The Georgia Bulldogs did just enough in the fourth quarter to earn a gritty 13-12 SEC road win over the Kentucky Wildcats. Georgia (3-0) will have a lot to work on entering its bye week.
Kentucky outplayed Georgia on Saturday. It is that simple. The Bulldogs trailed 9-6 entering the fourth quarter. Kentucky outgained Georgia 284 to 262. The Wildcats won the time of possession battle and held the football for over 35 minutes. Kentucky recorded 11 more first downs than Georgia (23-12).
Kentucky outrushed Georgia 170 to 102. Kentucky averaged 3.8 yards per carry to Georgia’s 3.4. The Wildcats limited possessions with their rushing attack, but the UGA defense played well and kept Georgia in the game.
Georgia has gone three weeks without allowing a touchdown, but quarterback Carson Beck and the Georgia offense have to be better. Beck went 15 of 24 for 160 yards. He threw no touchdowns or interceptions as Georgia’s offense struggled to be productive.
“Well, I thought we got on rhythm a little bit,” said Smart on Georgia’s offensive performance. The Dawgs recorded their fewest offensive yards in the first half against Kentucky since 2009. “When we hit plays, we were able to do some drop back passing. We hit a couple plays, went fastball with it. But we never really found any rhythm the whole night, and that’s disappointing because we’re a better offense than we played tonight.”
It is safe to say that Georgia has a lot of improving to do ahead of Sept. 28’s road game at the Alabama Crimson Tide. Georgia’s offense will have to be more efficient against Alabama, who also has a bye week in Week 4 and is coming off a much more impressive 42-10 road win at Wisconsin.
“I can’t answer why,” said Smart on UGA’s offensive woes. “I’ll have to watch it and see, but we’re better than the level we played to.”
In Georgia’s two first halves against Power Four opponents, the Bulldogs have just nine total points. That won’t get it done against Alabama or any high-level offense.
Kirby Smart did give a lot of credit to Kentucky. Many folks wrote off the Wildcats after their 31-6 loss to South Carolina in Week 2.
“I mean, say what you want about Kentucky’s defense. Kentucky’s defense is pretty good to me,” said Smart. “We’ll judge that at the end of the year. I think people are looking at it the wrong way of the South Carolina game.”
“I actually think Kentucky’s got a really good defense, and I think Clemson’s got a really good defense,” said Smart. “I think we’ve got a really good offense. So we’ve got to do a better job of starting faster.”
Georgia needs more production out of its offense. The Dawgs will be in trouble if they don’t score a touchdown in the first half against Alabama. Georgia will look to return a healthy Tate Ratledge for the Alabama game, but his status is unclear for now.