No. 1 Georgia turned to running back Kenny McIntosh to carry the load Saturday. The senior had a career game as the Bulldogs defeated Kentucky 16-6 to wrap up SEC play.
McIntosh rushed for a career-high 143 yards on 19 attempts with Georgia’s only TD in the win. He also hauled in two catches for 19 yards on a cold and windy night in Lexington.
McIntosh credited the Bulldogs’ offensive line for his success on the field against the Wildcats.
“I love running the ball,” McIntosh said. “Every running back would love to run the ball. My O-linemen, they appreciate it, too. They’re making up holes out there for me. I just give them all the credit because none of that would have been possible without them.”
Georgia rushed for a season-high 247 yards as a team against one of the conference’s best rush defenses. The Bulldogs were consistent with their splits, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. McIntosh averaged a team-high 7.5 yards per attempt and the team’s longest rush of 26 yards.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart acknowledged McIntosh’s success in his post-game presser.
“Kenny ran the ball really well tonight, physical,” Smart said. “He tucked the ball up. I thought the offensive line was physical and did a good job in the run game to be able to get the ball out of there a couple of times. For him to hit 140 (yards), what’d he hit? 143? Awesome. Probably could have had more but he shared the load with some other guys.”
Georgia’s lone TD came in the third quarter as the Bulldogs led 9-0. McIntosh took a handoff and cut through an open hole as he jogged into the end zone.
His score and the PAT from Jack Podlesny gave Georgia a 16-0 lead with 6:27 left in the third quarter. The Bulldogs continued to lean on their running backs throughout the rest of the game.
McIntosh highlighted that his TD was much needed after not getting into the end zone in the first half.
“We’ve been driving the ball the whole field, but we knew we needed to score that drive,” McIntosh said. “We wanted to come out strong and get the ball rolling again on the ground. They were preaching the whole halftime that we needed to start strong.”
McIntosh surpassed junior Daijun Edwards for the team’s most rushing yards after Saturday. He now leads Georgia with 568 yards on 111 attempts (5.1 ypc) and seven TDs. McIntosh has hauled in 33 receptions for 341 yards and one score in 2022 as a senior.
The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native makes very few mistakes, although he responds when he does. McIntosh had a key fumble in Georgia’s win over Florida that halted the offense’s momentum. However, he responded later with a scoring run to seal the Gators’ fate.
Smart had a message for McIntosh on the Georgia sideline following his fumble.
“I told him he’s a bad MF’er. He’s tough, he’s physical and that’s what I talk about,” Smart said on Oct. 29. “You have an opportunity to show resiliency, which is one of our four DNA characteristics. I promise you every NFL scout and every Georgia fan watching will remember the way he responded. Kenny ran the ball with a vicious attitude, a contact-seeking running back … He ran pissed off.”
Edwards rushed a team’s second-best 50 yards on 14 attempts at Kentucky. Redshirt sophomore Kendall Milton added 31 yards and Stetson Bennett also tallied 25 yards in the win.
McIntosh said Georgia stuck to the run because of the conditions, although it didn’t affect him much.
“All the backs made great cuts. The O-line was cutting people up. We needed that today because of the weather,” he said. “We weren’t really scoring there tonight. The conditions were bad so we couldn’t throw the ball as much as we could like to. The running backs made it happen.”
The Bulldogs did struggle, however, in short-yardage situations on Saturday against Kentucky.
They couldn’t convert on a fourth-and-goal in the third quarter and came up short on another play late in the game. Still, McIntosh’s rushing score made a huge difference in the game.
The senior was just happy that Georgia was able to get the job done in the end.
“It feels amazing. The game kept going on and it didn’t even feel that cold anymore,” McIntosh said. “Just wanted to go out there and run the ball for my team. To spark that momentum.”