Two Georgia Bulldogs were part of PFF’s All-SEC Week 3 team in UGA’s 13-12 win at Kentucky
There was a ton of negativity following Georgia’s performance against Kentucky. The 22-point favorite Bulldogs barely squeezed by to win 13-12. On a positive note, there were two Georgia players that had standout performances in the road win. Pro Football Focus rewarded them with spots on their All-SEC Team from Week 3.
Dylan Fairchild, LG
The news of guard Tate Ratledge leaving the game due to injury might’ve distracted some Georgia fans from Dylan Fairchild’s excellent performance. He was considered one of the top guards returning to Georgia in 2024, and he balled out in Ratledge’s absence. No one on the Kentucky front seven registered a sack and Georgia allowed only three tackles for a loss.
Julian Humphrey, CB (Flex Spot)
Humphrey was added as a flex, but that underrated how well he did against Kentucky. He recorded a tackle and a pass deflection. He was here for his impressive man coverage. No Kentucky player accrued over 35 receiving yards on the day. Some of that had to do with pressures from the pass rush, but quarterback Brock Vandagriff had to hold on the the ball more because of Humphrey. He even played through the game with a broken tooth.
Mark Stoops explains his decision to punt and more following Georgia-Kentucky
After a dreadful 31-6 loss to South Carolina, it looked like the Kentucky Wildcats had no chance to win against the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, but games aren’t won on paper.
Kentucky put up a fight, even leading 6-3 going into halftime, but missed opportunities and conservative play-calling prevented it from pulling off the upset.
Mark Stoops had his postgame press conference, and this is what he had to say:
Highlights of Mark Stoops’ press conference
Question: Mark, it seems like it’s been a tale between two weeks between South Carolina and Georgia. Was the preparation different or anything different in practice? Was there anything different with the team? What was it?
“No, I think our team was embarrassed by the way we played and rightfully so,” said Stoops. “I said that and I wasn’t very proud of the way we played. As I mentioned to you on Monday, you know, I thought our team did play hard a week ago.”
“We just didn’t play very good or very efficient. We didn’t execute very well. And to play and beat this team you are going to have to make plays. Make competitive plays. You know, play extremely hard. I thought we did that. We had a good recipe to try to get this victory, we just fell a little short.”
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has a lot of respect for Stoops and Kentucky, and he echoed that sentiment in his postgame press conference.
Mark, you said you learned something about your team. Do you think you created some sort of offensive identity or found something there to get twice as many first downs?
“You know, 23 first downs against Georgia is hard to do. Obviously, we needed to cap one of those off with a touchdown. That’s where we needed to finish it off on one more possession, one more field goal might have done it as well but we didn’t get the stop. I think, you know, that’s how we want to be.”
“We want to be balanced but it always starts with us with a physical run game. We dressed it up a lot and a lot of pre-snap motions and different things and we tried to put a lot of pressure on the defenses pre-snap.”
“There’s a lot of formations and motions and shifts and there is a lot going on there. But it comes back to blocking, pad level, not getting penalties, backs hitting the holes, running hard. And yeah, I was proud of the effort. I felt like it was a big improvement in the way we played.”
Brock (Vandagriff) was fighting out there tonight. Not only completing some good throws but running too. What did he show you tonight?
“Yeah, he played again like we would expect him to do. I felt like we had a good plan and we gave him a good opportunity. Today he did what he had to. There were several plays left out there that Georgia really made some nice plays at some critical moments as well.”
“That was one of the reasons why they are No. 1. We had some nice plays designed and maybe got open by a short margin and they made some really nice plays. You know, it’s a credit to them. I thought Brock played well.”
On punting the ball with three minutes left, down by one
“You know I’ve been honest with you for 12 years, and if I made a mistake like last week, I’ll tell you. I don’t regret punting that ball. I felt like if we went for it there and don’t make it, then our offense, if we stop them, has to go length of the field and that was going to be tough against that defense.”
“A predictable pass situation, that’s not our strength. It’s a play to our strength to pin them. Plenty of time to pin them and get the ball back. What I don’t like is one play during that four-minute drive where they hit the sail. We’ve got to man that up and not give them the sail route that was completed on their sideline. That’s the one play that will haunt right here tonight and for a long time.”
What is next for Kentucky?
Despite the great fight, Kentucky is 1-2 and 0-2 in the SEC. It’ll look to get back to even against Ohio next week before heading to Oxford, Mississippi, to play No. 5 Ole Miss on Sept. 28. Kentucky has am uphill battle to become bowl eligible this season.
Here’s what Kirby Smart said after the Georgia-Kentucky game.
