LEXINGTON, Ky. – Of all the games against Kentucky in which it looked like Georgia’s dominance over the Wildcats would finally end, this game seemed the most unlikely.
But as a reminder that even in a rivalry that seemed so predictable, strange things can happen, No. 1 Georgia found itself in trouble for most of the evening before narrowly escaping with a 13-12 victory. It was their 15th straight win over the Wildcats and by far the closest.
The key scene came with just over three minutes left in the game, when Kentucky coach Mark Stoops decided to punt on fourth-and-7 at Georgia’s 47-yard line. It was a debatable decision, but Stoops still had all three timeouts left and reason to believe his defense could keep Georgia from running down the clock.
Georgia’s coaches thought so too, and on two consecutive second downs they ordered passes: Carson Beck threw 33 yards to Dominic Lovett, bringing the ball to the halfway line, and then Beck threw a short pass to Oscar Delp, who ran just inches past the first-down marker before being hit and dropping the ball. But Arian Smith managed to recover the ball behind the marker, giving the Bulldogs a first down.
Kentucky got the ball back at the 20-yard line with just nine seconds left, not enough time to make a difference. Georgia survived and went undefeated before the showdown at Alabama in two weeks.
Long night for Georgia’s offense
Georgia’s offense was abysmal in the first half, managing just 63 yards, the fewest yards by a Georgia team in a first half since 2009. And when the offense was built up by the defense thanks to a recovered fumble at the Kentucky 23-yard line, the Bulldogs couldn’t even get a first down and had to settle for a field goal.
Carson Beck, who beat out Brock Vandagriff for the starting spot at Georgia last summer and influenced Vandagriff’s decision to transfer to Kentucky by opting to return to the program in 2024, didn’t look like the better quarterback early on. Beck couldn’t complete passes downfield and couldn’t convert on third downs, leaving him stranded on a double-covered Oscar Delp on a third down in the red zone. Vandagriff, fresh off a terrible game in a 31-6 loss to South Carolina, was solid against his former team, running for 51 yards (not counting sacks) and throwing for 59 yards. He wasn’t great, but he was a lot better than Beck.
Georgia’s offensive line was also dominated by Kentucky’s front line, led by potential first-round pick Deone Walker. The running game had stalled until the fourth quarter, when running lanes finally opened up for Trevor Etienne.
“When they’re disrespected like they were last week and they have to listen to that for a week, they come out and play,” Smart said. “I think our kids heard that, I think they understood it. But I also think it’s a tough environment to play in. I’m so proud of the resilience our kids showed. They never flinched. We thought this was going to be a blow-by-blow game. We talked all week about blow-by-blow, landing more punches than them.”
Georgia’s offense was also aggressive at the start of the second half, throwing forward immediately and scoring 33 yards for Dominic Lovett and 20 yards for Dillon Bell. The offense stalled again in the red zone and had to settle for a field goal. But the Bulldogs found the balance between run and pass on the next drive when Robinson fired the ball into the net from three yards out, giving Georgia the lead for the first time.
But overall, Georgia’s passing game simply lacked momentum, and the offensive line failed to consistently drive the running game. That hurt when Georgia got the ball back midway through the fourth quarter and had a chance to extend its one-point lead, but instead quickly stripped the ball away. —Seth Emerson
In defense of Kentucky’s late punt
This is the kind of near-loss where coaching decisions are scrutinized. One of them was Kentucky punting the ball back to Georgia at the Wildcats’ own 48-yard line with 3:02 left. Kentucky didn’t get the ball back until the final seconds. In head coach Mark Stoops’ defense, it was fourth-and-8 (which became fourth-and-13 after a false start) and the Wildcats had played extremely well on defense. But Georgia decided to finish with some well-executed aggressiveness.
An even stronger reason might be Stoops’ decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-2 from Georgia’s 22-yard line in the third quarter. That might have been the right time to take more risks and stop settling for field goals. It was certainly a great night for Kentucky’s field goals: Senior Alex Raynor made all four of his attempts and set a school record with a 55-yard kick. — Joe Rexrode
Who should lead the SEC?
On the same day, Georgia forfeited a game it should have won easily, Texas rolled over UTSA despite Quinn Ewers being sidelined with an oblique strain—allowing Arch Manning to show off his speed—and Alabama demolished Wisconsin 42-10 on the road. That’s your top three in the SEC. Except Tennessee also won 71-0, though of course that came at the expense of the team Chris Vannini ranked 134th out of 134 FBS teams this week, Kent State. Still, Tennessee should be in the SEC’s top division along with Georgia, Texas and Alabama. Is it an excuse to add Ole Miss, which demolished Wake Forest 40-6 on the road, and make the top division a quintet? Maybe, but information on that remains limited.
Oklahoma, which next hosts Tennessee, and Missouri, which struggled against Boston College, make up the next group. One level below is LSU, which had luck at South Carolina. — Rexrode
Bulldogs D finally allows more than 3
Vandagriff’s legs and well-timed passes caused him problems at first, but eventually Georgia caught up to him. Then a bigger problem arose for Georgia: the run defense, which gave up too much space and allowed Kentucky two field goal drives to build a 9-3 lead. That may have been due to the injuries on Georgia’s defensive line, but Kentucky’s offensive line was dominated by South Carolina just a week ago. The problems in the run defense allowed Kentucky to buy time and shorten the game. Despite all that, Georgia has not allowed a single touchdown in its first three games. —Emerson
Wildcats react to the embarrassment
There was no reason to believe Kentucky could hang with the Bulldogs a week after losing 31-6 at home to South Carolina, other than the fact that such things happen all the time in college football: humiliations followed by inspired efforts. Still, a relatively passable offensive performance of 284 yards after managing just 183 against the Gamecocks? 262 total yards for mighty Georgia, including just 160 passes to expected first-round pick Carson Beck, after Gamecocks starter LaNorris Sellers gave the Wildcats plenty of trouble? Roaring approval at Kroger Field for Georgia transfer Vandagriff after the whole thing was booed a week earlier? It was quite a sight. Just not quite enough. But the Wildcats aren’t hopeless. — Rexrode
Georgia’s offensive line suffers a setback
Georgia right guard Tate Ratledge left in the second quarter with knee and ankle injuries. The severity of the injury was initially unclear, but Ratledge was on crutches on the sidelines. However long Ratledge is unable to play, it would be a major loss for the Bulldogs. Georgia could use Xavier Truss at right guard and use former five-star Monroe Freeling at right tackle, but Ratledge is an All-SEC level player who was missing in both phases, particularly in run blocking. —Emerson
Sophomore cornerback Daniel Harris did not play after being arrested two days ago for reckless driving for going 106 mph in a 55 zone and four other offenses. Harris participated in the trip and went through warm-ups, as did tailback Trevor Etienne before the Clemson game when he did not play.
Harris played in each of the first two games, sharing snaps with starter Julian Humphrey, so it’s hard to imagine he wasn’t suspended. But he wasn’t listed on Georgia’s availability report to the SEC on Friday or Saturday, which was supposed to include suspensions. —Emerson
(Photo: Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
