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Published Sep 12, 2024
Stats Crunch: Georgia vs Kentucky
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Dave McMahon  •  UGASports
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Georgia has started 2-0 every season under Kirby Smart. This is also the fourth straight season in which the Dawgs have allowed 10 or fewer points after the first two games. That has led to large point differentials. In terms of Georgia history, these point differentials are among the school's best.

Georgia: Highest Point Differntial After First 2 Games
First Two GamesCombined Point Differential

1910

defeated Locust Grove (101-0) and defeated Gordon (79-0)

+180

1913

defeated Alabama Presbyterian (108-0) and defeated Dahlonega (51-0)

+159

1915

defeated Newberry (79-0) and defeated Dahlonega (64-0)

+143

1922

defeated Newberry (82-13) and defeated Mercer (41-0)

+110

1941

defeated Mercer (81-0) and defeated South Carolina (34-6)

+109

1914

defeated Dahlonega (81-0) and defeated The Citadel (13-0)

+94

1911

defeated Alabama Presbyterian (51-0) and defeated South Carolina (38-0)

+89

1940

defeated Oglethorpe (53-0) and defeated South Carolina (33-2)

+84

2023

defeated UT-Martin (48-7) and defeated Ball State (45-3)

+83

2022

defeated Oregon (49-3) and defeated Samford (33-0)

+79

1930

defeated Oglethorpe (31-6) and defeated Mercer (51-0)

+76

2024

defeated Clemson (34-3) and defeated Tennessee Tech (48-3)

+76

The last time Georgia and Kentucky met, the Dawgs won by 38 points, but the last time they met in Lexington, the Dawgs won 16-6. Georgia's only touchdown in the game happened with 6:22 remaining in the third quarter when Kenny McIntosh scored from nine yards out.

Georgia has a 63-12-2 all-time lead in the series and the 63 wins is the third most against any opponent. Georgia has won the last 14 meetings compared to Kentucky who has won just 12 times in the series. The last time the Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs by more than one touchdown was in 1977 when a member of British royalty attended the game.

Georgia vs Kentucky Series: Decade-by-Decade
RecordRecord

1930s

Kentucky won series 1-0

1980s

Georgia won series 9-1

1940s

Georgia won series 5-2-1

1990s

Georgia won series 8-2

1950s

Georgia won series 3-1

2000s

Georgia won series 8-2

1960s

Georgia won series 8-1-1

2010s

Georgia won series 10-0

1970s

Georgia won series 8-2

2020s

Georgia leads series 4-0

Last week against Tennessee Tech, Carson Beck had a career-high five touchdown passes. The five also tied a Georgia record held by six other Bulldog quarterbacks (one player did it twice). The last time was in 2021 when Stetson Bennett did it against UAB. In that same game, Beck threw a late touchdown pass as well.

Also, in that same UAB game, Jamon Dumas-Johnson had an interception returned for a touchdown. "Pop" is now a linebacker for Kentucky and will face Georgia for the first time.

5 TD Passes in a Game by a Georgia Quarterback
OpponentReceivers Catching the TD passesTotal Yards of the 5 TD passes

David Greene

2004 vs LSU

Reggie Brown (2), Fred Gibson (2), Sean Bailey

101 yards

D.J. Shockley

2005 vs Boise State

Sean Bailey (2), Kenneth Harris, Martrez Milner, Danny Ware

152 yards

Matthew Stafford

2008 vs Georgia Tech

Mohamed Massaquoi (3), A.J. Green, Tripp Chandler

75 yards

Joe Cox

2009 at Arkansas

A.J. Green (2), Tavarres King, Orson Charles, Aron White

168 yards

Aaron Murray

2011 vs New Mexico State

Michael Bennett, Brandon Boykin, Chris Conley, Orson Charles, Aron White

125 yards

Aaron Murray

2013 Capital One Bowl vs Nebraska

Chris Conley (2), Tavarres King, Arthur Lynch, Keith Marshall

264 yards

Stetson Bennett

2021 vs UAB

Brock Bowers (2), Arian Smith, Jermaine Burton, Kenny McIntosh

244 yards

Carson Beck

2024 vs Tennessee Tech

Dillon Bell, Colbie Young, Dominic Lovett, Arian Smith, Lawson Luckie

125 yards

Both Aaron Murray's New Mexico State game and Stetson Bennett's five touchdown games were done in the first half.

Beck's five touchdown passes gives him 37 for his career. He ended up passing Buck Belue, Johnny Rauch, D.J. Shockley and Quincy Carter on Georgia's all-time list in Saturday's game alone. The next player on that list is Georgia's current offensive coordinator, Mike Bobo. Bobo is also the next player on two other career lists in Bulldog history.