The Georgia Bulldogs were favored by a lot going into their matchup with the Kentucky Wildcats, but as ESPN legend Chris Berman always says, “That’s why they play the games.”
The matchup resulted in an ugly 13-12 win by the Bulldogs, with the offense gaining no traction, and the defense allowed 22 more total yards and 11 more first downs than Georgia’s offense got. Georgia suffered a key injury to All-SEC guard Tate Ratledge.
Georgia head Kirby Smart emphasized that beating Kentucky would not be easy in his post-game press conference. Georgia will work to improve in their bye week ahead of the Sept. 28 game at Alabama.
Opening statement after the game:
“You know, I think I’ll open with (the) an immense amount of respect for Coach Stoops and the atmosphere and the culture he’s created here. I tried to tell everybody all week, but nobody would listen to me. I know what this team’s made out of. I know how tough he coaches. I know several of his coaches on the staff. I’ve known him for a long time.”
“I have tremendous respect, and when they get disrespected like they did last week and they (have to) listen to it for a week, they come out ready to play. I think our kids listened to that. I think they understood it, but I also think it’s a tough environment to play in.”
“I’m so proud of the resiliency our kids showed. They never flinched. We thought this would be a blow-by-blow game, and we talked all week about blow-by-blow, delivering more blows than them. We said the first chop of the tree doesn’t chop the tree down. It takes sometimes 272 ax chops, and it took every single one tonight to get the job done.”
“What I will say is I’m proud of our team. I’m proud of our leadership. I, honestly, believe we won this game with culture, and the culture of our team never panicked. I saw more leadership tonight than I’ve seen all season, and you guys have asked me a thousand questions about this team, this, what about this team, this.”
“I don’t know much about this team, but I found out more tonight than I’ve known up to this point, and that makes me extremely proud of how they responded and how they handled some difficult situations.”
Georgia Bulldogs defensive end Jalon Walker played a big role against Kentucky. Carter Skaggs-Imagn Images
Kirby Smart, on the difficulty of winning the SEC and facing adversity to win:
“Well, I’d rather have not faced it. I mean, I didn’t prefer it to be that way. But I also tell people all week, I knew it. We played on the road at Missouri two years ago? Three years ago? I don’t know when it was, and then we played on the road at Auburn. I get it.”
“When you go on the road for the first time in the SEC, at night, and you keep a team in the game, you don’t start fast, it’s going to be a challenge. And we responded to the challenge. And the best thing is we’ve got a lot of things that we can work on now.”
On if there’s something that Kentucky does to makes them a hard matchup for UGA:
“I don’t know that. I mean, stylistically, they’re physical, and that’s always a tough style. They play really well, I feel like, against us. I’ve got a lot of respect for Mark. His defense does a great job. They do a really good job. They’re good football coaches. There’s not like a weakness. You don’t look out there and go, ‘Oh, they got this in special teams. They got this.’
“I think people looked a lot at last year’s game, and a lot of things happened bad for them early in last year’s game, and it kind of snowballed and got away from them. I know playing up here that that can happen to you. Like, there were moments that it was starting to slide for us right, penalties, things happening.
“But we were resilient, man. We responded to them. That’s the true sign of a great fighter is not how hard you punch, but what punches can you take?”
“I love those kids. Those kids were tremendous for our program. I mean, we don’t probably win two national championships, back-to-back, without those two guys. I mean, Brock (Vandagriff) did all kinds of things to help our team, scout team. He was a competitor. I mean, the guy cried in my office when he told me he had to leave. It ate away at him, and I’m really happy for him.
And Pop (linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson) as well. Pop and I had a great relationship, and we were fiery with each other at times, but he was also a tremendous leader, and I just respect Pop.”
On whether Georgia will use the bye week to recover from injuries:
“Yeah, I don’t know that we can rest and recover. I mean, that’s what people think bye weeks mean. We’ve got to find a way to improve and get better.”
You know, we were really beat up coming into this game, specifically at one position, and it was a really tough week for us. I’ve got a lot of respect for the guys that stepped up and played.”
Georgia’s road trip to Alabama will be a massive challenge for the Bulldogs.
On the explanation that Kirby Smart got for the Jalon Walker penalty:
“I think they said he drove him into the ground. Jalon didn’t feel like he did. I mean, Jalon’s not a violent person in regards to that, but they said he kind of finished him and drove him into the ground. I actually never saw it. I don’t know.”
On Georgia quarterback Carson Beck:
“Well, Carson (Beck) is a great leader. He didn’t panic. He made plays when he had to. Let’s look, the last drive of the game, he had to go play and make throws. He did. He ran the ball. He put us in the right plays. He’s a really good football player that we put a lot on and ask to do a lot. We’ve got to do a better job of protecting him, and we’ve got to put him in better situations.”
