it and pay attention to it. That's our opponent," Massaquoi said.