LEXINGTON, Ky. — Of all the games against Kentucky, all the times it seemed that Georgia’s domination over the Wildcats would finally end, this seemed the least likely.
But in a reminder that strange things can happen, even in a rivalry that has seemed so predictable, No. 1 Georgia found itself in trouble for most of the night before barely escaping with a 13-12 win, its 15th in a row over the Wildcats, and by far the closest.
The key sequence came with just over three minutes left, when Kentucky coach Mark Stoops elected to punt on fourth-and-7 from the Georgia 47. It was a debatable decision, but Stoops had all three timeouts remaining and reason to believe his defense could stop Georgia from running the clock out.
Georgia coaches thought so, too, so they called passes on two consecutive second downs: Carson Beck hit Dominic Lovett for 33 yards, moving the ball to midfield, and then Beck threw a short pass to Oscar Delp, who ran within inches of the first-down marker before being hit and fumbling. But Arian Smith recovered past the marker for a Bulldogs first down.
Kentucky got the ball back with just nine seconds left at its 20-yard line, not enough time to muster anything. Georgia survived to remain unbeaten heading into its showdown at Alabama in two weeks.
Long night for Georgia’s offense
Georgia’s offense was putrid in the first half, putting up just 63 yards, the fewest for a Georgia team in a first half since 2009. And when the offense was set up by the defense, thanks to a fumble recovery at the Kentucky 23, the Bulldogs couldn’t even get a first down, settling for a field goal.
Carson Beck, who beat out Brock Vandagriff for the starting job last summer and influenced his decision to transfer by choosing to return to the program for 2024, didn’t look like the better quarterback early on. Beck didn’t complete downfield passes and couldn’t convert third downs, locking in on a double-covered Oscar Delp on a third-down pass in the red zone. Vandagriff, coming off a horrid game in a 31-6 loss against South Carolina, was locked in against his former team, running for 51 yards (not counting sacks) and passing for 59 yards. He wasn’t great, but he was much better than Beck.
Georgia’s offensive line was also dominated by Kentucky’s front, led by Deone Walker, a potential first-round pick. The run game was stymied until the fourth quarter, when lanes finally began to open up for Trevor Etienne.
Georgia’s offense also opened it up to start the second half, throwing downfield right away and connecting for 33 yards to Dominic Lovett and 20 yards to Dillon Bell. The offense again stalled in the red zone, settling for a field goal. But the Bulldogs found run-pass balance on the next drive, with Robinson punching it in from three yards out to give Georgia its first lead.
But overall, there just wasn’t a dynamic quality to Georgia’s passing game, and the offensive line wasn’t giving a consistent push to open up the running game. That hurt when Georgia got the ball back leading 13-12 with a chance to add to the lead but instead quickly punted.
In defense of Kentucky’s late punt
This is the kind of near upset that brings coaching decisions to mind, and one of them was Kentucky punting back to Georgia with 3:02 left and the ball at the Wildcats’ own 48. Kentucky did not get the ball back until the dying 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 been playing extremely well on defense. But Georgia decided to finish with some well-executed aggression.
A stronger second-guess might be Stoops’ decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-2 from the Georgia 22 in the third quarter. That might have been the time to be more risky and stop settling for field goals. It certainly was a great night for Kentucky field goals: Senior Alex Raynor hit all four of his tries, setting a school record with a make from 55.
Bulldogs D allows more than 3, finally
Vandagriff’s legs and well-timed passes caused early problems, but eventually Georgia started getting to him. Then a bigger problem for Georgia emerged: the run defense, which gave up too much ground and allowed Kentucky to put together two field goal drives to build a 9-3 lead. That may have been the injuries on Georgia’s defensive line catching up to it, but Kentucky’s offensive line was dominated by South Carolina just a week ago. The run defense issues allowed Kentucky to eat up clock and shorten the game. Despite all that, Georgia has not given up a touchdown through its first three games.
Wildcats respond to embarrassment
There was no reason to think Kentucky would hang with the Bulldogs a week after getting routed 31-6 at home by South Carolina, other than the fact that these things happen all the time in college football, humiliations followed by inspired efforts. Still, a relatively reasonable offensive output of 284 yards after managing just 183 against the Gamecocks? A total of 262 yards for mighty Georgia, including just 160 passing for expected first-round pick Carson Beck, after Gamecocks first-year starter LaNorris Sellers gave the Wildcats all kinds of trouble? Roars of approval for Georgia transfer Vandagriff after the whole operation was booed a week earlier? It was quite a scene. Just not quite enough. But the Wildcats aren’t hopeless.
Georgia O-line takes a hit
Georgia right guard Tate Ratledge left in the second quarter with what were called knee and ankle injuries. The severity wasn’t immediately known, but Ratledge was on crutches on the sideline. However long Ratledge can’t play, it’d be a big loss for the Bulldogs. Georgia was able to move Xavier Truss to right guard and plug in former five-star Monroe Freeling at right tackle, but Ratledge is an all-SEC level player who was missed in both phases, especially run blocking.
Daniel Harris held out
Sophomore cornerback Daniel Harris did not play, two days after being arrested for reckless driving, going 106 mph in a 55 zone, along with four other misdemeanors. Harris made the trip and went through warmups, as tailback Trevor Etienne did prior to the Clemson game, when he was held out.
Harris played in each of the first two games, sharing snaps with starter Julian Humphrey, so it’s hard to think he wasn’t suspended. But he was not listed on Georgia’s availability report to the SEC, which is supposed to include suspensions, on Friday or Saturday.
(Photo: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)
