Kirby Smart dedicates win vs. Mississippi State to Georgia staffer who passed away

With the College Football Playoff rankings coming out this week, Georgia knew it had plenty to play for on Saturday against Mississippi State. But it didn’t need the rankings to underscore that reality.

No, the Bulldogs were locked in from jump on the road. They were playing for something extra special.

“I also want to say this: We dedicated this win to Ms. Kim Allen, who was a co-worker of ours, worked in our facility,” coach Kirby Smart explained after a 41-21 win. “She’s an incredible lady. She’d worked there four or five years. Every morning I came to work she was the first person I saw. She was there every day at 5:30 a.m., and a lot of the players got really close to Ms. Kim. And she passed this last week.”

Smart seemed a bit choked up as he dedicated the win to Allen, who clearly meant a lot around the building. He opened up on what she meant to so many around her.

So did his players. Running back Nate Frazier, who had something of a breakout game in the win for Georgia, chimed in on what she meant.

“She was always positive energy,” Frazier said, per DawgNation. “It’s never a day you see Ms. Kim in the facility without a smile on her face. So just losing her and winning this game, this week, it just felt so good. After my touchdown, I said, thank you, God. I said, thank you, Ms. Kim. It means so much to me. It hit me real hard losing Ms. Kim, but she’s in a better place. She was too good for the world, so God put her in a better place.”

Georgia rolled over Mississippi State on Saturday. The team piled up 303 total yards rushing, led by Frazier with 181 yards and a score on just 12 carries.

It was a day for explosive plays, and Georgia had the lion’s share of them. It was a fitting tribute to Allen.

“It was very emotional for a lot of our players,” Smart said. “I’ve never met a more positive person than Ms. Kim, so we wanted to make sure she enjoyed that from up above.”