ATHENS, Ga. - The Georgia Bulldogs seem to be playing the same football game over and over again.
Nobody can use a suffocating defense to help build multiple-score leads against ranked opponents only to allow them to get back in games during the fourth quarter like these Bulldogs, who used the familiar script in Saturday's 19-13 escape of Texas A&M amid rain-soaked Sanford Stadium.
"I love games like this, because I always want a four-quarter war," sophomore defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. "It keeps us locked in. Texas A&M played their butts off, and we respect them. Kellen Mond is a really good quarterback, and not allowing him to get out of the pocket is an amazing feeling."
Mond's 19-yard touchdown pass to Jhamon Ausbon with 11:16 remaining pulled the No. 24 Aggies within 19-13, but the No. 4 Bulldogs were able to prevail by forcing the visitors to punt from Georgia's 43-yard line with 4:26 left before running out the clock behind junior tailback D'Andre Swift.
The Bulldogs built a 23-10 lead against Notre Dame on Sept. 21 before holding on for a 23-17 win with a defensive stand. They took a 16-3 lead into the fourth quarter against Florida on Nov. 2 before escaping with a 24-17 triumph, running out the final three minutes and 11 seconds, and a 21-0 lead at Auburn last weekend dwindled to a 21-14 lead before the Tigers misfired on a late fourth-and-2 pass on Georgia's 34-yard line.
"It's an inability to put people away on both sides of the ball," Bulldogs fourth-year coach Kirby Smart said. "You feel like you control the momentum and you feel like you should be ahead further, but you're not. Then, whether you get tight or lose momentum or they hit a couple of plays, you've got to take advantage of the opportunities you have earlier."
Asked how many years of his life this season's team has taken off him, Smart said, "A lot, but I love them."
Georgia improved to 10-1 overall and should maintain its No. 4 standing in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Bulldogs also completed a 7-1 record in Southeastern Conference play for a third consecutive season.
The Bulldogs have never gone 8-0 in SEC play since the league implemented an eight-game schedule in 1992, but only Alabama has a better league mark the past three years.
Still, Smart would like to have a more aesthetically pleasing team after getting outgained and losing the time of possession for a second straight Saturday.
"We missed a flea-flicker," he said. "We missed a wheel route. We missed a couple of protections, and they have good third-down packages. Against Florida, we struggled to move the ball, but we were excellent on third down. We were not very good on third down tonight."
At the 4:14 mark of the third quarter, a 35-yard field goal by Seth Small pulled the Aggies (7-4, 4-3) within 16-6. At that point, the Aggies had just 147 total yards and the Bulldogs 124.
Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm completed just 11 of 23 passes for 163 yards, but he briefly got hot midway through the second quarter with throws of 27 yards to Tyler Simmons and 22 yards to Kearis Jackson to set up a 16-yard scoring strike to George Pickens for a 13-3 advantage. On Georgia's final possession, Fromm helped salt the game away with an 11-yard pass to Dominick Blaylock on second-and-12 that set up Swift to convert a manageable third down.
"I don't think this team shies away from adversity in big-time football games," Fromm said. "That's kind of what we've had the knack of - just going in and competing and doing whatever it takes. It's going to take what it takes, and for us it took what it took."
The Bulldogs will be heavily favored next Saturday at Georgia Tech, which is 3-8 under first-year coach Geoff Collins, and then it will be on to the SEC title game against No. 1 LSU inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Tigers should be solid favorites in that one, though would anybody be surprised if the Bulldogs had this same script in store?
"These games have definitely been similar," junior linebacker Monty Rice said, "but I guess all games are different in their own way."
Said senior safety J.R. Reed: "We just find a way to win. I'm just happy right now, but we do have to get better."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.