Kentucky's defense held No. 1 Georgia to a season low 16 points and only one touchdown. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Georgia might have been a three-touchdown favorite and had won 11 straight games over Kentucky, but coach Kirby Smart insisted he was not surprised that his Bulldogs left Lexington Saturday with only a 16-6 win over UK.
“I was really proud of our guys tonight, the resiliency, composure, and the kind of toughness they showed. We knew it would be this kind of game, we had talked about it all week. We actually showed clips from the last time we came up here, in terms of the number of snaps played and the shrinking of the game,” Smart said.
“Which, I think, is really smart by (Kentucky coach) Mark (Stoops) in keeping the game tight and lowering the number of possessions. In these weather conditions, you’re going to play these kinds of games like this. I have to give Kentucky a lot of credit for bouncing back (after losing to Vanderbilt) and being a really physical football team.”
Georgia running back Kenny McIntosh ran for 143 yards and one score on 19 carries but was impressed by UK’s goal line stand where Georgia had two tries to score from the 1 and could not.
“I’d say they did a good job of plugging the holes and shooting the gaps. They have fast linemen who closed the holes,” McIntosh said. “They played physical too and they have a good team over there. We knew that it was going to be hard and physical.”
Georgia offensive lineman Warren McClendon was also a bit perplexed by the way UK’s defense held Georgia on numerous short yardage plays.
“I really don’t know what happened. We’ve got to get back and look at the film. Of course we want that one back, the third and one and fourth and one but we were just lucky to come out with the win,” the offensive lineman said.
Georgia defensive back Kelee Ringo knew Will Levis was a good quarterback. He ran five times for 26 yards and completed 18 of 28 passes for 199 yards and one score with one interception.
“He is an NFL type quarterback and has good receivers around him. They’ve got a good scheme and I respect the Kentucky offense,” Rinto said. “They were making a few plays here and there but I feel like us and our scheme limited them to a few things they were to do as well.”
Kentucky had more success moving the football in the fourth quarter.
“Not too sure if they changed very much, but they definitely tried to throw the ball a lot more as the game continued,” he said. “I feel like the game went by really fast as both of us were trying to throw the ball in the first half. They came out in the second half trying to take a lot more shots at us.”
