Following top-ranked Georgia’s 30-13 victory over No. 11 Kentucky in Athens, Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops and a couple of his players addressed the media. Here's a summary of what they had to say after their loss to the Bulldogs.

…Stoops and his players claimed some of what went wrong for Kentucky was “self-inflicted.” However, they admitted Georgia had a lot to do with the Wildcats’ struggles. At least a half-dozen times during his 16-minute press conference, Stoops complimented the Bulldogs on how good a team they are.

“Where can I start other than [Georgia] is a very good football team,” Stoops started his press conference. “Let me give them the respect they deserve. Kirby [Smart] does one hell of a job.”

Stoops later added he didn’t know if there were many “great” teams in college football this season—“but I know this one we just played is [great].”

…When asked about his quarterback, junior Will Levis, having to face Georgia’s terrorizing defense, Stoops comments included the Bulldog “defense is going to make a lot of quarterbacks uneasy.” Levis completed 32 of 42 passes for two touchdowns and was not intercepted; however, he passed for only 192 yards and was sacked three times.

“I think we were able to do some things that we are going to be proud of when we look at the tape, but we definitely had opportunities to do a little more,” Levis said following the game. “But, at the end of the day, [Georgia] is the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason. All credit to them for how well they played.”

…Kentucky entered the game averaging more than 214 rushing yards per game and a staggering 5.6 yards per rush. In addition, the Wildcats averaged a respectable 4.1 yards per carry against Georgia in 2019 and 2020 despite the Wildcats only scoring a combined three points in the two games. Still, their running game was stagnant this evening against the nation’s No. 1 defense, netting just 51 yards on 27 attempts.

“It was disappointing to not be effective at all in the run game,” Stoops said. “I think [Georgia] had a lot to do with it. They are as good as I’ve seen them. They know we want to run the football. … They've got some difference-makers at all levels. Again, you got to credit them.”

…On its own behalf, Georgia rushed for 166 yards, averaging more than six yards per carry. While Kentucky’s longest rush from scrimmage was a mere nine yards, five different Bulldogs had single gains of at least 15 yards.

“They (Georgia) are a great team. I give all the credit to them,” said senior defensive lineman Joshua Paschal, who totaled six tackles, including one for loss, and forced a fumble. “They came out and played hard. When you play against the number one team, you can’t make mistakes.”

…Leading only 14-7 at halftime, while having passed for just 76 yards (5-of-10 passing) in the first half, Georgia began the second half by establishing an aerial attack. Bulldog quarterback Stetson Bennett finished with 250 passing yards on 14-of-20 passing, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.

“Stetson Bennett had a very good second half,” Stoops replied when asked about the Bulldogs’ senior signal-caller. “They came out [in the second half] obviously on a mission to throw the ball. They only had probably 10 or so [pass] attempts at the half. But they definitely emphasized passing it and keeping us off balance in the second half.”

…Trailing 30-7 in the fourth quarter, Kentucky drove 75 yards on a whopping 22 plays to a touchdown with only four seconds remaining in the contest. On the drive, the Wildcats’ 11:23 in time of possession is the longest single scoring possession by a Georgia opponent on record. Notably, Stoops called timeout with seven seconds remaining, and with the game essentially over, just so the Wildcats could run one final play. While the called timeout irked some Georgia faithful, Stoops said he simply wanted to score.

“I wanted to score. That's a quality defense. You don’t know the way things will play out the rest of the year,” Stoops said. “We had an opportunity to score, so we did.”