Bulldogs join elite company with win
LEXINGTON, KY – As frustrating and ugly as it might have been, Georgia’s 16-6 win at Kentucky enabled the Bulldogs to accomplish something SEC teams rarely do—finish undefeated in conference play in back-to-back years.
How rare is it?
Georgia is just the 3rd SEC team since 1992 to post back-to-back 8-0 league marks, joining Alabama (2008-09) and UF (1995-96).
“The last 40 years there have only been two, and it's hard to win on the road in the SEC. Look across the country today,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “You see the environments these people are playing in. You see that it's different. You find out quickly who wants to play football and who's just a football fan. You have to be able to win in games like that, especially in November."
With the win, Georgia also finished 6-0 against the SEC East for the fourth time since 2017.
While there’s still the not-so-small matter of next Saturday’s game in Athens against Georgia Tech, the fact Georgia will be perfect in league play heading into the game is a definite point of pride.
“You just got to come in and go to work every week,” right tackle Warren McClendon said. “Every week you’re going to get that team’s best. You’ve just got to go, prepare and be ready.”
The Wildcats still almost pulled off what most thought was impossible.
After being stopped on fourth-and-goal from the 1, wasting a potential score that would have put the Bulldogs up 23-0, Kentucky came roaring back.
“I think we were good on third downs. I think we were 50 percent there, but still,” quarterback Stetson Bennett said. “We weathered all that stuff, but we can’t stall out.”
It took the Wildcats just nine plays over 5:02 to put together a 99-yard drive to draw within 16-6, before forcing a punt to give Kentucky back the football.
The Wildcats would use another long pass from quarterback Will Levis and subsequent pass interference call on Kamari Lassiter. Kentucky found itself with a first down at the Bulldog 28 before the defense held on and Georgia was able to run out the clock.
“Our kids know—every older player we've got tells kids all the time, 'When you play Kentucky, you better strap it on.' And we talked about that. We talked about that,” Smart said. “You aren't playing the same Kentucky Vanderbilt played, you're going to play a different Kentucky. They did a good job, and the conditions limited them to a limited number of possessions."
