Kentucky had no answers against Georgia giving up 51 points and 608 yards. (UK Athletics Photo)
When opportunity knocked, Kentucky wilted. The Cats had a chance to show the nation they were a legitimate big-time team against No. 1 Georgia Saturday night. Instead, host Georgia let the Bulldogs know there is still a long climb to the top.
It’s not just that Georgia roared out to a 34-7 halftime lead and won 51-13 as much as it was the way Kentucky’s highly regarded defense was shredded and the Cats helped beat themselves with so many mistakes.
ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said earlier in the week he thought UK was under-respected going into this game. He certainly had to change his mind watching what he did in Athens.
Georgia never punted in the game. The Bulldogs finished with 608 yards of total offense and averaged 8.3 yards per play despite going to backups in the fourth quarter.
Here are some of the things McElroy said just in the first half about the beatdown the Cats took:
— “They have made their name primarily on defense but they are getting gashed over and over again,” McElroy said.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was 21 of 26 passing for 307 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and completed passes to seven receivers, including four who had three or more catches. The Bulldogs averaged 10.1 yards per play and had 384 yards against a UK defense that had been giving up just 292 yards per game.
He finished the game looking like the Heisman Trophy favorite as he was 28 of 35 passing for 389 yards and four scores. He was never sacked and told ESPN’s Molly McGrath he felt like he was “standing back there holding the ball forever” with no pressure to make him hurry passes.
— “It was just a very poor decision to hit a guy on the ground. That play was just inexcusable,” McElroy said after a dead-ball personal foul penalty on UK guard Jager Burton, who also was called for holding on UK’s first possession to kill that drive. It’s the kind of mistake UK is not near good enough to overcome.
— “You are off the field on third down (with a stop) and then take a shot like Deone Walker did (and get called for a personal foul). You give extra life to the Georgia Bulldogs and you don’t stand a chance. You can’t come in here and get penalties like that,” McElroy said.
“Walker does something dumb like that to give Georgia’s offense new life. Kentucky is just killing themselves.”
Kentucky had five penalties for 60 yards in the first half. Walker’s came after he deflected a pass and then hit a Georgia defender way after the play was dead. Walker finished the game with two solo tackles and two assists but played only sparingly in the second half.
— Georgia had scored 17 points total in the first quarter of five previous games. It had 14 in the first quarter against UK and then went 95 yards to score again on its third drive.
“He (Beck) is just picking them apart and making it look easy,” McElroy, a former UK quarterback, said. “You really thought the Kentucky secondary would be good enough against this group of Georgia receivers. They (UK secondary) are a really good group but certainly are not looking like it tonight.”
No, the secondary did not but on this night, it was not alone as there really was not a single position group that looked “really good” against Georgia.
3 Responses
Embarrassing. Not the score, GA is the #1 team in the country but KY’s lack of preparation, discipline, and execution. It embarrassed, the university, the state and worst of all the fans. And it embarrassed the idiots paying NIL money.
We ate the rat poison and washed it down with the "cool aid". That’s what happens when the media tries to make news instead of simply reporting it AFTER it happens. Now the real question is…Georgia a whole lot better than thought to be or is Kentucky a whole lot worse than it looked? or most likely both?
I tried to work in Georgia. I also tried to leave the job I had during the the first month I was there. There was supposedly an office meeting out of town where I was suppose to "escort" a female they selected for me. I told my wife I was leaving and she asked me to try it for 1 year. I did and my supposed $20,000 bonus didn’t get paid as promised. I found out they paid it to the University of Georgia Athletic Department for two parking slots under the stadium for the other two owners of the people I was working for. The game didn’t look so good but the Kentucky section for fans looked extremely small. The penalties in the beginning of the game during the first quarter were discussed by the Officials before they ended the Kentucky drives??? The section for the UK Fans would not hold 1/1000 of the Georgia fans. They are the crookedest University I have ever witnessed in my 81 years of life. I’m sorry Larry but I just thought this story should be told.