Georgia's Career Passing Stats
CompletionsPass YardsTD Passes

1 - Aaron Murray - 921

1 - Aaron Murray - 13,166

1 - Aaron Murray - 121

2 - David Greene - 849

2 - David Greene - 11,528

2 - Jake Fromm - 78

3 - Eric Zeier - 838

3 - Eric Zeier - 11,153

3 - David Greene - 72

4 - Jake Fromm - 621

4 - Stetson Bennett - 8,428

4 - Eric Zeier - 67

5 - Stetson Bennett - 601

5 - Jake Fromm - 8,224

5 - Stetson Bennett - 66

6 - Matthew Stafford - 564

6 - Matthew Stafford - 7,731

6 - Matthew Stafford - 51

7 - Quincy Carter - 483

7 - Quincy Carter - 6,447

7 - Mike Bobo - 38

8 - Mike Bobo - 445

8 - Mike Bobo - 6,334

8 - Carson Beck - 37

9 - Carson Beck - 379

9 - Carson Beck - 4,947

Backup quarterback Gunner Stockton also played a significant amount of time last Saturday. He had career highs in both completions (10) and attempts (12). His 90 yards passing was the second-highest of his career after his 96 against Florida State in last season's Orange Bowl.

Between Beck and Stockton, 15 different players caught at least one pass for the Bulldogs. The 15 is tied for the most by a Georgia game in data going back to 1973. Georgia is also the only team in the SEC to have had 15 different players catch at least one pass since 2014 and they have done it twice. Here are the two games and the players that caught those passes.

Games Where 15 Georgia Players Caught at least 1 Pass in a Game
2022 vs Samford2024 vs Tennessee Tech

Kenny McIntosh - 5 receptions

Arian Smith - 4 receptions

Brock Bowers - 3

Dillon Bell - 4

Jackson Meeks - 3

Dominic Lovett - 3

Dillon Bell - 3

Lawson Luckie - 2

Darnell Washington - 2

Sacovie White - 2

Kearis Jackson - 2

Branson Robinson - 2

De'Nylon Morrissette - 2

Cole Speer - 2

Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint - 2

Trevor Etienne - 2

Ladd McConkey - 1

Oscar Delp - 1

Daijun Edwards - 1

Anthony Evans III - 1

Kendall Milton - 1

Michael Jackson III - 1

Dominick Blaylock - 1

Dwight Phillips Jr - 1

Mekhi Mews - 1

Nitro Tuggle - 1

AD Mitchell - 1

Colbie Young - 1

Branson Robinson - 1

Jaden Reddell - 1

Trevor Etienne led the Bulldogs with 78 rush yards with 45 coming on one big run. Also in the game, Branson Robinson scored from 13 yards out for his first touchdown since the 2023 CFP Championship against TCU. Nate Frazier, Chauncey Bowens and Cash Jones got carries as well.

Which of the Georgia running backs will have the most yards on the ground this Saturday night? Here is a list of the best run games of the careers so far.

Most Rush Yards in a Game by Georgia Running Backs
Trevor EtienneBranson RobinsonNate FrazierChauncey BowensCash Jones

172 (2023 vs Tennessee)

98 (2022 vs Auburn)

83 (2024 vs Clemson)

14 (2024 vs Tennessee Tech)

65 (2023 at Vanderbilt)

129 (2022 at Florida State)

42 (2023 CFP Championship Game vs TCU)

28 (2024 vs Tennessee Tech)

6 (2024 vs Clemson)

36 (2022 vs Vanderbilt)

122 (2022 vs South Carolina)

35 (2022 vs Florida)

32 (2023 vs Florida State)

All three of Etienne's games were with Florida. His Georgia-high was 78 this past week is his tenth highest game total.

Hybid back Dillon Bell's highest total in a game was 29 yards against Georgia Tech last season.

Speaking of running the ball, during this 14-game win streak over Kentucky, the rushing comparison between the two teams has not been that close.

Rushing Comparison Head-to-Head (2010-2023)
GeorgiaKentucky

Rush Attempts

574

458

Rush Yards

3,207

1,541

Rush Yards per Game

229.1

110.1

Rush Yards per Attempt

5.6

3.4

Touchdown Rushes

29

11

In terms of pass defense, Georgia had one of its best statistically games in the Smart era last week. The 18 yards passing by Tennessee Tech was the second fewest since 2016. The only game that the Bulldogs allowed less was in 2019 against the Wildcats of Kentucky (the game had lots of rain).

Georgia: Fewest Pass Yards Allowed in a Game Under Kirby Smart
Pass Yards

2019 vs Kentucky

17

2024 vs Tennessee Tech

18

2021 at Vanderbilt

24

2016 vs Auburn

37

2017 at Georgia Tech

38

2019 at Georgia Tech

40

As a player, Kirby Smart had four of his 13 career interceptions coming against Kentucky. He had two in 1997 in Athens and two more in the 1998 battle in Lexington. The interceptions came against future first pick of the NFL Draft, Tim Couch. He had another pick against a future first pick of the NFL Draft earlier in his career. That player was Peyton Manning.

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