Georgia quarterback Hutson MasonThe game was not hanging in the balance, but that didn't make the moment any less special.
Georgia already was asserting itself in last Saturday's 34-0 win at Missouri when quarterback Hutson Mason threw a 9-yard touchdown fade to Michael Bennett in the back right corner of the end zone. The score put the Bulldogs up 20-0 with more than five minutes left before halftime, and Mason displayed a burst of excitement.
"It was nice to be able to throw a ball and everything kind of go your way," Mason said Tuesday by phone. "Over the past couple of weeks, I've thrown some balls where maybe guys haven't run the right routes or guys haven't been as open or I haven't been as accurate. I finally threw a ball that was perfect and Michael ran a perfect route and made a perfect play.
"It just seemed like everything went in accordance of how it should be, and it was definitely my most accurate throw of the year."
Mason refrained from calling it his favorite throw of the season, saving that for the 5-yard touchdown pass to Jay Rome and the ensuing two-point conversion to Bennett that had the Bulldogs on the verge of a comeback win at South Carolina. That rally never materialized as Georgia fell 38-35 on Sept. 13, but Mason believes the 5-1 and No. 10 Bulldogs earned a new outlook with the win at Missouri.
After all, Georgia's most recent triumph came without the help of suspended tailback Todd Gurley.
"It gives our team a lot of confidence and motivation as far as we can get the job done with everybody that we have," Mason said. "I think a lot of people were doubting us, and we may have had some people on this team looking to see if we could do this without Todd. It just goes to show that this team does have a backbone and mental fortitude that no matter who we've got out there, we believe in each other.
"As long as you believe in each other, you've got a great chance of winning."
Mason did his part by completing 22 of 28 passes for 156 yards and the touchdown. His 22 completions were a season high, as was his 78.6-percent accuracy rate.
Before his scoring throw to Bennett, the 6-foot-3, 202-pounder from Marietta had an 11-yard touchdown run.
"He did a nice job this past week and was very accurate," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "We didn't go downfield a lot, so they were more intermediate-type throws, but I thought he handled everything well. He was on the money, and he was in control of what was going on.
"He threw one ball that maybe could have gotten intercepted, but other than that, he made really good decisions. I was happy with how he played."
Mason has heard the complaints about the lack of a more dominant passing game, especially on deep throws. He watched as redshirt freshman Brice Ramsey was inserted for a series late in the first quarter against Vanderbilt on Oct. 4, but Ramsey didn't enter the game at Missouri until it was 34-0.
It was Mason's show, and it included his most accurate performance and most accurate pass of the season.
"Every game is huge for me, and the reality is that this last game statistically was really no different than any other game I've played," Mason said. "So praise or ridicule doesn't make much sense, really, if you look at the statistics of the games. It's just that we were more consistent in this last game on third downs and on every play, really.
"We threw the ball a little more, but 150 yards and a touchdown here or there has kind of been the same statistic as every other game."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.