ATHENS, Ga. – The nation’s no. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (7-0, 5-0 SEC) defeat SEC East rival no. 11 Kentucky (6-1, 4-1 SEC) 30-13 in front of a CBS audience and packed Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium crowd.
Stetson Bennett finished the day 14-of-20 passing with 250 passing yards while adding in 3 touchdowns. Brock Bowers led the Bulldogs in receiving yards with 101. Bowers also added in 2 touchdowns through the air for the third time this season to reach a team high 6 touchdown receptions for the season. Tailbacks James Cook and Zamir White tied for the lead in rushing yards for the Bulldogs with 51-yards each. Zamir added a rushing touchdown while Cook added a touchdown through the air.
Quay Walker finished with a team high 9 tackles while 4 other Bulldogs finished with 7. Defensive back Kelee Ringo recorded his first career sack late in the fourth quarter while Jalen Carter also recorded a sack late in the second quarter. The Bulldogs were able to block both a field goal and a PAT in the second half.
Head coach Kirby Smart on the two blocked kicks, “I always feel like we have an opportunity to block a field goal because we have people that care about points. We say that field goal block is a part of red zone defense. You want to be good at red zone defense, block field goals.”
Georgia’s opening drive of the half produced a 6-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 27-yard strike to tight end Brock Bowers down the sideline. Bowers also had a 59-yard touchdown reception called back on the third-play of the drive due to a holding penalty. The team-leading 5th touchdown reception of the year for Bowers would put the Bulldogs up 21-7 in the third.
Following a Kentucky punt, Georgia is able to continue their success through the air as Stetson Bennett completes long passes to tight end John FitzPatrick and receiver Adonai Mitchell. The 63-yard drive stalls inside the Kentucky 10-yard line. Bulldog kicker Jack Podlesny knocks in a 26-yard field goal to extend the lead 24-3 with just over 7 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Wildcats’ third drive of the half proves to be their most successful yet in the half getting as deep as the UGA 10-yard line before stalling on third down. Kentucky kicker Matt Ruffolo is called on to attempt a 33-yard field goal only to have it blocked by Devonte Wyatt of the Bulldogs. Dan Jackson returns the blocked kick to the UGA 18 as the third quarter ends.
The Bulldogs’ first drive of the fourth quarter was capped off by a 20-yard touchdown pass to Brock Bowers. His second touchdown of the game and sixth of the season gives the Bulldogs a 30-7 lead after Podlesny’s PAT misses. The touchdown by Bowers ties a school record for touchdown receptions by tight end in a season. The 7-play, 82-yard drive was set up by back-to-back plays of over 20-yards by Bowers and James Cook.
Kentucky responds by putting together a 22-play drive using over 11 minutes of game clock resulting in a touchdown following a 1-yard pass to Wan’Dale Robinson. His 12th-catch of the game cuts the Georgia lead to 30-13 following a blocked PAT by Jordan Davis.
Georgia runs out the remaining four seconds on the kickoff to give them a 30-13 victory. The Bulldogs improve to 7-0 and 5-0 in SEC play heading into the BYE week. Georgia will face Florida on October 30th at 3:30 p.m. ET in Jacksonville, game broadcasted on CBS.
Please see Top-Ranked Georgia Bulldogs Lead No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats 14-7 at Halftime for first half analysis.