On Branson Robinson’s touchdown run:
“Well, it was a rotation. I mean, Trevor (Etienne) was tired. Trevor had driven down there, and I don’t remember exactly the situation, but I think Trevor was gassed and we stuck Branson in there. He had a little juice, he made some people miss, and it was (a) really physical run that I was really proud of.”
“I mean, Etienne played dinged up tonight, and just proud of the way he stuck it in there and played. And the other backs supported him because they can’t all be in there at the same time. This is a big win for our program. I’m proud of our university, and we’re going to keep chopping and get better. That’s the next step. Thanks.”
On what he learned the most from the game against Kentucky:
“Toughness, resiliency, response, leadership.”
Regardless of the ugly win, Georgia’s still No. 1 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, but they can’t play like this and expect to win against Alabama, who they play in two weeks.
Georgia football’s offense enters its bye week with numerous questions after an ugly performance against Kentucky
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.
‘College GameDay’ analysts state their opinions on the matchup between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Kentucky Wildcats and how UGA looks
“College GameDay” is unfortunately not heading to Athens this week. It instead went to Columbia to see the South Carolina Gamecocks play the LSU Tigers. However, that didn’t mean the matchup between Georgia and Kentucky wouldn’t be brought up. Kirk Herbstreit and former Alabama coach Nick Saban had several things to say about the matchup and the Georgia Bulldogs.
Herbstreit, on what he expects from the matchup:
“One of the big things Nick Saban talked about earlier was playing to a standard. … Steve Sarkisian showed some video about the Notre Dame loss to remind his team ‘Hey, don’t look past your opponent.’ … I think some of these games are that kind of game. … It’s a real test, to me, of the maturity of how teams handle these kind of games.”
Nick Saban answered with confidence on UGA:
“I think that’s what Georgia really has. Georgia has established an identity as a team. They’re physical up front on both sides of the ball. They can make explosive plays. They have a good quarterback. They were concerned about the running back situation. Well, Nate Frazier solved that as a freshman. … They play the same kind of defense they’ve always played. If you’ve ever seen them play in the past, they’ve created that same kind of identity now. That’s what Kentucky has not been able to do. They couldn’t run the ball, the quarterback struggled, they struggled in protection, and they couldn’t stop the run. I think Georgia, right now, to me, is the team that has the best identity of any team in the country.”
It’s strange to see Saban be so optimistic about Georgia after years of tormenting them as Alabama’s head coach, but Georgia looks dominant on both sides of the ball this season, outscoring their opponents 82-6 so far.
Model projects that the Georgia-Kentucky game will be much closer than projected
For people that trust technology more than people when it comes to making predictions, this is for you: SP+, a statistical model made by ESPN (subscription required) has predicted how the matchup between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Kentucky Wildcats will go.
SP+ is a model created by ESPN analyst Bill Connelly to predict the outcome of college football games. “SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing,” according to Connelly. “It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system is.”
“It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.”
The model has predicted that the Bulldogs will come out of Kroger Field with a 38-26 victory over the Wildcats. Considering Georgia is a 22-point favorite over Kentucky (on BetMGM), it would go just over the spread.
UGA fans that don’t travel to Lexington will be able to watch the game at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Looking at the top players to watch from the Kentucky Wildcats against the Georgia Bulldogs
As we get closer to the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs‘ (2-0) matchup vs. the Kentucky Wildcats (1-1), UGA Wire keys in on the best players from Kentucky’s roster.
Maxwell Hairston, CB
Hairston was recruited by the Wildcats in 2021, but didn’t see starting action until last year. Hairston was one of the cornerstones of the solid Kentucky defense, with 66 tackles, a forced fumble, six pass deflection, and a league-leading five interceptions, two that were returned for touchdowns.
Harrison’s remarkable 2023 season earned him a spot on the All-SEC second team. Against Georgia last year, he had eight tackles and a pick. Georgia receivers will have their hands full with him on the other side of them.
D’Eryk Jackson, LB
Jackson enrolled at Kentucky in 2020, already starting eight games off the bat. Ge’s established himself as a reliable starter since 2022, when he filled in for an injured Jacquez Jones. He led the team in tackles in 2022 and 2023, along with 12 tackles for loss, two sacks, and two interceptions, one returned for a pick-six. His 2023 season got him a spot on the All-SEC third team and on PFF‘s All-SEC team.
Deone Walker, DT
Walker has started for the Wildcats since 2022. During his time with the blue and white, he’s been a beast, with 98 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and 8.5 sacks. He was a part of the Preseason Coaches All-SEC Football Team and named one of the top 50 college football players, according to PFF (subscription needed).
