Georgia won by 10 on the road in the SEC on Saturday afternoon. While that's never anything to complain about, it could (some would say should) have been so much more.
The Bulldogs found themselves climbing uphill in the red zone all night long. Those struggles resulted in three field goals from Jack Podlesny, as well as a fourth-and-goal stop from Kentucky in the fourth quarter that would have put the game on ice.
"The efficiency was there, other than the red area," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "It was tough in the red area. They do a good job. They jam pack you down there. They don’t pressure a lot, and they have lots of levels in their defense. Our inability to probably run it in the red area probably hurt us more than anything."
Georgia had three drives in the first half. Each ended in a Podlesny field goal. While the final series came in a two-minute situation, the initial two stalled out at the Kentucky 10-yard line and 6-yard line, respectively.
Instead of potentially taking a 21-0 lead into the halftime locker room, Georgia instead led just 9-0 at intermission.
"I wouldn’t really say we’re frustrated," running back Kenny McIntosh said after the game. "We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board, like I said, and dial in and focus on our job and execute the play when we get in the red area. We know that’s a big part of winning. We’ve got to fix that."
McIntosh keyed Georgia's second drive of the second half, punctuating it with a 9-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 16-0. But on the next possession, the red zone struggles surfaced in their most fearsome form.
The Bulldogs employed their jumbo package on third and fourth down from the Kentucky 1-yard line. The Wildcats stuffed the run attempts both times, denying Georgia a touchdown that would have made the game 23-0.
Smart defended the decision to go for it after the game. He said he made that decision a long time ago as part of his philosophy and he wanted to show confidence in his players. But as quarterback Stetson Bennett put it, "we didn't pick him up."
"We didn't get much movement," Smart said. "The first time we got blown up at guard when we down at the end where we come out. And then the quarter changeover, we came back out and didn't get much movement. It's a play that's a statement play, it's an identity play. You've got to be more physical than them, and they were more physical than us."
As Smart pointed out in his postgame press conference, the Bulldogs had success overall running the ball. Georgia racked up 247 rushing yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry.
But the offensive line and running backs also came up short in some big spots. As Georgia heads toward the postseason, it knows those issues will need to be addressed.
"To get one yard, you should be able to get one yard," Smart said. "You've got to be able to get those. We got eight, nine yards a lot of times. We rushed for 250, so getting one shouldn't be the end of the world. But we didn't in those situations. We've got to be better in situational football."
