Georgia left Kroger Field in Lexington this past Saturday with a win over Kentucky, but it wasn’t easy.
The Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 13-12 in their SEC opener and head into the bye week with a 3-0 record. However, after the close win, they’re now ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll.
Despite his team's poor performance, head coach Kirby Smart doesn’t think it’s time to panic.
“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,” Smart said. “We said the first chop of the tree doesn’t chop the tree down. It sometimes takes 272 axe chops, and it took every single one tonight to get the job done. I will say, ‘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.”
Georgia, winners of 42 straight regular-season games since 2020, didn’t play to its standard, and Smart would be the first person to say that. But he remained proud of his team’s leaders against the Wildcats.
“I’m proud of our team, proud of our leadership. Honestly, we won this game with culture. The culture of our team never panicked,” he said. “I saw more leadership tonight than I’ve seen all season.”
Georgia’s offense struggled against Kentucky. The Bulldogs were held to a season-low 262 total yards.
Georgia trailed most of the game until a few minutes into the fourth quarter when redshirt sophomore tailback Branson Robinson scored on a two-yard rush. It provided the Bulldogs with a lead they never gave up.
The defense held for Georgia the remaining 12:20 on the clock despite giving up a field goal. The Bulldogs prevented former teammate and Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff from even getting a sniff of the red zone.
Holding Kentucky to four field goals was just enough for the win.
“Gotta’ get better,” Georgia linebacker Damon Wilson acknowledged. “Coach Smart said, ‘We’re going to have teams that will have guys we will compete with,’ so we just have to get better from here. This was not our best game.”
Georgia held Kentucky to 284 yards of total offense, limiting it to 3.9 yards per play. The Wildcats controlled the time of possession, but the Bulldogs made the necessary plays to escape with the win.
UGA quarterback Carson Beck was as sharp as usual, completing 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards.
“[Winning], it’s not easy, especially on the road. Go back and look at two road SEC games in the past three years,” Beck said. “Missouri in 2022, [it was] a dog fight. Last year, Auburn, we had a dog fight. This year was a dog fight. We knew it would be a dog fight coming in, and we knew it would have to be blow by blow. I think there’s a thing we have to fix. I’m going to watch the film and improve on those. They’re a physical team and a lot of respect there, but we were able to pull it out.”
Georgia has a bye this Saturday before traveling to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 27 to face No. 4 Alabama.