Georgia will be looking to keep their momentum going after a strong 48-3 win vs. Tennessee Tech last week. To do that, Carson Beck will need to neutralize the Kentucky defense. We’ll see these players compete against the Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Very few folks think Georgia fotoball will have trouble at Kentucky, but can the Bulldogs cover as three touchdown favorites?
The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (2-0) face their first road test of the season at the Kentucky Wildcats (1-1). The Georgia-Kentucky game will be played at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and will be televised on ABC.
Georgia has won 14 straight games in the series dating to before the Kirby Smart era. Kentucky coach Mark Stoops remains winless against Georgia, but Stoops has gotten the Wildcats to play some tight, physical games against the Bulldogs over the years.
“Mark (Stoops) has a workman-like, blue-collar toughness, physicalness, win at the line of scrimmage mentality, and that carries over into his offense,” said Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.
“We’ve always said this has been the most physical game we’ve played in most years, especially when we’ve played up there.”
Georgia faces a strong challenge from Kentucky, which ran the ball 46 times against South Carolina last week. The Wildcats completed only six passes in their 31-6 loss at home to South Carolina.
How does the national media think the Georgia-Kentucky game will unfold? Who thinks Georgia will cover the massive 24 1/2 point spread?
Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck had a huge game against Kentucky last year. Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
“Kentucky only mustered 183 yards and six points in a loss to South Carolina. I shudder to think at what Georgia’s defense could do against the ‘Cats if their passing game doesn’t show up again this weekend,” said Kenyon. On the flip side, if Kentucky can establish the run, then the Wildcats could chew up the clock pretty quickly.
Prediction: Georgia 48, Kentucky 10
James Morgan, UGA Wire
Georgia is heavily favored, but it is hard to envision the Kentucky offense playing well against Georgia. The Wildcats really struggled in pass blocking situations against South Carolina. If Kentucky can’t run consistently, Georgia will cover the huge point spread.
“I expect Mark Stoops to have his guys ready to compete at home. The Wildcats are not knocking off the Bulldogs, but they keep it within the number,” said Colin Lynch.
Coming off the loss to South Carolina, Kentucky will come out angry and motivated to make a statement. Expect Brock Vandagriff to get out of the pocket early and often and look for intermediate to deep throws to put the Georgia defense on their toes.
Unfortunately, it will not really matter. Georgia will dominate along both lines of scrimmage, and the pass rush will open up more and more as the game goes on, anchored by linebacker Jalon Walker.
The Georgia secondary will contain Kentucky’s passing game and force Kentucky to readjust. Offensively, Carson Beck will be tested by an experienced Wildcat secondary, but Trevor Etienne and the run game will eventually open up the passing game and allow playmakers like Dillon Bell and Dominic Lovett to shine.
Don’t meltdown when things start going wrong – and they will go wrong.
The intensity of Sanford Stadium – along with the NFL defensive front on the other side – helped cause penalty after penalty by Arkansas in the 37-0 Dawg win.
Auburn couldn’t throw its way back into the game, Clemson couldn’t do anything right, and no one seems able to solve the No. 1 defense in the country. Kentucky has the offensive line and the running back in Chris Rodriguez to get pounding. The big yards won’t be there, but the Wildcats have to at least maintain some semblance of ball control with No. 24.
You can’t commit penalties to have any shot at Georgia. Kentucky is among the best in the SEC at keeping the flags to a minimum.
You have to bring the defense. Kentucky has yet to allow anyone to hit 175 rushing yards and no one has thrown for 300.
You can’t turn the ball over and have to take the ball away to pull this off, and …
Kentucky doesn’t come up with takeaways and it has a turnover problem.
The Wildcat program doesn’t do any one thing amazingly well, but it always hangs around and then finds a way to pull it off late. Against Georgia, though, the takeaways have to come, and UK has only six on the year and none in the last two games.
To be fair, there’s been just one turnover in the last two games, but the O has given it up 12 times on the season.
The Dawgs don’t need any help.
The defensive line has taken its game to a whole other level, the offensive front has been the best in America so far, and Stetson Bennett has filled in nicely for an injured JT Bennett.
He’s getting plenty of time to throw, he’s not making the big mistakes, and …
Cecil Hurt, Clint Lamb and Hunter Johnson are back with picks for Week 6 of the SEC football season.
Cecil Hurt, Clint Lamb and Hunter Johnson are back with picks for Week 6 of the SEC football season. Some of the top games include LSU-Auburn, Missouri-Florida, Georgia-Kentucky, Penn State-Ohio State and, of course, Alabama-Mississippi State.
Stay tuned for more episodes of The Bama Beat podcast, brought to you by Wickles Pickles through The Tuscaloosa News and TideSports.com!
